Spain! Spain! Spain!: Trapped on an island pt. 1

I obviously didn't get enough sun in Granada so me and some girlfriends took a trip to the islands...the Balearic Islands. Actually we just went to one but still, I wasn't complaining. So we caught a cheapo Ryan Air flight over to Mallorca for a couple of day for some relaxation...because apparently living in Spain itself isn't relaxing enough.

We didn't know it at first but it soon became apparent that we were on the party plane. There were a group of about 10 Spanish guys right in front of us that were beyond ready to be on the island. Our flight was only about an hour long (and at 10am mind you) yet somehow these guys managed to drink a couple beers each before the flight even landed. Fun. The best part about these guys is that they, thinking we spoke no Spanish, proceeded to talk about us...calling us burnt Norwegian salmon (or that we would be that soon). I'm not sure who calls people Norwegian salmon but it was a first for all of us (remember it because I'm sure I'll refer to it later in the post).

Don't you know a Norwegian salmon when you see one???

Moving on, we arrived!!!

The first step was catching a bus to the other side of the island to Alcúdia...and from there it was beach time!

Well, almost. Before that we actually stopped for lunch at none other than a mexican joint/steakhouse. We were desperate for some burritos, quesadillas and margaritas so we just HAD to stop. Of course it was the Spanish version of these things...not quite the same, but it would do.

YUM YUM YUM

We did finally make it to the hotel, threw on bathing suits and headed straight to the beach. YES!!!

We only stayed there for about an hour because it was pretty windy (i.e. lots of sand in the face) but no prob, we headed to the hotel pool. The idea was to that this all weekend but the weather had a change of plans...AHH weather.

Instead of becoming true burnt Norwegian salmon as planned, we had to look for other activities because it was about to be cloudy all weekend. We are amazingly resourceful, however, and managed to find PLENTY of places to go and things to see.

So that evening was spent just exploring, via walking, the little town we were in. I also HAVE to mention the treasures we came upon...FAKE NASTY TEETH. YES! This trip was off to a VERY good start.

The next morning we went right over to the bike rental shop, literally below our hotel room, and rented some bikes for the day (at only 6euro/day!). We headed up the island to some other towns with plans of getting to a beautiful viewpoint and picnicking.

On our way to the trails we stopped to give the world some love...

Next stop would be admiring its beauty.

So up the trail area we rode with intentions of reaching the top/viewpoint area. The estimated time of arrival was 2 hours on bike. Of course we all thought, "no prob" but with me huffing and puffing behind the other girls (Come on, I've been traveling. When do I have time to exercise???) we realized that was gonna be a bit difficult...especially because it was pretty much all uphill.

We kept going for a bit longer until we found a sign directing us to a new way back into town. Alright, onward we go...

Yay for our awesomeness because this new way back was great. First of all it was pretty much all downhill.

Second of all we got to see and amazing view of the town we were staying in.

And third...wait a minute...what is that behind us?? Let's take a closer look...

SHEEP!!!

They're so stinkin' cute! And even better, they all had their own bells (hence how we found them in the first place...plus all the baahhh-ing).

Aside from all of that, we got to see some wonderfully beautiful flowers scattered around.

I guess that's just life on an island.

We were coming to the end of the "trails" but were very happy with everything we had come upon...

Including this hay field placed randomly along our way into town.

(My bike just taking a rest before heading back into town)

We still hadn't eaten lunch at this point so we headed over to a town, recommended by the hotel, not far from where we were.

Unfortunately we aren't the best at reading signs, or maybe its Spain that just has confusing signs...Either way, we got lost a bit. No problem for us however! We'll just ask someone...and that's what we did (or rather one of the girls did, I'm not one to really ask directions).

All we wanted was the beach and that's exactly what we found just a few minutes down the road. Perfect. And to top it off there was a picnic table just waiting for us right on the beach (it was obviously meant to be).

After enjoying our sandwiches and tomatoes on the beach we headed out again to explore more around us. And what do you know? We were riding right aside the beach. How great are islands?

It looked as if some rain clouds were rolling in so we headed to a nearby cafe for some afternoon coffee and ensaimadas (typical pastry of Mallorca). Lucky for us, weather was on our side so it only got cloudy and didn't really rain at all...at least not where we were. So we proceeded to go down to the beach and take silly photos.