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FLIGHT INFORMATION:
There are plenty of flights from the USA and England
or Europe mainland to Spain, direct or through Madrid
and Barcelona.
Those wishing to spend time in either Madrid of Barcelona
might wish to schedule time there either before or after
the Symposium.
Those signing on for the tour of Minorca and Barcelona
in the week following the Symposium should arrange to
fly into Barcelona as they can expeditiously depart
from there at the end of the tour.
Flight time from Madrid to Palma de Mallorca is 1 hour;
Barcelona to Palma, just 30 minutes. Prices vary dramatically
but you can find a competitive fare by "googling"
hard.
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BOATS:
One can also travel from Barcelona to Palma and back
by boat. There are generally an afternoon and an overnight
sailing. This is a nice way to arrive at, and leave,
an island. Consult www.transmediterranea.es
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LOCAL TRANSPORT:
There is a shuttlebus from Palma Airport to the city
center. This stops at the Palma-Inca train station where
one can get one of the frequent trains to Inca, home
of Artifex Balear, the venue for the workshop and the
information center for newly arriving attendees. The
Artifex premises are just a 200 meters from the Inca
train station.
Mallorca is well mapped and conveniently signposted
and rental cars are the most convenient way to get around.
There are dozens of small, competitively priced companies
apart from the usual Hertz/Avis options. Registrants
will be provided with this information. The rental cost,
if shared with other persons can be quite low.
The island is small but you will do a lot of to-and-fro
exploring the various possibilities available (sight-seeing,
stone related sites, beaches, shopping, nightlife.)
LOCAL DISTANCES (by car):
Palma Airport- Palma city = 10 minutes.
Palma - Inca = 20 minutes
Inca- Alcudia = 20 minutes
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SOME PRICES:
Benchmarks:
A beer at a bar = 1.50 Euros
A coffee (espresso) at a bar: 1.25 Euros
Economic restaurant menu: 10-12 Euros (includes 2 courses
meal, bread, wine, seven up or water and dessert.)
Medium range restaurant menu = 25-40 Euros ( including
a bottle of wine for 2 people)
A liter of petrol = 1 Euro (1 USA Gallon is roughly
4 liters ;- 3,78 liters to be precise)
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RESTAURANTS:
Mallorca boasts a wide variety of International restaurants
and touristic resorts. Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican,
Italian, Thai, Greek. Quality and price. But, when in
Spain, why not eat like the Spanish?
Arrosseria
Type of Restaurant specialized in paellas.( S'Arrosseria,
Sa Cranca or Fenix restaurants in Palma for example)
Celler
These are restaurants often with large communal tables
serving traditional Mallorcan food (There are several
excellent ones in Palma, but the best are to be found
in the towns and villages, Sineu, Sencelles, Inca...)
Seafood
Mediterranean Seafood is excellent but fairly expensive.
Cap-roig (cabracho), Gallo, mero or araña are
local fish, usually grilled. Gambas ( shrimps), langostinos
(lobster). Mejillones, almejas, navajas ( shellfish
seafood). Calamares ( both grilled or a la Romana) and
sepias (squids, jellyfish) Mariscada: Frito de pescado:
a finely cut mixture of fried seafood and potatoes.
Pescado a la Mallorquina: Fish, usually a mero or denton,
backed in the oven, potato slices at the bottom and
covered by vegetables, raisins and piñones (
pine tree seeds). Suquet de peix, Caldereta, Zarzuela
de pescado: traditional seafood and dish dense soups.
Seafood restaurants: Es Portitxol,
Rififi, Mediterraneo, Restaurants with a stone environment:
Samantha's, Bendinat, Restaurant Maricel, Son Net, La
Residencia in Deia, Son Vida Restaurant, Porto Pi Restaurant...
Bodegas There are also several quite
good Basque Bodegas serving the traditional fare of
the Atlantic coast of Spain,
Other traditional dishes:
Porcella, Cordero asado : Roasted pork
or sheep with potatoes.
Traditional Mallorcan fish. ( Pescado
a la mallorquina) covered with vegetables on a bed of
potatoes.
Sopas Mallorquines: traditional soup
served with thin slices of the distinctive local bread
Caracoles: Snails in various sauces,
a European culinary adventure for our American guests.
Find out why they're popular here. Wash them down with
a good San Miguel beer.
Aioli: mix of olive oil, potatoes
and garlic sauce, looks like mayonnaise. A spoonful
or two with the paella or with the caracoles. Mmmm.
Frito de cordero: the same. Sheep
instead of seafood. If you like Scottish haggis you
should try this.
Frito de cerdo: the same. Pork instead
of sheep. You will recognize it because the cubes are
bigger.
And, of course, Tapas
Good tapas places: La Boveda (c/Boteria 3, tel: 971
714863) Besides La Lonja. Iberico ham platters, dates
wrapped in crispy bacon, small fried fish and delicious
clam and white bean stew. Good value, but very busy.
