MALLORCA: PALMA, SOLLER AND VALLDEMOSSA

After visiting Mallorca some weeks ago, I would like to show some pictures of the fantastic days we spent in this fantastic island in Spain. I really liked the old city of Palma de Mallorca, the lovely villages of Port de Sóller, Deià and Valldemossa (the bus L210 goes from Port de Sóller to Palma de Mallorca stopping in Sóller, Deià and Valldemossa).

Parc de la Mar in Palma de Mallorca

We didn't have enough time to discover some of the most beautiful beaches of Mallorca, like Es Trenc beach, but I really liked the beaches of Port de Sóller  (Repic beach) and Deià (Cala Deià).

Next, I show you what I visited each day:


Day 1 - Sóller, Port de Sóller and Deià

• Vintage train of Sóller and old train station in Palma de Mallorca
• Sóller viewpoint and train station
• Port de Sóller (old tram, old quarter, Repic Beach and marina)
• Deià little beach and Deià

Day 2 - Palma de Mallorca

• Bellver Castle
• Gothic Cathedral
• Almudaina Palace and gardens
• Parc de la Mar
• Arab Baths
• San Francesc Basilica
• Forn des Teatre
• Promenade and Marina

Day 3 - Valldemossa

• Royal Carthusian and gardens
• Rectoria street
• Sa Miranda viewpoint
• Old quarter

and, now, the pictures:

Day 1 - Sóller, Port de Sóller and Deià

Sóller

Ferrocarril de Sóller stopped at a viewpoint from which the view of Sóller was interesting

This is the view of Sóller we enjoy from the previous viewpoint. The train stops here after a tunnel

Port de Sóller

The tram through the promenade of Port de Sóller 

Beach of Port de Sóller

Marina and beach of Port de Sóller in Mallorca

A beautiful street in the old quarter of Port de Sóller

Cala Deià

Cala Deià beach in Mallorca

Deià

Cala Deià in Mallorca from a open air restaurant

View of Deià from the cemetery

Day 2 - Palma de Mallorca

Tryp Bosque was our hotel in Mallorca. Our room was quite large and from the balcony the view of the Palma bay was fantastic

Castle of Bellver

Bellver Castle in Palma de Mallorca

Circular courtyard of Bellver Castle in Palma de Mallorca. I really liked the gothic arches

Almudaina Palace and Gardens

Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca

Almudaina gardens located beside the palace

Cathedral and Parc de la Mar

Parc de la Mar and cathedral of Palma de Mallorca

Baldachin designed by Antoni Gaudí of the gothic cathedral of Palma de Mallorca

Another view of Parc de la Mar from the viewpoint beside the cathedral

Arab Baths

Arab baths of Palma de Mallorca are really well preserved and I liked a lot its garden

San Francesc Basilica

Main facade of San Francesc Basilica. Its gothic cloister is lovely

Forn des Teatre

I ate a tasty ensaimada in Forn des Teatre in Palma de Mallorca

Promenade and Marina

The gothic cathedral of Palma the Mallorca behind the marina

Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca from the promenade

The view of the cathedral of Palma de Mallorca from our room on the eleventh floor of the Tryp Bosque hotel

Day 3 - Valldemossa

Royal Carthusian and Gardens

Royal Carthusian of Valldemossa and Gardens

The Royal Carthusian gardens were truly beautiful under the sunny day we enjoyed in Valldemossa

Roses in the Royal Carthusian of Valldemossa gardens

Sa Miranda viewpoint

View of Valldemossa and the church of San Bartolomé from Sa Miranda viewpoint

Rectoria Street

Taking a picture of Rectoria street in Valldemossa, on of the most charming villages in Mallorca

Rectoria street is the most beautiful street in Valldemossa

Plaça Publica Square

A nice place in Publica Square in Valldemossa

Clicking on the following links you will get more information about these places:

• Sóller and Port de Sóller
• Palma de Mallorca
• Deià and Valldemossa

I also would recommend two restaurants in Palma de Mallorca:

