GR 221 – day 8 / 9

Palma de Mallorca

Monday, 4th March 2024

We wake up late. Jozef makes coffee in the moka pot that’s in the apartment, and we finish off the mini croissants we had for the trip. We pack our things and just make it for check-out before 10 AM. It’s still windy outside, but the sun is shining.

We head toward the beach and take a walk by the sea. We reach the cathedral and find an empty bench.

I’m writing my blog, and Jozef is reading the news. We’re in no hurry, just relaxing. We look for a restaurant that serves paella. They open in an hour, so we take a stroll around the city. We walk around the cathedral, where several dozen street vendors are selling fake handbags, caps, and all sorts of things.

We wonder who buys these things and why? We arrive at the restaurant and sit outside, where they have blankets. We chose this place because they serve paella in a pan, and they bring the whole thing to your table. We order coffee and wait for half an hour. The atmosphere is very pleasant, and the waiter, who seems to be the owner, is really kind. Soon, a rather loud German couple sits at the table next to us, which we find amusing. The paella is great, though there are a lot of tiny shrimp that can’t really be eaten. I also try mussels for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Germans next to us manage to finish off a bottle of wine. After finishing our meal, we head to our accommodation, which is over half an hour away on foot. We’re staying with a woman named Chris, who rents out a room in her apartment. Sofia, who also lives there, opens the door for us. We rest for a bit, and I take a short nap. In the evening, I book an escape room called Warehouse 232. We head back to the city. On the way, we stop at a fancy tea shop. Jozef buys Puer tea, which is sold in a form that looks like a chocolate bar. Then we grab a can of beer and head to the cathedral to watch the sunset.

There isn’t much of a sunset since it’s getting cloudy, but the beer reminds me of my Erasmus days. We head to the escape room. It wasn’t very good. There were few puzzles, just one room with locks, which anyone could set up at home, and it didn’t make much sense, despite the good reviews. At least they took the only photo of us from the whole trip.

I left feeling a bit disappointed. For dinner, we went to an Argentine restaurant, Bolixe, because you can pay with Bitcoin there. We ordered the menu for two, which included three types of steak and some potatoes—so, meat for Jozef and potatoes for me.

Well, not really—I did try a bit of everything. Lots of new things for me today. We were tired, so we didn’t go anywhere else and went straight to bed.

The journey to the airport

Tuesday, 5th March 2024

11 km – total 197 km

I wake up quite early. From the window, I watch the sunrise and see the cats patrolling the rooftops below. Our flight is at 1 PM, and we decide to walk the 11 km to the airport. We pack and leave at 8:30 AM, both wearing shorts. On the way, we stop for coffee and buy some pastries at a store for the trip home. The weather is fantastic, which is a bit frustrating because it arrived just as we’re leaving, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

At least we enjoy the last rays of sun on Mallorca. We walk along a busy promenade by the sea. My feet are really hurting, so we take frequent breaks.

We turn off from the promenade toward the airport, where there’s no one around, and light our gas stove to use up the gas cartouche before throwing it out. It takes a while. A smaller (100g) cartouche would have been enough, but I convinced Jozef to bought the larger one. We’ll know better next time. Security checks go quickly, and we browse the duty-free shop. Since the airport is so big, it’s time to head to our gate. At the very end of the terminal, we fill up our water bottles. Boarding begins, and a stern staff member is checking for people with more luggage than allowed. She seems to have a sharp eye for who won’t get away with it. Jozef and I might have slightly oversized bags, but we’re dressed normally—no jackets or scarves—and we don’t have extra bags. So if they do pick us, we’ll just put on more clothes and the measurments will be alright.

We’re already seated on the plane. We have middle seats, but at least we’re sitting behind each other. An older lady with her husband Rainy approaches Jozef and firmly insists he move because she has the window seat and assumes her husband is sitting next to her. They probably don’t fly low-cost airlines often. It seems they bought their tickets at the airport, and since everyone who doesn’t pay for seat selection gets seated in the middle, they didn’t get two seats together. We resolve the confusion with another man who speaks some German. In the end, Jozef takes Rainy’s seat by the window. I fall asleep immediately and sleep through most of the flight.

In Vienna, we hurry as our BlaBlaCar driver is waiting for us. It’s a bit tricky to find each other, but we manage, and he drives us all the way to Trnava, allowing us to catch an earlier train to Partizánske. Our friend Lenka, who goes to work in Bratislava once a week, saves us a seat on the train. The journey passes quickly, and by 7:30 PM, we’re home.

Trip review

In total, we walked almost 200 km, with an elevation gain of over 7,500 m. Mallorca caught us off guard in many ways. Mainly, we didn’t expect the weather—half of the trip was rainy, and we only had two dry nights. Instead of the dry stone route, it was more like a wet stone route. The lesson here is not to go so ultra-light and instead pay for baggage and bring a tent. It would’ve given us more freedom, letting us camp even in the rain, and it would have been more comfortable overall. In the end, it would have been cheaper because we wouldn’t have spent so much on accommodation.

With extra baggage, we could have also brought a knife, which we had to buy there, and trekking poles, which turned out to be more important than I realized. When I got home, I googled what could be wrong with my feet since they hurt so much. I wore barefoot shoes (Xero Shoes Mesa Trail II), which I also used in Portugal, and they were fine there. I found out that because I didn’t have trekking poles and had a backpack on, I put too much strain on my feet. Since I wasn’t using my arms for support, all the weight was on my feet, which couldn’t handle it in the last few days. I could still walk, but not distributing the load properly really hurt me. So, no more hikes without poles.

Despite these issues, I’m glad we went to Mallorca. All the inconveniences, like the rain and sore feet, are now just part of the story I’m writing for you. I hope you enjoyed this journey with us and will follow us on our next adventures!