Mallorca

This was my first trip with Francesco Lietti and Pietro Martocchi, and it’s also the oldest one here. February 2019: in the morning I was at the University of Milano-Bicocca sitting my Programming 1 exam, and by the evening I was driving around Palma de Mallorca in a rented Ford Fiesta. A Ryanair flight from Orio al Serio, four days, no real plan. Without knowing it, we’d already found the formula we’d repeat for years.

Coves in winter

In February Mallorca is a different island. The beaches are empty, the sea is rough and the water is around 14 degrees, which is an excellent reason to just look at it. We drove along the coast more or less at random, stopping wherever the road let us: cliffs, a deserted beach, a turquoise cove with boathouses and little white houses with green doors.

At sunset we stopped below a lighthouse for a toast. With orange juice, because the prosecco was too expensive. Paella for dinner, and a bottle of limoncello they gave us on the house, to be finished within the next twenty minutes. We did our best.

The Tramuntana and Sóller

On the third day we headed up into the Serra de Tramuntana. The first road we picked ended at a sign: “carretera cortada a 250 mts, zona militar”. U-turn. The next one was beautiful, with a stretch where the tarmac runs through a narrow gap between two walls of rock. In the evening we came down to Sóller, just in time to see the old wooden tram cross the square.

We spent the last morning in Palma, among the arcades and the yellow façades with green shutters, before the flight home.

Practical notes

• In winter the island is quiet and a long weekend is plenty to get around by car. Swimming, at 14 degrees, is optional.
• Before taking minor roads in the mountains, check they’re open: we ran into one closed off as a military zone.
• If you go to Sóller, stay until the evening to see the tram go by.