It’s that time of year. The time when we begin to feel the first real chill in the air and can tell that winter will be coming before too long. This means it is also time to start planning for a winter getaway to somewhere warmer. This year, we are thinking about a trip to the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca.
While it is not tropical, it is certainly pleasant and frost-free throughout the winter months, with the added bonus of being much less crowded than during the summer season. For us it is also very convenient for traveling with our daughter’s family that lives in Paris. Just a short flight, which makes it easier for our grandchildren to come along on this adventure.
With six of us in the extended family traveling together, we will certainly be looking for accommodations that go above and beyond the average hotel, so we were thrilled to find the best holiday apartments for families in Mallorca. The Casa Vida Apartments by Reverence Hotels, right on the lovely Santa Ponsa beach, certainly meet all of our requirements. The set up is perfect for a group like ours with 1 and 2-bedroom family apartments completely renovated in modern Mediterranean style.
Each unit includes a complete kitchen with everything we could need, plus individual bathrooms, a spacious living room, and separate bedrooms. It makes for a fantastic and comfortable home base for our exploring the Mediterranean magnificence of Mallorca.
And the wintertime is the best time for much of what we want to see and do on the island because the crowds of summer are long gone. That means we will have no trouble getting into all of the attractions such as the truly remarkable Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma. This nearly eight hundred year old church has seen many changes through the years, including extensive renovations done by none other than our favorite architect, Antoni Gaudí, back in the early nineteen hundreds.
His influence is certainly still very apparent but this massive structure has plenty of other historic features and is perhaps best known for the enormous rose stained-glass window in the the central nave. It has become a symbol of the island and is the second largest Gothic rose window in the world behind the Strasbourg Cathedral in France. As an added bonus, the Royal Palace of La Almudaina is right next door. So why not drop by?
While us adults will be thrilled to see these historic sites, the kids might not be as enthusiastic, but we are sure that they will love the Palma Aquarium. Widely acclaimed as one of Europe’s finest and most interactive aquariums, kids of all ages will enjoy the wide array of experiences available such as diving with sharks and snorkeling with stingrays.
Through their 3D virtual tours all of us, grandparents, parents, and kids, can have the chance to get up close and personal with humpback whales and explore the entire undersea world of the Balearic Islands and the Mediterranean Sea. Personally, I am really looking forward to the amazing jellyfish tank too.
For an outdoor adventure we certainly don’t want to miss the incredible Torrent de Pareis. Two sheer rock walls form this landmark canyon that opens into the sea in a spectacular scene. It is not all that easy to get to, but we discovered that there are tours, one that even includes a ride on a classic narrow gauge train, that will takes us all right to the cliffs in comfort. Anyone who has followed us in the past knows that we love trains, and I’m happy to report that so do our grandkids.
Kids also love castles, and Bellver Castle is a good one. The massive stone structure has overlooked and protected the city of Palma for over seven hundred years. Although the protection part of that equation has not been in the picture for quite some time. These days the fortress serves as the city’s historical museum and a great place for our two grand daughters to pretend to be princesses.
With all of this and more it looks like we will certainly be making some family history of our own.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
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