for starters, when my friends and i decided to go to mallorca i couldn’t pronounce the word “my-or-ca” …nor did i know where it was. turns out, it’s an island off the coast of spain in the mediterranean (think ibiza, menorca, fomentera… and mallorca) …anyway, google image search it and you’ll be sold just as quickly on a 36 euro round trip !!!!
mallorca is a huge tourist destination (again, google and you’ll know why), but the second weekend of february turned out to be a perfect 70-ish degrees… just me, 2 of my nuevas amigas, and the locals …we fell in love… it’s really hard not to (trust me) !!!
10 things we fell in love with….
10. oranges… orange trees… more oranges… i mentioned this in my post about sevilla, and i’m sure it seems really odd, but you guys !!!!!! they are so pretty. they are everywhere. they taste like orange slices sent from heaven … seriously, i’ve eaten more oranges in spain in the past month than i have in my entire life… (promise not to mention them for awhile… maybe)
9. walk til ya drop!!! we planned on going on a hike on our first day (we’re ambitious), but turns out when your flight is at 6 am, you don’t really feel like climbing up a mountain 3 hours later. so… we improvised a little walking tour through palma (the capital of the balearic islands). you see SO much more and you get SO much exercise (i don’t believe in tracking my steps, but my friends do and would periodically update me on our miles…ha…ha) also, pit stops for yummy snacks and cute shops !!!!
8. champagne and strawberries on the beach… is this real life? you can get wine for less than a euro (an actual fact) or my current favorite vino frizzante… grab some fresh fruit… go watch the sunset… dip your toes in the mediterranean …again, una vida real o no?
7. public transportation… about 30 min outside of palma there’s a tiny town, valldemossa (…google) it’s so so pretty, and i’m more than positive there are so many others! for 1.89 euro you can go. also, you don’t have to pay until you get on the bus… so if you get there 2 min before departure like we did don’t stress !!!!!
6. sunshine… fresh air…the smell of the ocean… take time to take it all in
5. baby goats!!!!! ok so the whole way up the mountain i kept saying that i felt like a “billy goat” ….getting closer to the top, we started hearing the most adorable “meeeee” sounds. baby goats… groups of goats…everywhere !!!! (how did i predict this?? not sure…) also, sheep too!!! roaming free!!! goats…oranges…always the little things!
4. normally the view from the top of the trail we did is the mediterranean… but when we (finally) got to the top…(7 miles seemed like 17…) there was (the most incredible) complete cloud coverage … literally in our own little heaven above the clouds. as if that wasn’t dreamy enough, we were then engulfed in a cloud…IN cloud 9 … when was the last time you were completely inside a cloud not in an airplane? dreamy to the max !!!!
3. the view… self explanatory…
2. pizza after the hike… ok so nothing has ever tasted so good (not even the oranges…) we were so so tired and so so hungry! we stumbled upon a tiny little baked good shop… and each got a warm homemade pizza calzone… you know the feeling when nothing has ever seemed so right? fell in love. again. with pizza this time !!!!!
1. don’t sweat the small stuff… ok so after all this good stuff let me tell ya it wasn’t all sunshine and perfect timing and having tons of energy…we barely hopped the bus on time (mentioned earlier) but if we wouldn’t have, i’m confident there would’ve been a plan b! we ran into some not so nice people (one in particular, HA)… but overall there was so much more good than bad! once upon a time a ny cab driver told me in the sense of karma there’s always SO MUCH MORE GOOD than bad in the world… and that is so so important to remember daily (and while traveling). live your adventure! sweat the big stuff… like climbing mountains to sit in the clouds !!!!!!
xox off to salamanca en la mañana
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Spanish major & Legal Studies minor Chloe Riggs is spending the spring 2018 semester in Spain with our U of A Exchange Program at Universidad Nebrija in Madrid.
Read more from Chloe at cocothecreator.wordpress.com
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
