The Duva Apartment Hotel specialises in catering for cyclists and Mallorca is a favourite training destination for cycling pros and amateurs alike.  There are MAMILs (middle aged men in lycra) everywhere – alone, in groups, with their partners, their kids.  This is cycling paradise – blue skies, warm temperatures, interesting terrain and a cycling culture of bike paths, tolerant motorists and hotels with bike storage, repair shops, gyms, pools and spas.

We’ve got a small self-catering apartment with a balcony and Derek is meeting up with The Shipston Cyclling Group who are arriving on Thursday for some Easter training.   It’s a lovely spot and after unpacking and buying a few groceries, we walked down to the beach for a stroll and a drink.  Derek has been out on the bike for an hour and tomorrow I am going out too for a nice, easy, flat ride along the shore line – though not in lycra, I hasten to add.  God forbid!!

We didn’t really know what to expect of this journey – Derek loves ferries but I was worried about 8 hours of feeling travel sick.  In the end, it was quite an experience – there’s something magical about seeing everything from the water especially from one of the top decks.

The fun began as we joined the queue of cars and lorries at the terminal – only the driver goes in the car onto the ferry so I was instructed to get out of the car and go to the waiting lounge with my boarding pass and we just had to trust that we would meet up on board.  Derek looked very relieved to see me marching along with the foot passengers and climbing up the ramp!

 We had booked comfy recliners in the Neptuno lounge but in fact spent the first half of the journey on the top deck near the bar and swimming pool.  The ferry was huge – 5 vehicle decks and 3 passenger decks.  We might have guessed that a ferry heading for Ibiza would have a party atmosphere – there was a dj playing disco music though only a few little girls actually danced.  It was glorious out on deck though windy and of course starting to get chilly.  We watched the sun set and had a bird’s eye view of the approach to Ibiza, the ferry being docked and vehicles disembarking – all quite magical.

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We repaired to the Neptuno lounge after Ibiza.  I watched the film Philomena and Derek listened to some podcasts then we dozed a bit, finally arriving in Palma at 1.15am.  Our car was on deck 5 right in the corner so it took us ages to disembark and we still had to drive out of Palma, north to Port de Pollensa.  Mallorca looked lovely – all lit up, especially the cathedral, loads of yachts and palm trees – we really enjoyed being out at night – it felt like a proper adventure driving along in the early hours.

We finally got to the Duva Apartments at 2.30am – reception was locked and we had to phone to wake up the receptionist who I think was having a doze out back.  We made cups of tea and finally got a few hours sleep.

Sunday’s ferry to Majorca departed at 5pm so we had a lot of time to kill before checking in at 3.30pm.  First stop was Citrus Cafe for coffee and a shared bacon sandwich (first English bacon since October!).  We drove down to Denia expecting the usual Sunday quiet – instead the town was absolutely crammed with traffic and lots of roads closed as there was a big running race/fun run going on.  Eventually we parked near the ferry terminal and walked down to the marina to re-visit Republic for lunch – could it possibly be as good as last time when we went with Danny & Britt?

It was!!  We trusted them and ordered the menu del dia at 16 euros and it was all delicious with perfect service and a lovely setting, outside in the shade overlooking the boats.  For the foodies among you, here are the details and photos.

First course:  chicken salad with celery, pineapple and grapes in light mayo and paprika
Soup:  gazpacho garnished with red pepper, chives, shallot and croutons
Sorbet
Main course: pork loin wrapped in bacon with roast potato, pak choi, green beans and apple sauce
Dessert:  apple strudel and ice cream

The total bill which included bottled water, coffee and iced liqueurs was less than 50 euros – what a treat!

We strolled back to the ferry terminal thinking we wouldn’t need much at tea time,  This was just as well as the food choices on the ferry (an 8 hour crossing) were awful.  We actually ended up just sharing a large bag of crisps!

Having already spent a month here in February, we settled back into the villa at Benidoleig very quickly and this time no worries about keeping warm.  The spring weather is lovely with temperatures around 25 degrees – the scent of orange blossom is everywhere and Derek is back in his shorts – all is well!

Derek catches up with work!

Supper outside

We’ve slipped into a nice easy pattern of spending the mornings catching up with website work and housekeeping, lunch on the terrace and out for a walk, cycle or a bit of sightseeing in the afternoon.  We’re really seeing the house at its best at this time of year – it’s a lovely, cool retreat inside with the sun getting quite hot during the day.

It’s warm enough to eat all meals outside and to stay on the terrace until it gets dark – the long, sunny days are just lovely.

Pockets full of flapjacks!

Derek has been out cycling every day conquering the hill climbs including Col de Rates again.  This is partly in preparation for meeting up with Shipston Cycling Club in Mallorca over Easter for a training week.  During a stroll around the nearby little town of Xalo, we discovered a bike shop getting ready to open at the weekend – Derek bought some new bib shorts and got 10% discount for being their first customer!

Cycling is incredibly popular in this area and Derek’s bike rides have the added bonus that he spots potential walks.  We did quite an elevated circular route today out of a pretty village called Castell de Castells.

We’ve also sampled tea and carrot cake at Citrus Cafe and met up with Carl at La Marina shopping centre to pick up our ‘package’ of new bank cards which Martin sent to Danny and then the good folks at AlwaysRiding sent out to Carl’s office in Spain for us.  Thanks to all involved – we can now keep on top of matters financial.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of cooking again and even made some flapjacks for Derek to use as sustenance on long bike rides – the first baking I’ve done since last October!  Also had another culinary disaster with bony lamb – cuts of meat are very different here and I got it wrong again.  Had a nice lunch out today at Citrus Cafe sitting outside watching the world go by and listening to the many English voices.

