morning thoughts

rolling hills and olive groves

i mean how breath-taking is the view? the rooftops reminded me of the istanbul train scene from skyfall, without the adrenaline rush. the mister obliged and let me snap photos of him. we laugh that every holiday album can be captioned 'the mister and his personal photographer go to...' because there are precious few photos of me. undoubtedly more comfortable behind the camera than in front, and maintain i'm completely unnatural and unphotogenic which makes it even harder to photograph. my father is probably the only person who takes satifactory photos of me. the mister has his moments, some turn out better than others and i hated most of my wedding photos because i didn't like how i looked in them, talented as our photographer was. totes not his fault, and also not confessional of body dysmorphia.

coastal drives

it was early afternoon by the time the mister coaxed me out of the hotel and am i glad he did. see, i'm a really boring person and was perfectly content reading vogue from the shady cabana. but the mister is inquisitive and wanted to see more of the island. in retrospect it was a good call because the island has a rugged charm and faded elegance to it, and lovely as the hotel was, i would not have had the best seafood stew ever had we not ventured to banyalbufar. the towns have such curious names and i had trouble remembering them so must've told the poor front of house back at the hotel the world's worst story when she asked if we got up to much that day. 'oh ! it was really nice, we drove to, um, the town that's, uh, a distance away? and had lunch overlooking the sea at, uh, c'an something?' unintentionally vague because that really wasn't saying anything at all because all restaurants are c'an something or other. and it could've been any town with coastal views because it is a small island! 

urns out it was banyalbufar (she guessed correctly! clever lady!) and the bubbly proprietress took an instant adoration to the mister, grabbing his face with both hands and promising him the best seat in the house. no complaints there :) towards the end she warmed to me too and started calling me guapa, which was cute because i wasn't feeling left out at all.

the windy roads didn't disappoint! and the mister was determined to catch the sunset on the western most part of the island. the sun set really quickly and we stopped for roadside beer before heading back in the dark.

morning in majorca

breakfast was served till the civilised hour of 1030 and made it in time, barely! was lucky with the weather and the soft golden light was almost liquid. feel now's really the best time to go as it's deliciously warm and sunny but without the hordes of tourists. the room, while dear, was still substantially cheaper with it being off-peak and we were upgraded to the royal suite (!!!) which was more than a little insane. absolutely besides ourselves with glee after the manager left the room, because convulsing with el cheapo joy is just not done in polite company.  had so much space we felt obliged to make friends to fill the emptiness with, you know? because there was a huge study, living room with four (!!!) four seater sofas, our own sun terrace, garden with hammock and hot tub, plus pond with water feature and cavernous bathroom that felt like roman baths. didn't want to be pinched and woken from that dream! excitedly took a video of the room to send to fam and was instantly met with oohs and aahs. oh family, what would i do if i couldn't share it all with them :p

the hotel was even more stunning with daylight streaming in through the big windows and it felt like there was a natural rhythm about the place. the guests had a leisurely breakfast on the patio then bring bubbles and coffee through to the terrace i.e. follow the sun to read until it got too hot before retreating to a poolside cabana. felt all the stress of the real world melt away and it was lovely to slow down to holiday pace. glad we don't have problems unwinding, in fact our problem is we unwind too easily and default mode is relaxed heh.

oh and that's our little ground floor wing of the hotel! deckchairs behind the horizontal bush and suite just beyond. can't recommend the place enough! the staff were lovely and incredibly attentive, spoilt us rotten and were perhaps a little amused by the youngest guests. the mister says our spending habits are unpredictable because we rented a cheap car, eschewed the seven course degustation but ended up spending more on less food off the a la carte menu one night, had room service one afternoon and a burger dinner by the bar on our second night. then spent on cocktails and olive oil but not wine. couldn't bring ourselves to drink too much wine because trust the mister to go to the town's lone supermarket and find the region's best wine for a song, only to later see it retailing for more than treble the price in the hotel. so obvs we downed the complimentary bottle of bubbles and the specialty cocktails but eschewed the wine. actually tell a lie, i nursed a glass of their reserve red during dins (half the price of a good bottle at the supermarket :/) but didn't feel like more than a glass then. a bottle would've been excessive!

majorca!

don't think this was how i'm meant to spend white time but who's counting! the scheduling gods gave me some opportune time off and on a whim the mister booked us to majorca. have heard lots of good things about the balearic islands but never thought to go! my relationship with london is love-hate at best but one of the things it does have going for it is its sheer connectivity. love how we're really only a couple of hours flight away from endless holiday possibility. was never much of a sun seeker, and still am not, but it's been a wet and grey few weeks and was desperate for some warmth. the mister, bless him, was quick to oblige and made it happen at almost no notice. which sort of takes the fun out of delicious anticipation but hey, a cheeky majorcan jaunt? count me in! we were lucky with the flights, seamless and took off on time. the bubbles with breakfast were a nice touch (well done, BA!) and okok maybe we were a little extravagant for a short-haul flight ;)

touched down in palma and the savvy mister who'd done the math figured it was way cheaper to rent a car than get hotel transfers for two both ways. hadn't planned on leaving the hotel (he jokes that i don't really see places but hotels...) but figured having wheels would give us some flexibility for exploration. although there is a rather incriminating photo of my grumpy fase on fb taken the exact moment he mooted leaving the cabana to check out the coastal roads. 

will be posting over the next few days about the hotel and the (reluctant) touring we got up to so do check back if you'd like to see! 

willing bell boy eight years and counting!

starred resto by day

and by night!

beautiful setting in old stone barn, a far cry from the stone bunkhouse i've spent a few nights in with wilderness medicine! they do an amazing christmas 'do or so we're told. and the olive oil was divine. it's all from their land but outsourced to be pressed and we couldn't resist loading up the suitcase with bottles for a chosen few friends.

also, we stuck out like sore thumbs because everyone else was senior citizen and white. not that i'm usually conscious about these things but i do wonder what's going through their mind when they clock us. just like how over dinner we'd people watch and guess their backstories, like the elegant german couple who wore the same thing two days in the row. the lady oozed a refinement that money can't buy, and the man looked like an evil inventor sort in suspenders. suspenders!!!