Mallorca...the Long and Winding Road...

...that leads to our little rural (campo) casa. The road is Cynthia's nemesis...a true test of her fear of heights. From the the town of Esporles in the picturesque and rugged northwest reaches of the island, the road down to our little village of about eighty homes is a sometimes sheer descent of 4kilometers through stone, oak, and pine covered hillside. 27 hairpin turns, blind corners, single lane widths...fun if you've got a bit of Evil Knievel in you (I have more than I thought!) but not so for my dear wife!

The house is simple but wonderfully set up. Turns out the owner is a professor of tourism in Palma de Mallorca (the big city) and a believer in trying to connect tourists with the land of this beautiful island. I've been weeding and clipping and training vines in the garden. We've taken a few walks and had a very expensive and underwhelming lunch at one of the two cafes in the village below. There is a rocky "beach" but it isn't much of a place to hang.a..and it has been unseasonably cool. I've managed to get burnt sitting and gardening in the sun at the house nonetheless.

An Afternoon in Valdemossa

One of our first days on Mallorca and we spent a leisurely afternoon exploring the picturesque hill town of Valdemossa...about a thirty minute drive through twisting and narrow roads and fantastic orchards of ancient Olive trees. The overall sense of history and time...eons...is palpable and somehow deeply soothing to me. I like the land and the feeling of this region a lot.

Valdemossa has been a favorite of literati over the centuries, Robert Graves, Georges Sand, Chopin, and more recently Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have ensconced themselves here. Its not hard to understand the attraction as the town is spectacularly set in a rugged internal valley close to the north coast town of Deia. Entirely built of stone, the town is romantic, picturesque, soulful, and just darn beautiful.

Valdemossa, Round Two!

Okay, I said I liked this area a lot! Ian and I spent a morning scouting the region... I've got tons of great pics to share, so here are a group we got in a quick second walking tour through parts of the town we didn't see the first visit. Just goes to show that you really can't see a place very well in a day. Multiple visits equates to a deeper understanding and perspective...something to remember in travel...and in design.