Honeymoon- Day 4 (4/22/2011)

We began the day eating another delicious breakfast, which included ensaimadas, a light and airy Mallorcan pastry (similar to a croissant) that is sometimes filled with flavored cream; a selection of breads and fruits, and the fixins for pa amb oli.  Pa amb oli is the Mallorcan salt-free bread called pa.  The bread is rubbed with a tomato and topped with olive oil and salt.  It is much like bruschetta, but it is traditional to top it with meats and or cheese.  It is simple, but delicious.  The hostess at the hotel also has the mother of one of her employees make yummy pastries made from potatoes.  They were so light and fluffy, I thought there was something lost in translation.  Apparently, they are on the menu every morning, so we're in for another treat today.

After breakfast, we were off to Muro.  Muro is surrounded by agriculture and the fields along the drive were replaced with vibrant green farmland.  As with other towns, the church was impressive.  Note the size of the car in comparison to the size of the church.  This time, the church was open and they had the statues on display from the procession the night before.  To put them in context, they're more like small parade floats.  And these floats were significantly more elaborately adorned than the Alcudia floats.  Every inch of the base of the float was covered with flowers or other natural element.  Several floats had silky white sprouts spilling off the side, which kind of made it look like the statues were sitting on a cloud.  It was clear they had built them with pride. 

After Muro, we went to Port d'Alcudia, the coastal neighbor of our current home.  It was a bit of an overcast day, but the sea was lovely.  An inadvertent wrong turn took us to Platja de Sant Joan (a beach), but we were on a mission to find Ermita de la Victoria, which rests up a long windy hill that hugged the cliffs along the Mediterranean.  It was a bit of a nail biter to get there, but I had to go visit my namesake afterall.  Victoria is Alcudia's patron saint.  Ermita means chapel and it was a large building for such a small chapel. According to the tour books, the ermita was built up on top of the mountain so pirates would not be able to steal the Virgin Mary.  After a short hike to see the three crosses further up the mountain, it was back to the hotel in Alcudia for some rest.

At night, we went to Pollenca to watch the Good Friday procession.  Pollenca has 365 steps that lead from the top of town to the church at the center of town.  The procession was much like the Holy Thursday procession with hooded faithful solemnly walking down the steps carrying candles.  There was only one statue, that of Jesus laid out after he was removed from the cross.  That statue was flanked by men dressed as Roman soldiers.  The procession ended with a band and religious chanting.  It was hyped in the tour books, so the turn out was incredible.  I think Tony and I preferred the lesser-promoted Alcudia procession from the night before.  It was more quaint. 

I promise this isn't a Klan rally

Our trip to Pollenca ended with a great meal.  It felt soooo European- we sat down after 10 pm at a table that sat on the Placa Major in Pollenca.  We ordered the menu del dia, which is essentially a prix fixe, and had tortilla espanola (yum!) with a salad for me and spinach lasagne for tony.  For 20 Euro, we each got entrees, a drink and dessert- apple cake for me, bread pudding for Tony.  While we have raved about our breakfasts, this was the first dinner that was worthy of raving.

We have really liked our stay in Alcudia.  I think this area has sealed it for me.  We will be returning.