Majorca: Hermanos Locos

We couldn't wait to return to Majorca for an action-packed five day adventure trip.  Along with Erin's brother Mason, we started off the trip by checking out the capital city of Palma.  After arriving at night, we dropped our bags and ventured out for tapas.  Accompanied by cervezas and cava, we chowed down on some delicious octopus, shrimp and other small plates. We spent the night strolling around the city streets along with stylish crowds enjoying the summer night at sidewalk cafes.  Compared to the Luxembourg folk, the stylish, attractive people made for fantastic people-watching. Around midnight we made it to the Palma Cathedral - with its massive stone footprint - one of the largest gothic churches in the world.

We woke up early and hit up Cala des Moro and Cala S'Almunia on Majorca's southwest coast for neon blue waters, swimming grottoes and wicked cliff jumping.  Despite it being the peak of tourist season, we enjoyed very few crowds and spent a few hours jumping off the cliffs and exploring the rocky shoreline.  

From there, we drove our coupe to the western side of the island.  Once again we hopped the fence to enter donkey territory and embarked on the sweaty hike down to Sa Foradada restaurant for sangria and traditional paella.  After a post-lunch swim and jump session, we pushed back up the hill and drove to our hotel in Soller for a much-needed nap.  In the evening we drove along the coast against the backdrop of an epic sunset, winding our way to the famous Hotel La Residencia in Deia - home to many celebrity weddings and great views of Deia's hilltop town center.  Erin tricked her brother into eating octopus, squid ink and beef carpaccio salad while Dave tried to enjoy the posh surroundings and haute cuisine through shuttering eyelids after such an action packed day. ​​

The following morning we hired Vespas near the Port of Soller and cruised the winding seaside streets back towards Cala Deia.  We snorkeled far out from shore around the inlet towards some rocky cliffs for another jumping session. Erin got stung by a jellyfish and everyone got a little scratched up climbing on the sharp rocks, but we were able to climb over the rocks to an empty cove where we hung out in tiny natural rock pool hot tubs.  We had lunch in Deia town and discovered Pep Lemon, a delicious sparkling lemonade made from Majorcan lemons.  After lunch, we took a long drive on our Vespas to Fornalutx and enjoyed opening up the throttle amidst the views of seaside Spanish towns.  After another much-needed afternoon nap, we headed to the Port of Soller to stroll the promenade, explore the yachts moored at the marina, feed ducks, drink 5 smoothies for 3 people and generally just enjoy the sunset in a chill way, Majorcan style.

The following day we headed to Sa Calobra, on the northwest part of the island. To get there, we had to take a winding one-lane road with two-way traffic up and over the mountains down to the sea.  We arrived early and hiked down from the parking area through neon-lit, claustrophobic cave tunnels to a perfect turquoise cove with towering cliffs on both sides.  We found a cliffside staircase leading down toward the water that had been blocked off and improvised a ladder up to it using a sarong and a lot of arm strength.  We jumped off the stairs, climbed the cliffs and found some underwater tunnels to swim through.  After donating our sarong for other visitors to enjoy the stairs, we headed to a 70s-style Spanish cafeteria with lunch trays and were entertained when Mase loaded his tray with chocolate cake, chicken nuggets, rice, fries, watermelon and cheesecake - as the swimming and climbing built a hefty appetite.  ​

​From Sa Calobra, we drove to Alcudia, a pedestrian-only town in northern Majorca surrounded by ancient fortress walls. We parked outside town, entered through the drawbridge, and strolled through the stone streets while marveling at the streamers lining the streets. They were almost like a ceiling of fringe blowing in the wind all throughout the town.  We checked in to our hotel and lived it up with bathrobes, wine and The Matrix.  We planned to navigate to Alcudia Beach for dinner at a beach bar, but Erin totally miscalculated the distance and we wound up walking for an hours with fading blood-sugar levels and blistered feet.  We turned around, defeated, and ended up sharing rooftop Chinese meal on the beach.

For our fourth day, we woke up early and embarked on a three hour paddelboard excursion. Our Sicilian guide was a super spiritual dude and promised to show us some "mystic caves".  We paddleboarded along the cliffs and hopped off our boards with flashlights to check out tunnels through the cliffs - the light shining through the tunnels illuminated the cave water for a very "mystic" experience.  We hopped back on the paddleboards and headed down the coast to snorkel and jump, and our guide promised to take us to his favorite cave that he didn't usually take people to on the way back. He thought we could handle the entrance to the cave, which required you to hold your breath and dive under a rock wall - with no ability to surface for air until you got to the other side - in pitch black.  Erin went first with nothing to guide her in the darkness besides the guide's weak flashlight beam.  It was a little sketchy, as we wondered what would happen if the water level rose or the flashlight failed. It was scary and probably very dangerous, as a tide change or any rock movement would be a problem, so we swam around a little and then hightailed it back under the rock wall out to the open sea.  ​

From there we returned to the spots we hit the first day for some more action and then headed toward our hotel near Palma airport, as our flight left early the next morning. We checked out Palma beach and had dinner at a beachside cafe.  

We hopped an early morning flight to Frankfurt Hahn airport and then hiked the castle Burg Eltz before heading back to Luxembourg to wrap up an extreme 5 days. We were all exhausted but had a great time - Majorca is definitely our new favorite spot. ​​

Follow the link for more Majorcan adventures.

Find out how to visit Burg Eltz.

Check out the full travel montage: Depth Perception