Lovely Llubi…..

The journey from Palma to Llubi went without much incident. I hate driving abroad, so it’s up to Pete. Our car was so tiny, a black hybrid Fiat 500. Reviews aren’t terribly flattering, describing it ‘as the cutest, laziest hybrid car’, as well as being like a ‘chicken korma.”

I have no idea why I have my tongue stuck out here.

Having a smaller car has its advantages, as we can park more easily. It is big enough for what we need.

When we first thought of a holiday as an extended, albeit small family, it seemed better for Annie and Joab to come up with some suggestions. Annie found the house we are staying in for the next 10 days. I can honestly say, I have never, ever stayed anywhere as well equipped and amazing.

The house literally has everything, mountain bikes, beach tents, picnic sets, snorkeling sets, and the list goes on. The kitchen is like something from a cooking programme, with an island, cupboards chock full of gadgets, as well as a mind boggling array of dishes and plates. The garden has a view of the mountains in the distance, a great sized swimming pool, an inflatable unicorn and flamingo. As well as a container filled with water guns, toys and an inflatable paddling pool.

A seating area with a bbq, festooned with bunting. Enough space for us all to lounge and relax.

Upstairs there is a play room for Bea, with so many toys, train sets, dinosaurs, a wooden kitchen, and the list goes on and on. Table football as well! (I lost immediately!) And for more serious endeavours a large telescope to star gaze.

Obviously the toys have a wide age range appeal!

We spent a lot of the first day in the pool. What a great experience, being able to pop in and out. Bea loved the unicorn but was wary of the flamingo, promptly dragging it out of the pool. With a firm stance on health and safety she had decided it wasn’t safe. The most recent data (2019) recorded 84 aquatic accidents in Spain, which involved UK citizens. I couldn’t drill down to whether any were linked to giant pink flamingos,but who knows….

Llubi is a tiny village in the centre of Mallorca with about 1 800 residents, famous for capers,honey,almonds and tradional Mallorcan architecture, numerous windmills and and old stone houses. There are a lot of windmills around, dotted around the peripheral agricultural land surrounding Llubi.

Our house is close to the square which houses the church of Sant Feliu, built between 1570 and 1650.

This was the first square we wandered to. Bunting stretched across the square and adjacent streets, in the welcome, gentle breeze.

As we walked towards the square, many elderly were sat outside their homes. All very friendly and chatted with us about how hot it was. Before we came here, we had been a bit anxious, as some sections of the press would make you belief that the whole of Spain hates us. But everyone has been lovely, with the added bonus that Pete can practise his Spanish.

We decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to stop at the nearest restaurant, S’acústicafè. Very,very little suitable for vegetarians. We picked olives, and tortillas questions and bread and tomatoes. Very disappointing, I didn’t each much, but the olives were tangy and delicious.

We had a small glass of local red plonk, tasty!

Before coming on holiday I love researching the strangest facts. Actually, there aren’t many of them for Mallorca, well not compared to some crazy places we have been to.

There are 2,500 restaurants in Mallorca,that is a fact that is considered amazing, but I have a strong feeling that none really cater for us.

The ensaimada, the spiral-shaped, sugar-dusted pastry you see everywhere, enjoys special status as a unique regional food. Plus, it has been given the prestigious protected geographical indication (PGI) status from the EU. They say it is everywhere, we are yet to see it!