We landed in Palma in late afternoon and after being sent back and forth between bus drivers a couple of times, each one telling us that the other one would take us where we needed to go, we got on the right bus and endured the forty minute ride to our hostel; packed and standing of course.
I chose a hostel based on both price and location and I did a lot of research for the trip, through which I learned that the further up the coast you head, the younger the crowd gets. Upon arrival in our hostel we were hard pressed to believe this as it seemed we were the only people in the entire hostel. I immediately decided that a nap might help my pounding head and took the next few hours to relax. I ended up spending the rest of the night reading in the hostel room while the others went out for dinner.
The next morning we wondered the streets in hopes of finding the best deal on renting a car for the next few days. We found a fast-talking salesman and decided that we weren’t getting much better of a deal. The boys were excited to finally take the wheel and we drove even further up the coast to Magaluf; known for it’s population of English tourists. We found a quiet little beach, by word-of-mouth on the street, it was surrounded by expensive-looking resorts but the overcast weather left the beach pleasantly empty.
Most of the day we just enjoyed the overcast (still boiling) sun and the beautiful sea. As the day went on, others came to share in the beauty and Lorenzo and I went off to do a little exploring and some cliff-jumping fit for toddlers. Up the hill from the beach there is a dirt path that leads to the rocky edge and if you carefully climb down the sharp rocks you find a little tide pool and some boulders fit for jumping off into the blue-green sea. It was in this moment that I learned the importance of packing more than one hair-tie for a trip! Somewhere between rock and water it slipped out of my hair and into the deep blue sea. I spent the next two weeks using a borrowed elastic that was not so sightly.
Our lovely travel companions and Sangria
After hours of sun, the dull pain in my nose spread to my head and teeth, which I casually mentioned to Lore who then decided it was vital that we at least see a doctor. The pain won and I agreed, we were in the most heavily-English speaking area of the island anyway. We arrived at the English-speaking doctor and was told by the receptionist that my nose looked broken. Awesome. She then assured me she was not a medical professional and that I would have to pay for the doctor consultation if I really wanted to know. I paid and the first thing the doctor did? Asked Lorenzo if my nose looked crooked!!! I could have done that myself, thank you, saved 75 euro too! Anyway, in the end she gave me an ice pack and prescription for an anti-inflammatory which seemed to do the trick, so I guess it was worth it when you consider the peace of mind that comes with it.
My only fear was that the anti-inflammatory would be affected by alcohol consumption. It wasn’t. We had a great night searching for Sangria and eating Indian food in Spain!
