Just back from our 9th trip to the Port.
A different villa this year, Rospola, very traditional, lovely garden & pool, & underfloor heating, which we really appreciated last week!
Arrived Sunday, huge queue for Goldcar, gets worse each year. Whilst their headline price is much cheaper than most, factor in €110 for a tank of diesel (no, they wouldn’t agree full/empty on a 6 day hire) & long delays, & it makes us wonder for next time. Still, we got a brand new Peugeot Partner, which was good fun.
Quick whizz up the motorway, dropped the bags off, then Pollensa market, not quite as thronged as usual, but a nice buzz to start us off.
Sunday night, Tango. 3 menu del dia, €16.80 + tax, 1 omelette & chips, can’t remember total bill, but great value as ever, youngest almost full after spag bol starter, but still made a pretty good impression on roast chicken. Lovely service & welcome in this favourite.
Monday, Little Italy, everyone looking forward to this after only discovering it last year via this forum, & it was as good as we remembered. 3 pizzas, 1 pasta, we were tempted into puds as well, about €100 with bottle of chianti, a large beer, water, & 4 soft drinks. It was damp that evening, so no terrace tables, we had a short wait to be seated, best to book.
Tuesday, the heavens opened. We went to Decathlon/Alcampo at Port D’Inca for bits & pieces, & to use some of our expensive diesel (any locals want to set up a siphon arrangement?). The motorway was awash, visibility down to <100 yards, & many drivers pulled over to the side. Water cascading off the mall roof, huge rivers running across the car park, apparently it was chaos in Palma.
The weather had cheered up a bit, so we went to Yolanda’s next to the beach at Playa Muro for a late lasagne lunch, a family tradition going back 11 years, & raised a glass to my late father, ventured into the sea where we used to stand & set the world to rights. Happy times, Dad.
3 lasagne, tuna salad, pizza, large beer, large tinto, 2 soft drinks, €34, good, freshly cooked food, generous portions, best value around.
So full we didn’t eat that night, other than to scoff cheese & grapes with a tinto or 2.
Wednesday, best meal of the week (?!), home made chicken chorizo arrabiata pasta around the big traditional table, washed down with Siglo.
Thursday, ordered take away pizzas from Little Italy, good to see it full when we collected at 7:15.
Popped round to see John Lynam play at The Hideaway. Fantastic versions of eclectic material for guitar & bass. Chatted muso / Brum stuff with John & bass player, sorry, forgot your name, friendly welcome, shame not more people there, he plays Tuesdays & Thursdays, well worth the detour to Gotmar.
Friday, Neptuno. They are really trying hard, fast attentive service, friendly staff. Well priced wine list. Tapas come in 3 sizes – small for consumption at bar only. We mixed sizes, 10 between 4, with Rioja Reserva, large beer, 2 water & soft drink, €79, great value, good food ( only slight reservation was size of large albondigas portion, lots of sauce, not many meatballs, unless youngest pinched some when I wasn’t looking). The place has been well renovated, but still keeps its old charm, we hope it does well, the dessert menu should be up & running anytime.
All in all, an enjoyable week, although the edge taken off by the variable weather. We became adept ‘shadow watchers’ - as soon as we saw one, we raced outside to make the most of the available sun.
The Port is showing many signs of new life, lots of places opening, more of a buzz about it than in the last couple of years, we thought. Fun watching the guys put the sunshades up – tossing the straw tops onto the frame like pizza dough – I expect they got the hang of it after the first couple of dozen.
It’s funny, time seems to slow down when we’re there, but sitting back at home, it seems only minutes ago that we were setting off, & now we have to wait for another year for our next PP fix…..