Today, Sunday, was a day off from tennis after playing every day since I arrived in Mallorca, nearly two weeks ago.

I decided to go to Pollenca which is in the part of the Island, about four miles inland from the Port of Pollenca. The drive took about an hour and I went from the beach resort of Font de Sa Cala, through some rolling hills dotted with trees and sheep, through the touristy beach town of Can Picafort to the dry agricultural area near Sa Pobla to the edge of the Serra de Tramunana (a mountain range) where Pollenca is located. It was a varied and scenic drive.

Once in Pollenca, which has a big Sunday market, parking was of course an issue. After striking out a few places, I ended up in a perfect spot just down the street from the market. It was a nice market and nice town.

I first walked up the market street to the main square, dominated by a large Catholic Church. There were lots of vendors with fruits and vegetables (peppers and tomatoes galore, eggplants, a few string beans, plums, apples etc), lots of olive vendors (I’m still working on the ones I bought in Arta last week!), a bread and pastry vendor (very busy, and featured some olive breads, empanadas and ensaimadas, a Mallorcan spiral pastry filled with cream or chocolate or just plain. There was also a vendor selling fresh squeezed orange juice and others selling honey…but no nuts.

After passing by the food stalls, I walked through the narrow streets lined with stalls selling baskets, jewelry, textiles and pottery to the main square with was dotted with more stalls and full of restaurants.

I walked in to the parish church, the ” Parroquia de Mare de Deu dels Angels” which was having a service. It’s a beautiful cathedral, founded in the 13th century, though the current building was built in the mid 1700s.

I walked through a few more narrow, stall lined streets and up to another church, Monti-Sion which was further up the hill, then up a hill (365 stone steps) to a small chapel, the Calvary Chapel. It was tiny but the views from the side of the church over Pollenca were great, I could see the sea from there and the mountain range. I walked down on the other side which was uncrowded and had nice views all the way down, and then back to my car.

The other attraction of Pollenca is the Puig de Maria monastery which is a hike up to a viewing point of about 1000 feet. I didn’t hike because I have to play a match tomorrow…will save that for another visit.

I play tomorrow at 10:30, happy to be back playing after a nice day off. Draws are here.