DAy 6, ashore at last! Palma, Mallorca (picture heavy)

We arrived a little before lunch, in Palma, Mallorca. We had signed up to take a coach tour round Palma, guided by a local man, with an excellent command of English. (We later found out he had lived not far from our home in London, and worked in the same area as my husband - small world, as ever.)

The weather was glorious, warm and sunny, as we were driven to the highest point of the island, where there was a much restored castle. It had been knocked about a lot during various wars and skirmishes, but the local council had obviously spent a lot of time and money restoring it to its original state.

We continued round the island, and ended up close to the cathedral and palace. Originally the cathedral was built right on the water's edge, but new road and public works mean that it is no longer that close, so a small lake, which you can see in the picture, was dug to give the impression of being next to the sea. It is very high up, and we decided against climbing up that far, given the limited time we had there.

The Royal Palace is very close to the front of the cathedral, and on the same level. It is used by the Spanish Royal family as an official residence in the summer. There is a big Moorish influence on the architecture, which you can see from the arches.

This gives a good idea of how close the two buildings are, and a better view of the lake. There were flowers and shrubs everywhere - easy to see why it is a very popular holiday place.

A bright bottle brush tree, or similar. I mean to go back to my plants books and check it out - I have a closeup of the "flowers."

Finally we were taken to the inevitable shop, where we saw pearls being made by hand. They have a very good reputation, and there were displays of very expensive jewellery throughout! However, there were some more affordable ones as well, and needless to say we parted with some money, quite happily!

Back on the coach, we returned to the boat, and had a rest before a casually dressed dinner, and a drink in the cocktail/piano bar before bed. We left Palma at about 9.30 that evening, heading for our next port of call.