Tomorrow is packing up day.  We are leaving the roof box and some of our more wintery clothes here at the villa while we are in Mallorca for 10 days.  The ferry goes from Denia which is about 20 mins drive so we will pick it all up on the way back.  We’ve really enjoyed the week here and the cycling in this area has been a revelation for Derek – calm, warm weather, smooth roads, great scenery, respect from motorists,  loads of other cyclists around and a real sense of a cycling culture.

Next stop – Mallorca – another cycling adventure!

We woke one morning to a really weird weather phenomenon!

The valley floor below this hilltop villa stretches out to Denia and the coast and usually the view is spectacular. Not so on Tuesday – the sea fog had rolled in and we were above the clouds in bright sunshine. The pictures don’t really do it justice but it was like being in a plane looking down on the clouds.  The mist cleared by about lunchtime.

The usual view

Above the clouds

We catch the ferry across to Mallorca on Sunday afternoon, arriving in Pollensa at about 2am!  It stops in Ibiza so it’s quite a long crossing.

We thought it might be a good idea to set out our itinerary for the next few months –  if any of you want to join us anywhere, we’d be delighted to see you.  It will also help us to keep track of what we are supposed to be doing!  So, here goes . . .

April 13 -22
Mallorca

April 23, 24, 25
Travelling days (ferry and driving) – staying overnight in Valencia, Beziers and Nevers (with Blandine & David)

April 26 – May 23 (a whole month!)
St Valerien, The Vendee, France
John & Ann visiting Apr 30 – May 7
Danny & Britt visiting May 9 – 16
Derek to UK May 18 – 21

May 24 – 29
Guernsey – staying with John & Rachel

May 30
Driving day – staying overnight in Honfleur

May 31 – June 13
Amsterdam, Holland

June 14
Driving day – overnighting in Ammersbeck, Germany

June 15 – 18
Copenhagen, Denmark

June 19 – 21
Lund, Sweden

June 22 – 24
Gothenburg, Sweden

June 25 & 26
Ferry and driving days – overnighting in Aarhus, Denmark and Ammersbeck, Germany

June 27 – July 3
Berlin

July 4
Driving day – overnighting in Osnabruck, Germany

July 5 – 9
Ypres, Belgium
Danny & Britt joining us

July 10 – 11
Eurotunnel to UK
2 nights in London

July 12 – 25
Blackwell, near Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire

July 26 – Aug 10
Great Amwell, Hertfordshire

Aug 10 – 20
Fordingbridge, Hampshire

If anyone wants a house-sitter for the last week in August and the first week in September, let us know!  We are good with dogs and cats!

We finally arrived at about 2pm at Cocentaina and had a lovely late lunch in the garden with Bob & Gay.  The final leg of the journey was 250 miles so we’ve done a total of 700 miles in two days!

We spent the afternoon relaxing, chatting and drinking wine in the garden and the evening doing more of the same indoors.  It’s lovely to be in a proper home for a few days – we’ve never been here in the spring before so the garden looks really colourful plus the house itself now has a fab new kitchen.

We plan to have a quiet day today – definitely no driving.

We are off to the villa at Benidoleig tomorrow afternoon which is only an hour or so from here.

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We drove 450 miles on Wednesday with a few hours’ break looking around in Seville before overnighting in Granada.

Our departure from Azambuja was delayed again because the ignition part for the Volvo didn’t solve the problem.  It needed a software download to get things sorted so we couldn’t set off until Wednesday morning.

We had reached Seville by lunchtime, parked the fully loaded Volvo in a car park at the end of the metro line at Ciudad Expo and headed in.  The city had obviously had a lot of rain but the sun shone for our look around and we really enjoyed it.

We had a lovely stroll around the Real Alcazares admiring the architecture and gardens, had a look at the river, walked through the Maria Luisa gardens up to the Plaza de Espana and then back on the metro.  We bought the ever familiar ham, Emmental and baguette combo so that we could make sandwiches and then drove on a couple more hours to the Sierra Nevada motel in Granada.  Really tired, we slept like logs.

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We had read that the nearby town of Santarem was quite interesting but hadn’t thought we’d got time for a visit. We’ve got to know it quite well over the last few days – it has a Volvo dealership, a Europcar office, a lovely cafe called Bijou and a little shopping centre with a food court and loos. These have been our haunts for the last couple of days as we try to get the Volvo going again after its failure to start on Saturday morning. To add to our woes, rain has arrived – two days of it.

By now we should be back in Spain having a glass of wine with Bob and Gay having visited Seville for the day en route and Derek should be off to London in the morning. Ah, the best laid plans!

The good men at Volvo have ordered a new ignition part for the car which they hope to fit tomorrow morning so the ‘fingers crossed’ plan is to be on the road tomorrow afternoon, staying in Seville tomorrow night. We’re still at the villa in Azambuja at the moment – Anna, the owner, phoned to say we could stay on, no charge. Nice people the Portuguese.

Friday night – all packed and ready to roll

We are stuck in Lisbon – not a bad place be to be stuck but we should be on our way back to Denia in Spain.

We were all set to leave on Saturday morning – car all packed etc. and it wouldn’t start. At first we thought just a flat battery but several attempts with jump leads and various batteries still wouldn’t turn over the engine.

The car is now with the local Volvo dealership courtesy of Volvo Assistance and we have to wait until Monday morning when the service department opens.

We have a BMW hire car and are staying at the villa until we can get a diagnosis. Our return to Spain and my trip to the UK is now up in the air.

And of course it’s now raining!

Happy Mother’s Day