"Palma, Majorca 7th June"
"The gang (minus Jane)"
"The shuttle took us from the ship and dropped us off by the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma (known locally as Le Seu) on the Paseo Marítimo promenade, which as you can see from the boulders is man-made, specifically to enable a road to be constructed along the coast in the 1960's."
"For centuries, the Mediterranean lapped against the city walls, shown on the left hand side, but this changed after the construction of the road. The Parc de la Mer, which is a salt water lake, was constructed in the 1970's after the road was complete and opened in 1984 to restore natural beauty to the area and has remained a favorite with locals ever since."
"The Cathedral makes a stunning back-drop to the lake. The building to the left of the cathedral is the the Royal Palace of La Almudaina; it’s elevated position overlooking the Bay of Palma lent it great strategic importance throughout the ages (more on this in a later slide)."
"The cathedral was built over several centuries as a consequence of a vow made by the King of Aragon, Jaume I. During a heavy storm and perilous journey to take the island from the Moors, the young monarch promised that if he landed safely and completed his mission he would build a magnificent church in honour of the Virgin Mary. While a foundation stone was symbolically placed in 1229, it wasn’t until the beginning of the 14th century (under the reign of Jaume II, the son of Jaume I) that construction began in earnest. With its building spread over several centuries, various influences (Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque) are visible throughout, including reconstructions in the neo-Gothic style following an earthquake in 1851. The influence of Gaudí can be seen inside with his distinctive Art Nouveau technique."
"Due to the queues we were unable (unwilling to wait) to enter the cathedral which was a shame as the inside is quite stunning. As I have no photos of my own I have cribbed a few from the internet just to show what we missed. The picture on the right shows Gaudi's 'Crown of Thorns' which he designed and started but was finished by one of his pupils Joan Rubio.
Gaudi seems to have a history of not finishing anything because as with the Segrada Familia he gave up on the Palma Cathedral after 10 years due to unwanted criticism of his work and it was then finished by a couple of his pupils."
"We were in Palma on a Saturday and this appears to be a recruitment drive for the armed forces with various tanks and armoured vehicles on display and children climbing all over them."
"The Royal Palace of La Almudaina, next to the Cathedral; its elevated position overlooking the Bay of Palma lent it great strategic importance throughout the ages. The palace is currently the official residence of the King and Queen of Spain. That said, it’s unlikely you’ll catch a glimpse of the royals as they tend to stay at their Marivent residence. It is also the Balearics military command post, as well as a museum."
"Jane holding up a tree."
"The giant panda which rotated and went up and down obviously had someone inside and was simply another way to beg money from passers by."
"A sandle for Big-Foot."
"Modes of transport and I can tell you what my preference is for and it's not the bike. Typical Latin style; not everyone co-ordinates their clothes with their scooter - QUALITY!!"
"You will probably have noticed that at all our ports of call we have ended up in a bar, eating and drinking, LOL." 
Our next port of call was Palma, Mallorca which is a distant memory for me from a previous life. Another lovely day and a short shuttle ride into the sea-front area by the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma. From here we walked up to the cathedral via the Parc de la Mer where the Saturday crowds were out to see the armed forces recruitment drive.
The cathedral is an awsome building that overlooks the sea and before they built the road that runs round the coast was right next to the water which lapped against the cathedral and castle walls. There was a long queue to get into the cathedral and we weren't patient enough to wait and go in which is a shame as my research showed how stunning the interior is.
Other than the cathedral and castle, there was not much else to see without going further afield and so we decided to have another relaxing day before returning to the ship. The best sight of the day (possibly the holiday) was a colour co-ordinated female scooter rider dressed in a red jump suit with a white helmet and sandles sitting on a red Vespa scooter. I'm tempted to blow this up and pin it on the wall of my study to inspire me when writing my blogs (see last slide). I used to sit on my Vespa in a Parka with lights and chrome all over the scooter and never looked this good (LOL)