August 28th to September 5th


We toured Ibiza by car and visited many villages and their Churches and also
the Caves of Can Marco.  We had to climb up and down many, many steps along
the mountain side to come to the entrance of the Cave.  The caves were used
by smugglers.  They only had about three feet to crawl through and it was
about 1km long.  The thieves marked the stalactites and stalagmites with red
and green dye to show their way.  We visited a fort that was huge and found
a little village with the greatest silver shop!!!!!

We did a great deal of boat errands when we arrived in Mallorca (Real Club
Nautico) and finally got off the boat and did some sightseeing.  We took our
bikes to the Cathedral de Mallorca which is built of golden limestone and
the Palace of La Almudaina next to it.  The Cathedral de Mallorca was
started by King Jamie I in 1229 and was completed in the 17th century.  So
far it is the most unique and unusual Cathedral I have seen.  It has about
fourteen chapels with a different artist and designer building each one with
a story told in pictures made from stone and paint. And I believe each
designer tried to out do his predecessor. The pipe organ has over 3100 pipes
and the canopy is made of wrought iron with lamps, tapestries and other
materials hanging from it.  It is over 144 feet high and 62 feet wide and it
has one of the broadest naves in the world. The Palace was rich with history
too. It was the palatial residence and it includes the Royal Chapel of Santa
Ana. It had moorish baths and tile with a touch of Roman and Gothic
architect. It is still used today for government meetings and special
occasions. Bill Clinton stayed there in 1997 when he visited Mallorca. We
also went to visit Basillica de Sant Francesc which was started by a few
Fraciscan friars and grew bigger when Prince Jaime turned in his royal
purple for the brown woolen cloth.  Many royalty went into this order and
therefore, more money.  It has two altars, one behind the other(one was the
choir room before it was hit by lightning).  It was the hardest church to
find because it is in the middle of a maze of narrow streets and small
courtyards forming the old city.

The next day we toured with a car on the west coast which reminded us of
California, Route 1.  The mountains were steep and the coastline rugged. The
countryside looked like the states southwest vista, but always with a hint
of Moors with their terracing along the hills and mountains. The villages
had houses made of beige stone with green shutters... and many of the
villages looked make believe. We toured these villages: Portal Nous, Portal
Vells, Peguera, Santa Elm, Andraitx, Estellencs, Banyalbufar, Valldemossa,
Deia, Soller and then back to Palma thru the new tunnel.  We stopped at each
village to take pictures of their beautiful beaches or stopped to eat lunch
and to try a dessert or two or three!!!

The next day we went to visit the Poble Espanyol. We almost didn't go in,
but Rudy persuaded me. Boy, did he make a mistake!!!  There were shops from
all different parts of Spain selling their wares and I did a lot of
Christmas shopping!!  A LOT!!!!  When Rudy finally dragged me away,(yes he
did!!) we went to Manacor to visit the Pearl Factories. (more Christmas
shopping) and then on to the Caves of Drach and Hams.  The Drach Caves were
the biggest caves (2 km long)we have been in and the most abundant.  The
ceiling looked like it had moss growing, but they were stalactites.  There
was also Lake Martel (177 me in long) in which we were given a mini concert
by a quartet playing from a lighted dory floating on the underground lake in
the pitch black darkness of the cave. It was wonderful!  Also, we had about
500-600 people on the tour with us unlike the Hams Caves where we were only
six people.  The Hams(Hooks in Mallorcan) Caves were called that because of
the white transparent stalactites and stalagmites shaped liked fishing
hooks. These caves were smaller, but were lighted with colored lights which
made them come alive.  In fact, many of the Stalactites and Stalagmites took
the shape of different animals, people, buildings, etc. They also had a mini
concert with a duet playing in a lighted dory on a smaller lake.

Today our engine is back in shape, but the weather is bad, so we will wait
to move to an anchorage in a day or two. Rudy and I do a great deal of bike
riding.  We do many errands and sight seeing each day and I even biked to
Poble Espanyol to get a couple of more things and Rudy has traveled far and
wide finding parts for the boat.

Well, we got the bill for our stay in Mallorca and the three days in
Mallorca cost as much as three weeks in Gibraltar!!!  But without an engine
there was not much we could do.