To avoid the queue, get there just before 8.30pm for
a stool at the bar or book ahead for a table. Closed
Sunday. El Pilon (c/Cifre 4, tel: 971 717590) - tiny
and packed but atmospheric, just off Passeig Born. Closed
Sunday. La Bodeguilla (c/Sant Jaume, 3) - stylish tapas,
amid hanging wine bottles at the end of Avenida Jaime
III. Closed Sunday
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A NOTE ABOUT RESTAURANT DINING:
This is Spain, and late night dinners, often al fresco,
are customary. The importance of food is respected and
you can step into a Restaurant at 2:00 pm, order a paella
and finish at 4:00 pm without being thrown out of the
premises. At night, 9:00 would be early time to dine,
11:00 is still an acceptable hour to step into a restaurant
and order. The nightlife begins to pick up at midnight
and most pubs, bars and discos are fully packed at 4:00
am
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SHOPPING:
Shops usually open from 10:00- 1:30 and then, after
siesta, from 4:00- 10:00. Saturdays morning too. Boutiques
and Fashion: Central Palma (Jaime III ,Via Verí,
Jame II,Colón Streets...)
Big stores: the Corte Inglés, 2 five-storey-high
buildings at Jaime III and Avenidas(open all day)
Central market, the Mercat del Olivar
fruit, veggies, cheese, fish, meat.
Shoes: Mallorca, particularly Inca, is noted for the
quality footwear manufactured there. Yanko, Lotusse
or Loryc are well known quality brands found in New
York, London, Paris or Tokio; better to buy them in
Mallorcan shops.
Majorica pearls: artificial pearls, also widely known.
Based at Manacor, available throughout the island and
copied worldwide
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WINES and BEER:
An important issue. There is a wide range of good to
excellent Spanish wines that never leave the country
and a reperesentative sampling of mainland wines is
available in cosmopolitan Mallorca. In the last years
the majorcan wines have won important
international prizes.
Spanish beer stands up well beside the varieties of
imported beers available, particularly the Pilsen-type
brands, San Miguel, Mahou, Cruzcampo, Estrella Dorada.
Discriminating beer drinkers will prefer a cerverca
de caña (draught beer) to the bottled beer. Just
say," Una caña, por favor!"
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BEACHES:
Sand beaches: Cala Esmeralda, S'Amarador, S'illot of
Alcudia(pebbles) Cala Mondragó, Cala llombards,
Cala Falcó, Es Trenc, Ses Covetes, Formentor,
Cala San Vicente, Portalls Vells...
Go to GOOGLE IMAGES and type any of the above beaches
to see the photos and more info.
A cala is a coastal inlet.
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LODGING:
HOTELS:
There are hundreds of them on the island. Basic pensions
and hostals, 1,2,3,4,5 star hotels in Palma and the
larger towns, and rural tourist resorts throughout the
island.
Hotels: The best recommendation: rural countryside
hostels with just a few rooms and family atmosphere.
These should be booked much in advance.
Google: search for "agroturismo mallorca"
www.agroturismo-balear.com/
www.mallorcaweb.com/
( look for agroturismo)
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MANOR HOUSES:
These are big countryside palaces often with the basic
structure of the Roman farm that was still in use in
the 18th century, living museums of a bygone time.
Sa Granja: Near Esporles Village. www.lagranja.net/
Els Calderers: Carretera de Manacor www.todoesp.es/els-calderers/
Alfabia: Nice gardens at the bottom of the Valldemossa
mountains. www.jardinesdealfabia.com/
Raixa: Carretera of Soller. www.mallorcaweb.com/reports/manor-houses/raixa/
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MUSEUMS:
A retrospective survey of Mallorcan History and Art.
Megalithic times, Bronze age, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans,
Byzantines, Vikings, Arabs, Catalans. Reproductions
of Copper and Bronze Age caves, towns, temples and tombs.
Museo Miró: Attellier of the famous abstract
painter Juan Miró, who lived at Mallorca most
of his life.
Roman Museums of Pollensa (the Roman city of Pollentia)
and Alcudia :
Museu Etnológic de Muro: Carrer Major, 15 .
(07440) Not to be missed.
Etnological wing of the Museo de Mallorca. Tools and
accutrements of different traditional crafts: blacksmith,
stonemason, horse leather, carpenter, with examples
of works in forged iron, stone, clay, vegetal fibers,
fabric.
Museu de Lluc.Santuari de la Mare de Deú de
Lluc. Archaeolological findings of the Talaiotic and
Roman periods. Gallery of Mallorquin painters. Traditional
Medieval Mallorcan jewelry and liturgic objects.
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BOAT TRIPS:
Boat to Minorca ( Ciutadella) departs from Alcudia.
Boat to Cabrera departs from Colonia de Sant Jordi
Boat to Ibiza or Minorca ( Mahon) departs from Palma
(the boat to Ibiza continues to the Spainish mainland,
Denia, Alicante, Valencia)
Sightseeing boat from Puerto Soller to Torrente de Pareis
and Sa Calobra.
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CHURCHES:
To visit an old church is always something special and
there are many on the island. The Gothic crypt of Santa
Creu Church, the impressive Baroque Monti-Sion Church
or the Cathedral compete with unpretentious churches
like those in the villages of Santa Margarita, Son Servera
or Muro
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MISCELANEOUS:
Majorcan families' traditional mid afternoon chat accompanied
by an ice cream or a coffee.
Capuchino: Reinassance palace at San Miguel Street.
Can Joan de s'Aigua. Open since 16 century. Now a modern
house but wonderful majorcan bisquits ( Cuartó,
ensaimada, coca de patata) Almond, Hazel nut, Apricot
are the traditional majorcan. Also chocolate, cofee,
champaigne ,strawberry. Hot chocolate.
Abaco: Baroque palace. Now a cocktail bar. Only at
night. Near Apuntadores street and La Lonja.
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Feedback: Miguel Ramis
artifex@artifexbalear.org
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