Hola!
We left with David at 8:30 this morning to catch a train around 9 in Croyden right near his office. He parked and walked us into the station, making sure we got on the right train headed for Gatwick Airport. I tell you, it was just amazing being so well taken care of! It was VERY sad to leave David and Sandra, and we were all quiet on the train, taking in the views once more and thinking about how very wonderful and TOO SHORT our stay there had been.
One nice thing about going to Hever Castle yesterday was that it gave me a lot of time to talk with Sandra in the car. She’s such a warm and wonderful person, and I hope we’ll stay in closer touch now. I regret letting so many years go by without more than Christmas cards! They felt like family twenty-four years ago, and they feel like family now.
We had an uneventful flight to Palma, landing just a bit late. Our friend, Mandy, and her seven-year-old son, Eli, met us right outside baggage claim. The girls immediately hit it off with him and were running around playing tag while we dealt with the car rental. Mandy was extraordinarily helpful, first translating from German to Spanish for the people in front of us, and then helping us decide what to get. The rental agent spoke very good English.
We picked up our car (a stick shift!) and then followed Mandy to our hotel. Thank goodness they drive on the right!! The hotel is a very nice place. Not fancy, but it does have two outdoor pools and an indoor one, which the girls are already trying out.
Mandy had brought a big stack of Mallorca books and maps, and sat down with me to help me get oriented. She said they have activities with their homeschool group nearly every day, and that we’re welcome to go along on whatever we want. Most of the kids speak Spanish in their families, and some speak only a little English. So they’re going to try to speak Spanish with the girls. That would be too wonderful! Mandy had also brought some food to get us started in our two-bedroom kitchenette unit. She showed us how to make a very typical Mallorcan snack. You take a slice of their rustic bread (which is made without salt!), rub half a fresh tomato on it, drizzle it with olive oil, and sprinkle it with salt. It was delicous! The olive oil she’d brought was made from olives they’d picked themselves.
It feels like Hawaii here. Warm and a bit humid, lots of palm trees. After the girls are finished swimming, we’ll head across the terrace to the beach.
Tomorrow we’re meeting Mandy and two other homeschooling families at a café in downtown Palma, about fifteen minutes from here. If the WiFi they said they have here at the hotel actually WORKED, I’d look up the directions on Google maps. But it’s currently not working, even though I’m sitting in the lobby, very near the router, watching the girls swim as I type. So I’ll have to send this later. I texted David and asked him to email Dale to tell him we’d arrived safely.
We´ll head for an ice cream place, and then maybe go to the castle on the hill. It´ll be fun to get to know more locals.
I’d better look at my Mallorca guidebooks so I can tell Mandy what kinds of things we’re interested in doing. It was nice for her to have guests from the U.S. who arrived fresh and ready to have fun, not jet-lagged from a long journey.
Kathy