• Forn des Teatre (9th Weyler square) : Snacks and Tapas
• Celler Sa Premsa (8th Bisbe Berenguer de Palou Square): Menu

In Mallorca there are more beautiful villages and beaches you can visit:

- Pollença

• Cala Figuera beach
• Cala Formentor beach
• Formentor Cape

- Capdepera

• Cala Moltó beach

- Felanitx

• Cala Mitjana beach

- Santanyí

• Caló des Moro beach
• Es Caragol beach

- Coves del Drac
- Es Trenc beach

- Cala Pi beach

- Cabrera archipelago

Other fantastic beaches I have visited in Spain and Portugal are:

• Costa Brava in Catalonia
• Beaches of Barcelona
• Ibiza and Formentera
• Cádiz and Costa de la Luz
• Beaches in  Galicia (for example, Rodas Beach in Cíes Islands)
• Basque Country - Guipúzcoa and San Sebastián
• Cantabria and Santander
• Alicante

• Beaches in Algarve

Finally, other beautiful places you can visit in Spain are:

• Girona

• Basque Country - Bilbao
• Granada and La Alhambra

• Sevilla
• Córdoba

• Toledo
• Segovia
• Monasterio del Escorial
• Madrid

• Santiago de Compostela in  Galicia

• Zaragoza (Tapeo in Zaragoza)





Monasterio de Piedra
• La Rioja, Navarra and Camino de Santiago Francés

BARCELONA: SUMMER NIGHT AT LA PEDRERA

Summer nights at La Pedrera is a wonderful way to discover this modernist masterpiece designed by Antoni Gaudí while listening to live jazz music.

Summer nights at La Pedrera will let you enjoy jazz music among these chimneys-shaped warriors

La Pedrera at night will let you visit the dreamlike rooftop and walk under the catenary arches of the attic. The roof is an expressive place to enjoy Gaudí’s creativity, the night, the city and the music with a drink.

Overview of La Pedrera rooftop, a fabulous place to spend a summer night in Barcelona

Located in the building’s attic, the Espai Gaudí is a visual journey through the work of this unique and brilliant architect.

The Espai Gaudí inside Casa Milà is a visual journey through the work of this unique architect

I also would like to give you some useful information in case you were interested in enjoying this summer activity:

- Start date:21 June 2012
- End date: 8 September 2012
- Time: 9:30 pm 
- Place: Roof and Espai Gaudí at La Pedrera
- Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 92. Barcelona
- How to get there:

• Metro: L3 and L5, stop Diagonal.
• Bus: 7, 16, 17, 22, 24 and 28.
• FGC: stop Provença.
• Barcelona Bus Turístic: stop Pg. de Gràcia-La Pedrera.

- Clicking on the next links you will get more information about Summer Nights at La Pedrera and its programme.

As you will realize if you visit La Pedrera, this building is one of the most beautiful modernist buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí. In Barcelona, you can visit other modernist masterpieces designed by this brilliant architect, like:

• Sagrada Familia
• Park Güell
• Casa Vicens
• Casa Batlló
• Palau Güell
• Col·legi de les Teresianes
• Casa Calvet
• Casa Bellesguard and Viaduct
• Crypt of the church of Colonia Güell
• Güell Pavilions in Pedralbes

Besides, other modernist buildings you can visit in Barcelona are:

• Hospital de Sant Pau
• Palau de la Música Catalana
• La Boqueria
• Casa Fuster
• Casa Terrades or "Casa de les Punxes"
• Casa Thomas
• Casa Amatller
• Casa Lleó i Morera
• Casa Martí (Restaurant els Quatre Gats)

Of course, there are many more fantastic modernist monuments  in Barcelona,  as I showed in a previous post called Modernism Route.

BARCELONA GOTHIC QUARTER: PLAÇA DEL REI

Today I would like to pay tribute to one of the places inside the Gothic Quarter I like the most: La Plaça del Rei. I highlighted this square in a post in which I spoke about some lovely streets and squares the Barcelona Gothic Quarter enclose.

