Mallorca, Spain

After six days and nine practice sessions, I had a much needed break from tennis. I decided to try and book a massage and ended up booking one…at the Palma Sport Tennis Club. I didn’t even know it existed, even though it was not far from the hotel I’d previously stayed in when visiting Mallorca. It is 100,000 square foot parcel in the middle of high rises, with five clay courts, a center court (where the men’s Legend’s Cup tournament is held), a gym, spa, restaurant, pool and small grassy area. It was a nice place to spend part of a Sunday afternoon. The club seems to cater to a lot of international guests and I heard English, Spanish and German spoken.

After lunch, I decided to drive to Deia, which overlooks the sea. I haven’t seen much of the sea this week and missed it. The drive took me past Valdemossa again (I still didn’t see a safe spot to pull over and take a photo..) and along the coast, which is spectacular…and the road was narrow with no shoulders. The views I could see (the road was narrow and curvy, one had to be cautious driving) rivaled that of Highway 1 from Carmel to Big Sur (imagine driving that road, but with no turnouts at all and being much narrower and windier and you have the feel). On the east were lots of trees, both cultivated (mostly olives) and wild (mostly pines). One the coast were impressive drop offs to a deep blue sea. There were signs at regular intervals to be wary of falling rocks from the cliffs above.

As I approached Deia, there was actually parking along the side of the road. I parked and walked up towards the town, which is pretty small. However, judging by the prices I saw outside a real estate business, the prices are high. Some of the houses have views of the sea and the mountains, both of which are spectacular.

One of the draws too, is the house where Robert Graves lived, which is on the outside of town. It’s a pretty place, from the outside (it was closed on a Sunday).

There were a lot of olive orchards, old ones (not very productive ones either judging by the paucity of olives on the trees, but they were quite interesting looking, being old, gnarly, and windswept.

The drive back took me again along the coast, which again was spectacular, then inland past Soller. I was able to take a couple of photos from a turnout by a bus stop…and this doesn’t do the coast justice.

I’ve been to Mallorca many times but mostly to the east side and Palma. The East side is mostly beach resorts and pretty flat. The southwest and west coasts are amazing and I have a lot yet to see in future trips.