Honeymoon Day 3 (4/21/2011)
Despite over-sleeping the day before, we were able to wake up for breakfast at our Sa Coma hotel. It was a delicious buffet. There were great options, but both of us noticed the absence of potato products. We had beans instead, though, so the loss was not great. Tony liked the buffet so much, he subconsciously made a happy face with his food.
From Sa Coma, we travelled to Manacor, which was significantly more urban than the other places we visited. The trip to Manacor was marked by the need to back up hill when the parking garage was closed (a nerve wracking feat for being newly reintroduced to stick shift driving), entering a one-way street going the wrong way (followed by backing up down the street) and, as with all Mallorcan towns, a lovely cathedral.
We did not stay in Manacor long and Sant Joan was next on the list. I am sensing that I will be a broken record here, but the town was charming, with narrow streets and stone buildings. And, of course, there was an impressive church. It was fun to roam the streets with no particular purpose.
A large mansion (finca) was open for self-guided tours just outside of Sant Joan, called Els Calderers. The finca was a large, stone building in excellent repair. It was fun getting a glimpse into history. I think we were equally impressed by the grounds. The dense grassy plains, spotted with wild flowers and neighboring orchards and vineyards were surrounded by rolling hills. It was breathtaking. It has reminded me of Napa before the explosion of vineyards.

From Sant Joan, we travelled to Petra. Petra is the birthplace of Fr. Junipero Serra; and, as any California 4th grader will tell you, he founded the missions. Junipero Serra is immortalized throughout the town. Nearly every doorway has a plaque in his honor. The random Junipero Serra monuments can be found all over the town- from tiles bearing his image embedded in buildings, to artwork depicting the missions to a statue in a Placa Junipero Serra. We really enjoyed Petra. It was easy to walk and there were plenty Junipero Serra sights, including the church, to keep us busy. Unfortunately, we were there smack dab in the middle of siesta, so we didn't see the inside of many places.
After Petra, we went to Sineu and had the best cheese sandwich of our lives. It was simple, a fresh baguette, good cheese, a little olive oil and some salt. So simple, but so incredibly good! Not surprisingly, Sineu had a lovely church as well. We also strolled by the building that was formerly the king's palace , which is now occupied by nuns. After Sineu, it was on to Sencelles for wine tasting. We tried a wine made with Montonegro, a Mallorcan varietal. It was quite delicious, and a steal at 6 euro a bottle. We got there right before closing, but they were very kind and opened a bottle of wine for us.
The tricky thing about Mallorca is that it is a haven for British and German tourists, so nearly every place you go, they speak both German and English. In fact, over the first few days, I was inspired to speak more German than Spanish. And, their English is so much better than my Spanish, no one wants to sit through my broken Spanish, so they encourage us to speak English. This winery was the exception and I was able to effectively communicate en espanol.
Afterward, we headed to our hotel in Alcudia. Alcudia was founded a 2nd Century Roman town and the formal capitol. It is surrounded by a 14th century wall. The wall served as an effective deterrent for us when we were trying to find our way to the hotel. Ultimately, we gave up and found it on foot. When we found the hotel, we learned we had parked in the lot that was closest to it, a five minute walk away. The hotel, where we will be staying two nights, is quite nice. It has more of a B & B vibe, but they thought of everything, down to the rose petals on the canopied bed. We are on the 2nd floor (which Europeans call the first floor) and we have a small balcony overlooking the street.
It was Holy Thursday, so there was a bit of a buzz in anticipation. The old Mallorcan women have been out en masse cleaning their blinds. At first I thought it was just what they did, but now I wonder if they all have been getting ready for the procession. I have been looking for the words to describe this procession. It is a solemn, religious event, where the costumed faithful march, holding candles, from the church to the center of town and back. Large statues are carried by teams of men depicting St. John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, as well as scenes from the Passion of Christ. A live person, dressed as Christ, walks barefoot with the group holding the cross, chained at the waist and flanked by guards. Two marching bands are in the procession, playing solemn music and banging drums. It is a very elaborate event. We were able to watch it both from the restaurant where we ate dinner and from our hotel.
A word about the participants' costumes. Most of the candle holding processors are cloaked in white robes with colored robes over them and, notably, they wear a coned mask, just like the KKK. The masks (capirotes) have been used long before the KKK took them over. It was an eerie experience. Obviously, the experience is intended to be very serious and moving, but we were very distracted by the Klan hats. Adding to the discontinuity, the Klan hatted participants handed out candy to the children on the procession route.
We are definitely glad we saw it, though. After the procession, we went to the hotel and promptly fell asleep with all of the lights on. We might be close to getting on their sleeping schedule!
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