Everyone has heard of Mallorca (Majorca), the major island (get it?) of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Ibiza is not that island, but everyone in Europe knows about this one. We were told that "foam discos" were invented here and that the constant partying in the summer doesn't even begin until 2 am. Catalan is spoken but not by me. So, you'd might think that this would be a good place for an "in port sea day". Instead it was one of the nicest days on the voyage.
We watched the cathedral atop the walled Old City appear under the setting gibbous moon. As the little Silver Wind was almost as big as the hill the town is built on, we also watched a woman do her morning exercises and a peeping Tom watching her. It was fantastic to sail right into the downtown area, but the ominous construction out of town of what appears to be another cruise pier complex will destroy this port like so many others. The "Dalt Vila" within the wall is a Spanish National Monument because it is the only remaining walled, cathedral topped, medieval city with foam discos in Europe--if I got the Fodor's Guide's description correct. We bolted off the ship as soon the authorities--a small dog held by a policeman--cleared the ship and followed a stone faced local's direction to the top of the hill. The Old Town must be so old as to be deceased as it was very, very quiet. What fun! We took lots of pictures, found that most the town outside the wall had free WiFi with various speeds of Internet access and then walked outside the walled city to watch lots of sleepy European tourists clean the foam out of their discos at the wide boulevard cafes. We had a beer at the cafe with the best Internet speeds and returned to the ship after a lovely day in this sleepy town when the foamers are not active.
Tomorrow we will join the Majors at Majorca and try to take the vintage train. Since it has been operating daily without interruption since 1917, this is a chance it won't be cancelled.
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