jaume who?

we recently got back from a holiday to the isle of majorca. on our first day the locals were wrapping up their yearly celebration of the conquest of the moors by king jaume I. we had booked one of those last minute deals and were blissfully unaware of any festivals and were surprised to find many of the local kids strange costumes. also, the locals started gathering already in early afternoon along the main street to secure prime spots to see the parade.







we thought that maybe this tourist hadn't noticed what was behind her...i think that cactus was too close for comfort.







the parade had moors on horseback, fair ladys of the king's court, knights and such.







there were stalls of all sorts by the main beach. the merchants were dressed in period clothing and selling, among other things, jewellery, colorful ceramics, potions and lotions, clothing, (very smelly) cheeses, toys. this lady sold artisanal breads and sweet pastries. needless to say, i ate way too many pastries...







the merchant of this tent was selling pastries and tea. we didn't have tea but had some pastries with all sorts nutty (pistachios, almonds) fillings.







these "knights" were selling pan dulce ala brasa. having sampled at too many stalls before this, we didn't taste any...







...but these kids we waiting to have some.







this stall had a huge wood burning grill for different kind of sausages and pork ribs. they also served cooked ham (the whole hind legs cooking in huge pots) and octopussy (which was yammy!)







certain someone was ecstatic about the tents and the fires...







...and the atmosphere. i wished i had taken my better camera with me. having decided that this holiday would be only for taking it easy and relaxing, i left that camera home.







the scenery was to die for. this at the southern tip of santa ponsa, calvià







the weather was balmy at between +28C to +30C and the sea beautifully warm. these nuns came to admire the scenery as well. i wish i had noticed them earlier to capture them with some bikini-clad tourists...







as my family can tell, i don't swim unless the water is warm (+25C). snorkeling was fun, plenty of fish to observe.







these green birds are monk parakeets. they were (outragiously) loud and flew around in big fleets.







a motorcycle hanged on a window? nope, that was an electric bicycle, they seemed to be the latest thing, and this shop had some fancy ones for sale.







when in spain...paella...







...sangria, olives...







...and something we hadn't tasted before, avocado with capers. i had grilled squid 3 times...







the sunsets were amazing.







sigh...







ps. i was pleasantly surprised with mallorca / santa ponsa. the island seems to have a bad rep from the 70's and early 80's. there wasn't much beside the obvious touristy things to do, byt our expectations were more or less on the weather and warm sea anyway. renting a bike, scooter or a moterbike would have broadened the experience. a couple staying the same hotel told us that they had toured the island on a motorbike and were amazed by the breathtaking scenery along the western side of the isle and the mountains. will i go again? yes, but with intention to see more of the island and perhaps a little later in the autumn, or earlier in the spring.

i will finally have my surgery next week. as of late, i've been kinda down as i'm quite fed up with this waiting and waiting, and as a result haven't accoplished much, including blogging. after the surgery i would assume that there'd be plenty fo time to blog, albeit one handed...