When we got to Valldemosa, we were given an hour to look around. The two main attractions were a pearl shop or the old monastery. We chose the monastery, obviously. It was very lovely. The history is that it started as a monastery, but later, the individual cells were sold to private people as regular living quarters. These cells are not the squalid, one-tiny-room spaces of lore. They appear to be multiple room apartments. As time went on, they were rented out as hotel suites. That's where Chopin comes in. He and his wife went on holiday to Valldemosa for a nice, quiet winter, where she could write her books, and he could write his music. Unfortunately, it was too cold for them, and they left after only two months. However, the piano that was brought in for them remains, and the cell they leased for the period has been preserved.
Those of you who have only known me for a few years are not aware of my love for piano music in general and Chopin, in particular. I played piano in my youth, primarily teaching myself, and Chopin was one of my favorite classical composers. I've played many of his Etudes and Opuses. My tendon issues started in my hands, and several years ago, I had to stop playing and doing any heavy typing or keyboarding any longer, but I still love listening. They were starting a concert while we were walking through, and his Etude in G flat major was playing as we were strolling through some of the gardens and were able to hear it. In the piano room of Chopin's apartments, they had the piano he used while there with a cover over it, books and manuscripts on top of it, and a lady standing by the keyboard making sure nobody took any pictures. She stopped me when I lifted my camera. She wasn't able to see me when I got my hand under the cover and actually touched Chopin's baby grand piano, which was so heavy and had been sitting in the same place for so long that the stone floor was chipped around the legs. Obviously, the concert was being played on a different piano in a different room.
In one spot, there was no one there to stop me, so I did get a picture of one part of Chopin's quarters.
She rounded the corner before I could get off another shot.
Valldemosa is also known for its beautiful and very narrow cobbled streets. Here are just a few pictures of the monastery and the town of Valldemosa.
After Valldemosa, we descended to the Pueblo Espaniol (Spanish Village), which was absolutely breathtaking. We walked along the narrow, cobbled streets and explored this small area where all roads lead to the Plaza Majora, so you really cannot get lost. I did see a couple of parked vehicles, but I'm really not sure how they got there or how they'll get out, as the only apparent way in or out seemed to be up or down a small set of stairs. Bruce collects squished pennies, so on our way out, we had to stop by the machine. This time, he gets a squished 5 centimo coin. The machine doesn't take pennies. Chrissy had to go back down to the Plaza Majora to get change for a euro. Here are some pictures from the Spanish Village. Please take note of the type of terraine I was navigating all over the island of Mallorca in a CAM walking boot. Chrissy was an excellent assistant for the mobility impaired.
After Pueblo Espaniol, we went on down to the port city of Palma, where we had free time until the last shuttle back to the ship at 4:30. Since we had plenty of time, we asked our guide to point out a good place for lunch. He took us to this little alley dotted with tapas bars where we got 2 plates each: Chicken croquettes, sauteed mushrooms, rabbit stew, and patatas bravas. All delicious with portions larger than expected!
We knew we were in trouble when she brought out the bread! Unfortunately, we were too busy eating to take pictures of the real food!
After lunch, we spent some time exploring the lower grounds surrounding the Catedral de Santa Maria de Mallorca. I didn't feel up to all the stairs that would be required for going up, so we stuck to the ground level, spending some significant time just enjoying the plaza and fountain around the church with the sea coming in, being contained as a pool.
We got back to the boat in plenty of time for Chrissy to do some homework before dinner, where we enjoyed this beautiful sunset along with the awesome food prepared by the chef.
No comments:
Post a Comment