Serra de Tramuntana

The day before, while looking for parking I noted signs that said keep free for Wednesdays for the market. Oh goody, I love walking through markets and this one is in the town square almost on the hotel's front step. I got up early to check it but they were still setting up. So I had a leisurely breakfast and returned later.

The stalls in the square sold fruits and vegetables, smallgoods, preserves, and confectionery. There was a pottery staff and a flower stall. In side streets, clothing was sold. Most of it was mass produced stuff, but there were artesan stalls offering home knit goods. There were many leather stalls. I read that Mallorca has a thriving leather industry.

It was not only an opportunity for stallholders to get cash for their products but also to catch up with each other. I noticed that a cafe in one corner was the favoured gathering spot. Probably had been so for as long as people remember.

I couldn't resist buying some figs and kaki from a stall run by a couple of ladies, possibly mother and daughter, selling fruit from their garden. From another stall I bought a punnet of strawberries. I refuse to eat most Australian strawberries. They are unripe travesties of what strawberries should be.

I could have spent hours wandering the market but I had to start touring. Maybe next Wednesday. No, what am I thinking. There is no next Wednesday. There is no next time. There is only today.

About 7 km from where the mountain route peels off from the main road, it start to ascend into the Serra de Tramuntana. The road snaked up hairpin bends.  I passed many cyclists. Tough cyclists to be doing these mountains. There were so many of them that there must have been some event on.

Some 30 minutes into the trip I reached Monestir de Lluc. This is an important religious site of Mallorca. Admission was free but they charged for parking, more for tour buses. Sensible; if you come by public transport, there is no parking charge.

It is possible to stay in the monastery, though the facilities are a bit spartan and it's meant for retreat and reflection. But I noticed at the reception that you can buy Wifi access if you must.

These roof tiles were sponsored at 2€ each to replace those damaged by a storm.

There is a botanic garden of native Mallorcan plants. But it seemed to be suffering from neglect as there were no organisation or descriptions. There were no flowering plants so it wasn't that enticing visually. There were a lot of water features in the garden though.

Pressing on, the hairpin curves got more and more acute and the heights more dizzying. I took a side road. My destination was Cala Tuent, a small cove. But the road was the star of the show. At this point, the road engineers had to make the road loop back under itself to change direction by 270°. This picture is the best I could do; it was not possible to stand back far enough to capture the whole loop. A bar is under the arch for people to refresh themselves after marvelling at this feat of road engineering.

This is how the road continues downhill from there. I began to wonder if the cove was worth this scary drive. But I thought, if I don't go, in years to come I will wonder what I missed. So I girded myself and set off again.

I was glad I had a petrol car (a Chevrolet Aveo) instead of a diesel like on Menorca. The engine was more responsive and the handling was better. But I didn't like the shape of the car. The side pillars were thick, obstructing part of the view and the turning radius was larger than I'm used to.

Cala Tuent looks prettier from afar than when you get there. The beach is pebbly and there is very little parking.

The verges of the road were lined with yellow gorse, making it a colourful drive.

After Cala Tuent, I returned to the main mountain road and continued past Georg Blau, a catchment area for Mallorca, to the viewpoint of Mirador de ses Barques. There is a view of Port de Sóller from there and I recognised the cove where I had been over a couple of weeks ago. By now the afternoon haze had moved in.

It was clear that I was over optimistic about driving the whole length of the Serra de Tramuntana route in a day. I would have to do the southern half the next day. When I looked at the odometer, I had covered 250 km. Less 120 km from Palma to Port Pollença twice meant that all those bends had effectively doubled the length of the mountain trip compared to as the crow flies.