Welcome back!  We just got back from our latest adventure and can’t wait to share it with you.  Last Friday we packed up and headed south to sunny Majorca in Spain’s Balearic Islands.  We went there last year in early June and while we don’t usually repeat too many destinations (except maybe Paris because, well, it’s Paris), we loved Majorca so much last summer that we decided to go back again this year (to the same resort, no less).  Most of the time we prefer to explore new cities, try new restaurants, and in general get out of our comfort zone. For one vacation a year, though, we head back to the same spot for a week of laid-back R&R.

We flew direct to Mallorca from Munich on NIKI, a discount airline jointly owned by Air Berlin and Ethiad.  Weirdly enough, our plane was branded as an Air Berlin plane, but was operated by a TuiFly crew.  Figure that one out.  Anyway, flights to Majorca on budget airlines are usually rowdy affairs and always remind me of the times we’ve flown to Vegas on Spirit Airlines; lots of slightly (or not-so-slightly) tipsy bachelor(ette) parties, college kids out on break, and people in general ready to let their hair down (as much as Germans are able to let their hair down).  Isla was amazing, as always, on this flight (her 47th) and promptly fell asleep after takeoff on Kevin’s shoulder despite the three rowdy stag parties at the back of the plane singing German drinking songs together the entire flight.

In Palma, we rented a car for the week from Europcar and headed across the island to our resort, the Protur Biomar Gran Hotel and Spa.  It’s only about an hour’s drive from the Palma airport and is really family friendly.  Like last year, we used the 4th night free benefit from our Citi Prestige credit cards.  We stayed eight nights, so we each booked four nights individually on our cards, getting us two nights free and saving us over $500.  On a side note, we do much of our travel using credit card benefits and points we’ve earned by strategically opening cards with great travel benefits.  Kevin will be sharing some of our favorite cards and their travel perks in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

We headed out to our favorite (secret-ish) beach, Cala Varques, our very first day there.  Unfortunately, being the clumsy pregnant lady that I am, I managed to trip over a highway and ended up scraping up and bruising my knee, hand, and foot pretty badly (baby sister was okay, thankfully, and Kevin was carrying Isla).  As our beach was a good kilometer hike from where I fell, we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort pool.  A thunderstorm decided to blow in shortly thereafter (the only rain we had our entire trip), so we were doubly glad to be back at the hotel.  When the skies cleared, we wandered into town and down to the beach (Playa Sa Coma) for a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk.

The next couple days we were able to hike down to Cala Varques (in spite of my gimpy knee) and spend some time in the sand and surf.  We were able to get a much better parking spot this time around, but the hike from the car was still about a kilometer (a little over a half a mile).  The terrain is pretty rough and while there is a chained gate with a private property sign, there’s also a semi-permanent tiki bar on the beach operated by the owners.  We think the signage is to deter as many tourists as possible and it seems to work; the beach is never very crowded.

Isla is still a little hesitant with waves, but warmed up quite a bit compared to last year.  She’s still the queen of clean, though, and simply refuses to sit in the sand, preferring instead to sit on the beach blanket and dig around the edge of it, occasionally pausing to wipe her sandy hands on a towel.

Kevin had a (very important, last minute) business trip to Budapest for two days, so Isla and I relaxed poolside for the next few days, alternating between splashing in the kiddie pool, reading on our Kindles (well, she didn’t so much read as watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but who’s counting?), and napping the afternoons away.

When Kevin returned from his work trip on our sixth day, we hit the road for a little beach hopping adventure.  Last year we only visited Cala Varques, but this year we wanted to explore a few more of the local beaches.  We decided on Cala Aguila, Cala Mendia, and Playa Romantica.  All three were breathtakingly gorgeous and surprisingly uncrowded.  They’re all located within a mile of each other and have tons of amenities including beach bars, restrooms, beach chairs and umbrellas, and even lifeguards.  The lifeguards were a definite necessity, though, as the surf in the narrow walled coves was really powerful.

Later that night we had dinner at our favorite restaurant on Majorca, Tr3nta-1.  They have amazing tapas and sangria and are located in the quaint little town of Porto Cristo.  The restaurant only has a few tables and there’s usually a wait, but it’s definitely worth it.  Their staff is incredible and super friendly (even when your hangry toddler throws a plate that shatters into a thousand pieces).  Said hangry toddler did enjoy the tapas as much as Kevin and I, though.

We spent our last day at the resort’s pool doing a whole lot of nothing (except helping Isla to slide down the pool’s kiddie slide over and over and over and over and over).

Overall, it was a incredibly relaxing getaway.  We talked about heading somewhere new next year like Croatia or Sardinia, but somehow I’m guessing we’ll end up back in Majorca, this time with two littles in tow.