Tag Archives: Mallorca

20 Sep 2016
Alcudia, Mallorca, Spain:
Poets, Pianists, and Raindrops


By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

There is something very special about this island in the Mediterranean. Something that attracted ancient peoples, the Roman empire, the Moors, Pirates, and Vandals.

In 1838, the great Polish composer Frederick Chopin and his mistress, the writer George Sand, arrived for a respite. While Chopin appears to have fallen in love with the place and wrote one of his better pieces here, Sand very much did not. But working on a delapidated rented piano he worked on his “Raindrop” prelude.

The great architect Antoni Gaudi came to work on some projects here in 1901, but he ran into some disputes with contractors. He left, but his acolytes kept up the work in places like Soller and Palma.

The artist Joan Miro spent his final years on the island.

The English poet Robert Graves spent most of the last half-century of his life living in the little village of Deià, and it was there he died and was buried in 1985.

On this visit, we avoided the hustle and bustle of the principal city of Palma de Mallorca, and instead came in to the charming resort village of Alcudia to the north; it’s also the site of some of the oldest remnants of ancient civilizations on the island. Roman ruins including a theater still stand at Pollentia, just outside of Alcudia. There is also evidence of inhabitants as far back as the Bronze Age.

Today Alcudia sits within its 14th century walls.

I went with guests up an almost impossible switchback road to the 13th century Lluch Sanctuary, a place of respites then and now.

LLUCH SANCTUARY

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AN ALCUDIA ALBUM

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Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

 

13 Sep 2016
Palma de Mallorca, Spain:
The Big One

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Mallorca is Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.)

The name Mallorca derives from Latin insula maior, “larger island.”

Larger than what? Why, the smaller neighboring island known as Menorca. And then there is also Ibiza, plus the very small islets of Formentera and Cabrera and another 150 or so uninhabited rocks.

Collectively, the islands are called the Balearics, and they are a very popular holiday destination for neighboring Spaniards and just about anyone who enjoys sun, sea, beaches, fine architecture and art, beautiful hills and valleys, and great food. What’s not to like?

Today I went with guests to the village of Soller, about an hour out of Palma.  We were delivered on the old railway,  originally built to haul fruit.  Today it carries only tourists,  up into the hills and through a long tunnel.

TODAY IN SOLLER

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A PALMA ALBUM

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Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

19 April 2016
Alcudia, Mallorca: Old Wine, Surrounded by New Bottles

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Mallorca is Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.)

On this visit, we are avoiding the hustle and bustle of the principal city of Palma de Mallorca, and instead coming in to the ancient village of Alcudia to the north.

Alcudia has seen human settlements dating back thousands of years, and today a village mostly  of the 13th to 16th centuries is flanked by Roman ruins and modern resorts.

ALCUDIA

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AROUND MALLORCA

There is something very special about the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.

Something that attracted ancient peoples, the Roman empire, the Moors, Pirates, and Vandals.

Also the great composed Frederick Chopin, the artist Joan Miro, the poet Robert Graves, and the great architect Antoni Gaudi.

Each came for short visits but left behind significant reminders of their genius.

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The capital city of Palma, with its broad boulevards and spectacular cathedral, is one of the lesser-known treasures of the Mediterranean.

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Text and images copyright 2016 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

22 September 2015
Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain: Pirates, Giants, and Raindrops

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

There is something very special about the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.

Something that attracted ancient peoples, the Roman empire, the Moors, Pirates, and Vandals.

Also the great composed Frederick Chopin, the artist Joan Miro, the poet Robert Graves, and the great architect Antoni Gaudi.

Each came for short visits but left behind significant reminders of their genius.

Mallorca is Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.)

On this visit, we are avoiding the hustle and bustle of the principal city of Palma de Mallorca, and instead coming in to the charming resort village of Alcudia to the north

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Text and images copyright 2015 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a high-resolution image, please contact me.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams cover

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

7 April 2014: Palma de Mallorca

By Corey Sandler, Silversea Destination Consultant

Mallorca is Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.) Palma is the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.

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On the streets of Mallorca. Photos by Corey Sandler

Spain was officially non-belligerent during World War II; in reality General Francisco Franco leaned heavily toward the Axis powers. In any case, Mallorca was a backwater through the war.

Since the 1950s, tourism has transformed the island.

In 1960, Majorca received 500,000 visitors; today about 10 million tourists come to Majorca or the other Balearic islands each per year. Most come by air, but about 1.5 million come in by cruise ship or ferry.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, more commonly referred to as La Seu, is a Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral built on the site of a pre-existing Islamic mosque…atop the former citadel of the Roman city.

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Palma below and above ground. Photos by Corey Sandler

Just to boot, it overlooks the Mediterranean sea. You can’t miss the Cathedral; it dominates the waterfront.

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The Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca. Photos by Corey Sandler

Begun by King James I of Aragon in 1229, it was not finished until 1601. It was designed in the Catalan Gothic style with Northern European influences.

In 1901, fifty years after a restoration of the Cathedral had started, the great Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí was invited to take over the project.

While some of Gaudí’s ideas were adopted, he abandoned his work in 1914 after an argument with the contractor. The planned changes were essentially cosmetic rather than structural, and the project was cancelled soon after.

Es una lástima. That’s a shame.

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Not by Gaudi. but the Catalan’s influence is everywhere in Mallorca. Photo by Corey Sandler

Sóller is one of the most beautiful towns on the island, thick with palatial homes built in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the owners of agricultural estates and the merchants who thrived on the export of oranges, lemons, and almonds.

Some of the buildings were designed by associates and students of Antoni Gaudí.

The focus of the town is the Plaça Constitució which is surrounded by cafés and has plane trees and a fountain in its centre.

You can drive to Sóller from Palma by car, taxi, or bus, passing through the hills and a long tunnel.

But my favorite way to get across the island is a ride on the historic railway, the Ferrocarril de Sóller. The Ferrocaril was completed in 1911 with profits from the orange and lemon trade.

The narrow-gauge train is an attraction of its own, passing through some beautiful countryside and towns, through a dozen or so tunnels and several significant bridges including a spectacular viaduct in the mountains.

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Street artists hanging around and ready to pose (for a tip). Photos by Corey Sandler

And finally, a bit of Chopin.

The great Polish composer, who spent much of his time in France, also dallied—and composed—for a short while in Mallorca.

In Valldemossa, the Reial Cartuja (Royal Carthusian Monastery) was founded in 1339, but when the monks were expelled in 1835, it was privatized, and the cells became apartments for travelers.

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Food for thought. Photos by Corey Sandler

Undoubtedly the most famous lodgers were Frédéric Chopin and his lover, the Baroness Amandine Dupin—better known by her nom de plume, George Sand—who spent three difficult months here in the winter of 1838-39.

Chopin and Sand were not very happy here, for different reasons.

Sand, well, she was just unhappy.

Chopin had to rent a not-very-good local piano. Still he managed to compose the memorable “Raindrop” prelude.