The buildings around La Plaça del Rei in Barcelona are, probably, the Gothic architectural ensemble which best exemplifies the medieval past of Barcelona. The Palau Reial Major (Royal Palace), and its surrounding buildings, enclose a lovely and peaceful square next to the Barcelona Cathedral where you can try to imagine the look the medieval city of Barcelona had.

The buildings which enclose La Plaça del Rei are:

• Royal Palace
• Santa Agata Chapel
• Lieutenant's Palace
• Clariana-Padellàs House

Next I would like to share with you some pictures of this charming square and the buildings which enclose it.

Plaça del Rei

The imposing Palau Reial (Royal Palace) appears at the back of the Plaça del Rei in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. This palace was the residence of the Catalan counts from the 13th to the early 15th centuries and is predominantly Gothic in style

Staircase of El Palau Reial in La Plaça del Rei

Gothic windows of Santa Agata chapel in La Plaça del Rei

View of la Plaça del Rei from the staircase of El Palau Reial

La Plaça del Rei with Santa Agata Chapel and La Casa Clariana-Padellàs in the background

Palau Reial 

Watchtower of El Palau Reial behind the facade of El Palau del Lloctinent


La Plaça del Rei is one of the most beautiful places in the Barcelona Gothic Quarter


Another view of the watchtower of El Palau Reial in La Plaça del Rei



The Great Hall, or Saló del Tinell, with its round arches, is the most representative and beautiful room inside El Palau Reial

Capella de Santa Agata (Santa Agata Chapel)

On one side of the Royal Palace, on top of the old Roman wall of Barcelona, you can see the 14th-century royal chapel of Santa Àgata, built in catalan gothic style, which contains the valuable Contestable altarpiece by Jaume Huguet

Ceiling of Santa Agata chapel

Gothic stained glass windows of Santa Agata chapel

 Inside Santa Agata chapel

Another view of the bell-tower of Santa Àgata Chapel from another point outside La Plaça del Rei

Palau del Lloctinent (Lieutenant's Palace)

Detail of the facade of El Palau del Lloctinent (Lieutenant's Palace), which is currently home to the Archive of the Crown of Aragon


Main facade of the Lieutenant's Palace in Plaça del Rei



Courtyard inside the Lieutenant's Palace

Casa Clariana-Padellàs (Clariana-Padellàs House)

In front of the Royal Palace, the last building you can see from Plaça del Rei is the Casa Clariana-Padellàs, the home of the city’s history museum, the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona, which contains the archaeological remains of Roman Barcelona

 Courtyard inside La Casa Clariana-Padellàs, one of the buildings which enclose La Plaça del Rei in the Barcelona Gothic Quarter

Before leaving this lovely square, one last look of the Watchtower of King Martí through El Palau del Lloctinent (Lieutenant's Palace) on the left and La Casa Clariana-Padellàs on the right



The Watchtower of El Palau Reial in La Plaça del Rei lit at night during La Mercè

Other fantastic places to visit inside the Barcelona Gothic Quarter are:

• Sant Just i Pastor church and square
• Plaça del Pi and Santa Maria del Pi church
• Plaça de Sant Felip Neri
• Plaça Reial
• Santa Anna church
• Sant Pere de les Puelles church
• Santa Maria del Mar church in Born-La Ribera district
• Barcelona Cathedral
• Narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter (Call Jueu)
• La Casa de la Ardiaca
• La Casa dels Canonges
• Carrer Petritxol

If you like gothic architecture, you would be interested in visiting the Pedralbes Monastery.

Also, I would like to give you some useful information about Plaça del Rei:


- Address: Pl. del Rei, s/n
- Phone: 933 151 111
- How to get there:

• Metro L4, stop Jaume I.
• Bus 17, 19, 40, 45 and 59.
• Bus Turístic, stop Barri Gòtic.

Finally, clicking on the next link you will find links to other beautiful places in Barcelona, among them, more nice churches inside the Gothic Quarter.