Mel, Margot, Brian and I headed off to Mallorca to attend a week at
The Ashram. We landed in largest city on the Island, Palma, on Saturday and spent a night at
Hotel Saratoga in the center and enjoyed a terrific dinner at
Forn de St. Joan within walking distance from the hotel. Before dinner we strolled the shopping streets and hiked up to the cathedral. Somehow I had expected Palma to be full of rowdy easyjet tourists but I was happily surprised at how beautiful and cosmopolitan the city is, and hugging the coast no less, with a great walking/biking/running path trailing along the harbor.
Next day, and through to the following Saturday afternoon we spent our week just outside of Soller, about an hour's drive from Palma. We followed a well-orchestrated routine each day: 5am wake-up, 5:30 yoga, then breakfast, a 5-6 hour hike up hill somewhere in the mountains, lunch, massage, core exercises, more yoga, dinner, bedtime. The food was great, mostly vegan but well prepared with mediterranen ingredients.
Saturday, after our time at The Ashram ended, we promptly taxi'ed our way up the hill to a French patisserie we heard about from one of our Ashram buddies. Here, two sisters had set up in a family estate a random coffee and tart stop along one of the beautiful hiking trails. Later, we had lunch at
Es Faro with incredible seafood and views across the Soller harbor.
