May 01, 2001 02:18 PM
5674 Views
“Ladies and gentleman, please return to you seats and fasten your seat belts, as we descend for Palma Airport. I hope you enjoyed your flight and have a good holiday”
As the plane descended, I felt Sherry tighten her grip on my hand.
I am not sure if this was for the excitement of arriving in Majorca, or the nervousness of landing!
As the plane touched down, there was the usual rush for the “who can get their bags down first” game.
Everyone queued up patiently (not) for the steps to be put in place, then it was a mad, every man for themselves, dash to get to the baggage reclaim.
From previous experiences, I knew there would be a delay of about half an hour before the luggage handlers unpacked all the cases.
This turned out to be true.
They are Spanish after all, and rush has not an equivalent in their language!
Once we were fully loaded, like pack mules, we headed to our coach.
Standard coach. No air con, whistling microphone, and 14-year-old travel rep.
Fortunately it was no more than 25 mins to our Hotel.
When the coach pulled up outside, we were the only ones to get off.
Normally when that happens, you have a dingy box like hotel, with the artex peeling off the walls.
This was not the case here.
The appartmentos flamingo, was more then adequate accommodation, as seen as we did a last minute booking, and took what you got type thing.
Reception was the usual.
One girl who practiced the art of being slow, and an older gentleman, who practiced the art of looking flustered when not actually doing anything at all!
1st floor, not too bad.
The room was a fair size, with a large double bed taking up the lion’s share of the room.
No air con, but do any hotels in Spain/Balearics have air con?
Large fan on ceiling and small fan on bedside table.
Clean bathroom, with shower/bath combo, and the normal things.
Sherry started to unpack, and I just got in the way!
“Can I give you a hand?” I asked.
“NO!” was the reply.
“Ill just pop out and check out the facilities then love”
“Hmm, see you in the bar in about 20 minutes then” sussed!
The bar was traditional Spanish style, as in plenty of mirrors, T.V., huge coffee making machine, cheap beer!
I introduced myself to the barman, as is only polite to do so, and had my first San Miguel of the day.
Nice.
The pool was opposite our apartment, and was about half Olympic size.
The water was very inviting, especially when the humidity was so high.
When Sherry came down, we sat by the pool, and chilled in the heat.
Next morning, (like I was going to tell you what happened that night!), we explored the outside bits.
The apartment was situated between Palm Nova, 5 mins to the left (east) and Magaluf, 10 mins to the right (west).
For some strange reason we were drawn to Magaluf side.
Now during the day, this place is a hive of cafes serving English breakfast for about £1.
Move further from the seafront, and you will find the Spanish haunts, which are more expensive, but much better quality.
The shops are tack at its best.
How many stupid plastic things can you look at before you get totally bored out of your skull, I ask you?
There were a few cheap perfume shops, and jewellery, but they did not strike us as being genuine enough to make us part with any money.
The beach is long, clean, and easy to find a space on, quite inviting really.
At night this place comes alive with the hustle and bustle of a fairground.
There are touts at every pub offering you a fluorescent leaflet with some amazing offer on it.
There are karaoke bars, live music, comedy acts, drag artists the lot!
Plenty to do and plenty of choice.
As I am not a fan of packed bars and loud British louts chanting “here we go”, we tended to use these places until about ten, then moved away from the strobe lighting, to a quiet restaurant, where we would sit together, chat, drink a fine wine, and reflect on the days activities.
There were ample food selections to choose from, with restaurants ranging from;
Italian
Spanish
German
British
Indian
Chinese
I always tended to go for a seafood restaurant, and we found a little Italian
Restaurant that had the best selection of fish I have seen.
Their Monkfish was cooked superbly, and melted in your mouth.
The whitebait, which is still my favourite starter, cooked to when it becomes crispy, but still moist, and succulent.
I am starting to get hungry myself.
The average price for a meal for two, wine, and coffee/liquors etc, was about £40, which to me is very cheap.
There were more fast food type restaurants, so if you had kids, and just wanted a quick meal, you were more than adequately catered for.
So to recap, we had sun, fun, food, and drink.
What more could you want.
Angus.
