Views of Palma from our balcony:
We have all been in the old town and in the cathedral before. It is pleasant, but not as amazing as many others in Europe. The kids decided to stay onboard, and after breakfast Dave and I decided that we were still enjoying walking and stretching our legs in such mild temperatures, so we skipped the bus and strolled along the waterfront (there were plenty of bus stops all along the way, so we could have easily jumped on one had we gotten tired).
It was pleasant and fun to see the yachts in the harbor, the little shops, sidewalk cafes and parks as we strolled along. We ept joking that we should look for another German film crew.
and then, lo and behold we DID see another German film crew!
We had a chance to speak with this one. They were filming a restaurant review for a Foodie show on Kabel Eins. It aired the day before we got home--too bad, we wanted to watch it.
Near the film crew, a block or so off the water, and away from the main tourist drag we spotted a little cafe that had several locals sitting out at it--always a good sign. Their napkin holders all had Coke symbols on them, so I knew there would be Coke and not Pepsi (extremely important for me!).
Dave ordered a house wine and I ordered a Coke. They came out along with a rather large plate of a sausages in spicy red sauce served over roasted potatoes and fresh bread slices, which the waiter explained were free to go with the beverages. I don't eat pork, but Dave said it was great.
We enjoyed it so much that we ended up ordering another round of drinks along with some papas bravas. They came with ANOTHER free meat dish (a similar set up but with meatballs in traditional spaghetti sauce this time around). The order of Papas was huge, and very tasty:
I think by the time we left we had had 2 Cokes, 3 glasses of wine, the paps and two of the free little meat dishes. Our bill was a whopping 14 Euros! You really can't beat that.
Getting off the ship, we had headed to the right towards the old town and main areas. Once back at the ship, we decided to head on past and go as if we had turned left when getting off. Just past the cute little tower in the photos below you can turn up the hill and once around the bend there is a big, modern shopping mall and large Carre Four grocery store. The crew must LOVE having a port where they can get off and shop so quickly and easily. It's great for passengers as well if you have run out of anything or forgot to pack a needed item.
After looking around the mall, we reboarded the ship (stopping for a photo along the way) to play afternoon trivia with the kids get ready for our dinner at the Chef's Table.
Here is a photo that shows the main dining room (called the Romeo and Juliet dining room) on the Legend. That big round table right in the center was ours (Marika is in the green shawl). It was pretty empty that night since 4 of us were at the Chef's Table, and Rio decided to go to Windjammer (and another couple did not show up). Most nights there were 13 of us there.
Dave and I had a lovely time at the Chef's Table dinner while the kids were managing to come in second place in the 80s music trivia, which is not ad for 3 kids (Maria's friend Christine, from Estonia, joined them) born in the 90s. I will put up a separate post about the dinner, with photos of the various food items, since I know many cruisers might be looking specifically for that and not the rest of the story :)
After dinner (a long affair, about three hours), we headed to the Anchors Aweigh lounge for a fun game called The Quest. As we walked down we were wondering if the kids were both still in Optix teen club. As soon as we walked in the room I knew where one was:
Yes, that is Rio, a joiner like his parents, as a finalist in the Battle of the Nations game. His team won:
After that, we had a lot of fun at The Quest. This is a game that gets, shall we say, a little crazy:
At the end, this games always ends up with a group of men (1-2 per team depending) dressed as girls and hamming it up. Dave is often one of those men. This time, the other people on our team (some whom we had just met, but the kids had met at daytime trivia games previously and one couple we had been at the Chef's table with) were throwing things on RIO before I even realized what was happening (note: this is an "adult" game--but on most of the ships we have been on in the Med, this one included, the staff announces that it will be adult in content and it is up to parents if they want to allow kids to stay, Rio was far from the only teen in the room). Like father like son, the kids hammed it up and was a riot.
Our team came in second place, not bad given that we did not have a tattoo or unusual piercing or false teeth among us.
And that my friends, made it a day, and then some. Look for my report on the Chef's Table and then a post about our day in Valencia coming up next.
--Hadley
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