However, before we reached the bus stop, we were delighted to stumble upon a Morning Market in the town square of Port de Pollença, packed with stands of fresh produce, cheeses, olives, accessories, clothing, etc, which we would have loved to have browsed, but our other plans took precedence.
After our arrival in Palma, at the Estació Intermodal, the main bus terminal, we navigated the large facility to get the underground train service to Son Castelló in an industrial area of Palma, but not before we’d seen a completely contrasting landscape to the beautiful, green, lush surroundings of the “Serra de Tramuntara” (Tramuntara mountains), which we thoroughly enjoyed yesterday; this was flat, dry and nondescript, although we did see evidence of agriculture and industry.
Unfortunately the company Roy had contacted to source the oil filters we needed had two different addresses and, as per Murphy’s Law, we walked in the sweltering heat to their sail loft erroneously. When we eventually found the Yanmar outfit, we’d essentially walked back two stops on the train service. Thankfully, after getting the oil filters, from there it was a short walk to the nearest underground station to return to the city centre, where we ventured above ground.
Sadly, our first impressions, formed from our bus ride into the city, didn’t change when we popped out at street level. The graffiti we’d seen everywhere was still evident all around us, making everything look rather grubby and economically depressed, more so than Napoli, the latter impacted more by the garbage that we’d seen everywhere rather than graffiti. We did, however, get a glimpse into local life and the multicultural diversity of the island with the various ethnicities who got on and off the bus versus hanging out in the upmarket tourist places only. What did impress us was the bus service and underground train service, a major logistical undertaking which ran like clockwork, and one we couldn’t fault in any way.
Needing the loo desperately by this point, though, after the gallons of water we’d drank to stay hydrated, we found a little cafe, La Isle del Cafe, tucked away in one of the backstreets and away from the madding crowd, where we enjoyed a coffee and baked delight, accompanied by copious amounts of more water; it felt like our eyeballs were floating with the amount of water we’d consumed during this heatwave, but it was absolutely necessary.
Our return bus ride got us back to Paw Paw around 1500, following which Roy completed the oil changes and replaced the oil filters on both engines, while Elaine chatted to her sister, Dianne. Keenan also called to catch up, all of which made for a rather late dinner, but the highlight of the day was receiving a photograph of our granddaughter’s first day of high school. It didn’t seem that long ago that Elaine attended her kindergarten graduation and now she was heading to high school and what a beautiful young lady, inside and out, she has grown into.
Thankfully the wind was blowing when we returned to Port de Pollença, cooling the temperatures down a little bit, but we, nonetheless, switched on the air-conditioning to enjoy the cool comfort before bedtime after another very hot day.
