I’ve been wanting to do this tour ever since reading about it in July - thank so much littlebird as I had no idea that this sort of excursion existed. We have never done an organised trip in Mallorca. We've visited several of the sights over the years but mainly by car so the poor driver i.e. my husband, doesn't get to see much - he was particularly impressed.
This excursion is run by
No Frills Excursions on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout their season which I think runs from April-October. The itinerary changes slightly on the days as you visit different markets – Santa Margalida & Sineu on Tuesday and Maria de la Salut & Binnisalem on Friday. The BBQ lunch at the finca, owned by ‘grandma’ is the same for both as is the very entertaining guide Michael. The tour costs 28 EUR per adult (but you can get a 5% discount online) and lasts all day.
Guests are picked up from various points in Puerto Pollensa,
Cala San Vicente, Pollensa and Alcudia – just tell them where you are staying and they’ll nominate a pick-up point – ours was the
Hotel Puerto Azul. While waiting we spoke to one lady who had already done the tour four times! We booked on-line from home as I was worried it may not run if they didn’t know about participants in advance. How wrong I was. The coach was absolutely full! Apparently it is often full outside of July & Aug and I have to say that the age of clientèle reflected that although there were a few young ones.
So even though we've been coming to the island for over 25 years, we learnt a lot that day from Michael our very informative guide. First stop was Maria de la Salud, a tiny place with a very small market and two or three cafes nearby where you could use the loos after buying a coffee. It made as realise that we should explore these quieter places more often – if we can park! That was the advantage of being in a bright orange coach. At the market Michael purchased the white onions for the Trampo.
Next stop was Binissalem. First we had a wander around Casa Museu Llorenç Villalonga the house of the late Mallorcan author LLorenc Villalonga. As Michael had warned us nearly everything was in Catalan with some notices in Spanish but you did get a good idea of an old Mallorcan house. Apparently Villalonga died in 1980 but it still had some amazing electrical wiring. Then on to Binissalem market. I trailed Michael for a while to see what he was choosing. A bad move as I then had to carry 2 large carrier bags of tomatoes. He also bought the pale green peppers and melons – more volunteers needed to help carry them. It wasn’t so easy to find a table at a café here so we found a supermarket, bought a can of drink and some croissants and sat on a wall to eat them. By now were pretty hungry and needed to line our stomachs for the next event.
We then regrouped at the market and were given the option of wine testing for 2 EUR each. Not many of us turned this down but you could have an hour on your own if you didn’t fancy it. The bodega we visited was Vins Can Novell. The owner Andreas took us through the 6 wines he had chosen all featuring local grapes. The three younger wines cost only 2 EUR each and the more mature sweet wines which were lovely 5 or 6 EUR – we bought 3 bottles, now sitting in the fridge patiently waiting for our return.
And finally we were on our way to lunch at the finca. A massive barbecue was being prepared by Juan to cook pieces of marinated pork and chicken – they are happy to provide roasted vegetables if you don’t eat meat. First we all made our own starter of Pa Amb Oli by rubbing half a cut ramallet tomato on a slice of Mallorcan bread, drizzling over olive oil and sprinkling with salt and that was it and it was delicious especially accompanied by a glass of Kalimotxo – a refreshing mixture of red wine from the bodega and coke poured over ice (introduced to me by the coach driver!). Next 6 volunteers prepared the Trampo by chopping up pale green peppers, white onions and firm tomatoes and mixing with olive oil. Along with the barbecued meat, more bread, more kalimotxo and sunshine, it was fabulous.
And finally back home on our Orange coach. Not surprisingly Michael told us about the other tours offered. Several people were already booked on one covering Valldemossa and Soller but we fancy doing their Island Tour next year – coach to Sa Calobra, boat to Port Soller where you can have lunch, tram to Soller, the wooden train to Palma and finally home on the coach. If the quality of Rural Mallorca tour is anything to by, the Island Tour will be another winner – and welcomed by the family driver too!