Mallorca

If there ever was trip that was a real disaster it was the anuales trip to Mallorca. The second week of April Ana, the BC program director, took me and the other five that are here for the whole year to Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands. Almost as soon as we arrived she got a call from her husband whose mother was in the hospital and had to fly back to Madrid. My friend flipped his bike over and got a contusion in his wrist and had to spend a full afternoon waiting in the hospital. I registered for BC classes and all the ones I was counting on were full, and I hung up worried about graduating on time because I only got three classes, once of which was ceramics. So we didn’t have the best luck, but we really did have a lot of luck! It was a really great trip!

Ana had the whole weekend planed out for us and a group from Marist University in New York. So when she had to go we were left behind with the Marist kids and their director. They were okay, but the girl that I had to share a room with was total nutcase who whimpered and cried that she was freezing all night in her sleep.

The first day it was nice whether and we took a historical walking tour of Palma de Mallorca, the city.

We saw the cathedral, which, as far as cathedrals go, was pretty cool. It had a combination of renaissance or whatever architecture, and modern art by Gaudi, and a even more modern art chapel by Barceló.

Then we had a huge, delicious, and authentic lunch.

Then we hiked up an enormous hill to the top of a castle with a great view but horrible cell reception. And aside from the fact that I was on the phone registering, or I guess not registering, for my fall courses the whole time, it was nice.

That night some eccentric Spanish girl took us out for pinchos. Pinchos are like small tapas on a piece of bread and a toothpick stuck in them. You go up to the bar, reach in between a bunch of people, and grab the ones you want. Then at the end they count up your toothpicks, and charge you a euro for each one. Pretty cool.

The next day we went to the workshop museum of Joan Miró. He is real famous. His art reminds me of a three year old finger’s painting. But they say that he was very good because he created his own grammar and language of colors and shapes and stuff. I am not sure why they say that; it all looks pretty random to me. Luckily, on some of his paintings, he puts the translation right on it for those who are illiterate in his language. It was cool but I think Velasquez was better.

Then we went on a bike ride all along the cost. It was really fun and pretty. But this is also when Teddy got hurt.

We had a delicious picnic of currywurst on the beach because there are a lot of Germans on the island. They like it so much that they tried to buy it off Spain.

The beach was way too cold for swimming since it was about to rain. So instead we played a really dangerously intense game of full tackle steal the bacon with our Spanish girl tour guide.

It started pouring just in time for the return to the bike shop. This was very special because it only rains about six times a year there. It made the ride back really slippery, scary, funny, and cold.

That night we had big plans to have a pizza party in our hotel room just the six of us and then go to the club where the famous people go. We got tricked by the pizza place and ended up paying about 75 dollars for four medium, cold, yet tasty pizzas. Then, when we went back to our rooms to change into our club clothes, we all fell asleep and never made it to the club. But we had a great time hanging out just like were back in the BC dorms, only in reality we were in a hotel with an amazing view of the Mediterranean so it was a win win.

The next morning we enjoyed an all you can eat breakfast that included a pretty weird combination of ham, eggs, beans, hot dogs, cheese, and best of all the renowned Mallorcan pastry called ensaimada.

So, not everything worked out perfectly, but it was awesome to get away to such a beautiful place with just my all year BC in Madrid friends who are always great.