After consulting with our local gurus, the mantra was to 'stay north'; there are only beaches south. OK. We hardly need beaches, so north it is. It does mean that my designated driver, Captain Ken will not be able to lay claim to having driven every road in Mallorca, but...life is like that, sometimes. We headed towards Valldemossa via some local roads, and took a wrong turn...but that was fine. We were able to see the locals in Santa Maria doing what locals in Santa Maria do on a Sunday morning: strolling arm in arm, carrying their little ones, walking their dogs, and greeting their neighbors. Nice.

Back on track, the drive to Valldemossa, our first destination, was just gorgeous. The Serra de Tramuntana mountain chain, with its rugged limestone cliffs, is breathtaking. There are many sheep ranches, and of course, vineyards, and fig and olive groves. Like Menorca, they make excellent use of the stones, with many dry-stone walls supporting roads or demarcating farm fields. You don't get this everywhere.

And then: Valldemossa. This is a whole different scene. It's very upscale and trendy. I'm sure I saw a few celebs, but I have never been very good at identifying them. The best part was the market. Ken and I are not ones to buy 'stuff' but, after lots of tastings, we did buy delicious cashews, and local cheese and sausage for the next leg of the passage. I also found the perfect ceramic dishes for my Andalusian gazpacho which I'm planning for my return to Marco. (Yes...I'm addicted.)

When I first read our the description of Valldemossa in Fodor's, Ken agreed that it sounded like a good destination. Then...when I told him that from Valldemossa, one could drive on a "torturous 7 km road to Port de Valldemossa', he uncurbed his enthusiasm. He was all in. If yesterday's road to Cap de Formentor was 'splendid' (according to Fodor), I could only imagine what this one would be like. Truth to tell, it wasn't so bad. We've been on so much worse (like the road to Rose in Montenegro). Perhaps we were just lucky. There were spots where there was only room for one car to pass but...on the trip down and back up...there wasn't much traffic (the road less traveled?) and when we did cross paths, it was always in a spot where there was some breathing room. It goes on my 'awesome' list. (Yes, I really have one.) That said, we did fold in our side-view mirrors...and so did the passing cars. I really love it when everyone plays nicely in the sandbox, and no one cops an attitude. Wouldn't the world be a better place.....? (Just an unpaid political announcement.)

Once down at the Port, of course, there was that darned parking issue...which seems to be a common theme in these towns. There were 'spots' (indentations on the road) on the way down...but Captain Ken said he thought he saw parking on the dock when he looked down from hundreds of feet up...and, of course he was right. With excellent parking karma, there was a spot on the dock...with our name on it. Others were not so lucky and the maneuvering in and out was dicey...but it all worked out just fine.

So, now, it's lunch time. There is one restaurant down at Port de Valledemossa....and it was a fine one. The Andalusian gazpacho was fabulous. TripAdvisor rated the restaurant at 4.5. (Ken said...OK...it is #1 of 1 in Port de Valldemossa), but it actually was rated 619 out of 4523 in Mallorca...and that's nothing to sneeze about.