This year, I decided I was going to punctuate the month with several short breaks – one to Krakow, and one to Bilbao.
One boring Wednesday evening. I decided just to see what last minute weekend breaks were available. A quick check of Skyscanner indicated that there were good times to Mallorca and Tenerife, with easyJet, which would allow me to maximize my weekend time. 6.15am from Gatwick on Saturday morning back 9pm on Sunday night. Tenerife was similar but I didn’t fancy a five-hour flight each way. The point of this break would be that I had to think as little as possible about getting from the airport to my destination, so Mallorca it was.
easyJet holidays had a new website so I wanted to test drive that too. And what a website. It’s really intuitive, permitting massive search parameters and lots of filters available.
They were offering return flights from Gatwick and one night in a lovely four star boutique hotel in Alcudia (a place I know well) for £89.00. During the booking process, a pop up appeared to advise that the price has been revised DOWN to £79.00. If that’s a marketing ploy, it worked.
So, how to get to Gatwick for a 6.15am flight? Easy. There are two trains an hour from East Croydon to the airport, and I would get an Uber from my house to East Croydon. What I hadn’t paid attention to was that the two trains were at 0224 and 0236 – any my Uber reached the station at precisely 0237.
Never mind. Slightly frustrated at the long wait for the train, at least I was undercover, albeit in a freezing station concourse.
East Croydon at 0245
People watching helped for a bit, especially the three National Rail workers in hi viz and boots who didn’t know how to access their site, and spend almost the entire time trying to find a way to wherever the work was.
Ten minutes before the train arrived, I walked down the ramp to the platform, to discover a fully heated waiting room. So at least I was warm again!
The train journey was only 15 minutes, a brief wait for the transit to North Terminal and then a choice.
To lounge, or not lounge?
I decided not to lounge. It’s a faff getting there, and while both Aspire and No.1 Traveller are decent enough, I really couldn’t be bothered.
I actually headed up to Pret for a breakfast roll, coffee and orange and that was really very nice indeed. The people watching was a tad more interesting too!
Priority boarding was enforced and as I had picked seat 3F was one of the first on board.
It was one of the older planes, with a new lick of paint. Legroom was quite tight.
I actually slept for most of the journey, but after about an hour I was beginning to feel really uncomfortable in that seat.
The scenery helped me take my mind off it. As did that blue sky and the sun!! Oh those sun worshippers in prehistoric times had the right idea!!!
I dozed off again
And then something happened on the ‘plane, and I still don’t know what. But it woke me from my slumber!
It was just before Barcelona, and there was a strange crunching sound, then the sound of what could have been an engine restarting. I won’t speculate because it didn’t seem to impact on anything. I did get a nice view of Barcelona though.
Soon, Mallorca came into sight.
It is such a stunning island.
Landing was on time, and I was afforded a nice view of “Porto”, our aircraft for todays journey.
The journey from Palma Airport to Alcudia involves a shuttle bus to Palma and then a bus from Palma to Alcudia. It’s super easy, and there’s an integrated station in Palma, combining coaches, trains and metro, with the Soller tram next door.
I arrived in Alcudia at around 11am.
And it was time to find my hotel, never missing a photo opportunity along the way!
The friendly locals bar had been gentrified! But still served great G&Ts (well, it was after 12)
And what of my “bargain basement” hotel? Definitely a bargain, I’ll be back!
Can Simo Petit Hotel
Now, what to do on a quiet night in Alcudia? Visit one of the bars or restaurants?
No time for that, as there was the –unknown to me- Sant Antoni Fiesta. Sant Antoni is the patron saint of farm animals. Yes, really.
The pictures above don’t really capture the atmosphere: the town was packed, it was noisy, there were was a constant drumbeat and altogether a brilliant tonic to those mid January winter blues!!!
https://player.vimeo.com/video/156151508
