With our first free weekend approaching, fellow students were scrambling to make quick travel arrangements to various European destinations. I found that most flights were double what they should have been with some advanced booking. Many students I had talked with were planning to fly to Ibiza, which is an island off the coast of Spain known for its wild night life and beach parties. Although any trip sounded appealing to me, I didn’t want to blow hundreds of dollars for overpriced tropical cocktails and ridiculous cover fees; I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path.
Starting Tuesday afternoon, I began researching potential destinations. Trains, planes and ferries were all possible means of transportation, however I still could not narrow down where I wanted to go. Then Hunter found an overnight ferry to Mallorca for just 100 euros round trip. An island off the coast of Spain definitely sparked my interest, but we continued looking for alternatives. Wednesday rolled around and we still had nothing planned. At this point, I was frustrated and figured the most realistic option would be to stay in Barcelona.
By Thursday morning, we decided to just be spontaneous and go to Mallorca. We had no accommodations or ferry tickets purchased and we were supposed to be leaving later that evening. I quickly booked the first hostel where I could find room for 4 and with decent reviews. Hunter’s friend Will was joining us as well as my roommate Hannah. I waited until 6pm for everyone else to get out of class and together we took a metro ride down to the port to see if there were any seats still available for that night. Luckily there were! We only had 2 hours to make it back to our apartments, pack, eat dinner, and then return back to the port in time to board. I knew we were going to be cutting it very close, but we were able to get on the boat with 20 minutes to spare.
We found a group of chairs on the main deck to throw down our bags and chill after a chaotic couple of hours. This area looked like a lobby with a bunch of small coffee tables and cushioned benches so we assumed that it was where we would be sleeping. Hunter and Will decided to take a walk around the boat and found out that there were designated
rooms with big movie theater- like chairs for sleeping. By the time we figured this out, all the spots were taken so we decided to head back to our original spot. Let’s just say it was a long 8 hours of restless sleep.
We woke up to the sound of the engine pulling into Mallorca’s port. Lugging our heavy backpacks sleep deprived and hungry, we made our way to buses that took us to the capital city of Palma. From there we caught a taxi that took us to Hostal Atlanta.
I had no idea what to expect when I booked our hostel. I didn’t have time to research other options, so I was only hoping for the best. Thankfully this place exceeded all my expectations of what a hostel could be like. Yes, I’m sure this one was a rare exception, but it was surprisingly nice! Not only did the staff provide us with useful tips and information but they were also friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean and more than doable for a one-night stay. For my first hostel experience, I would say I was pleasantly surprised with this place.
After checking in early, we ate breakfast at a little eatery across the street from the beach called El Nilo. It was recommended by the helpful hostel staff. We then headed back to our rooms to grab our bathing suites for a day at Mallorca’s incredible beaches.
Hunter found a spot that was a 15 minute taxi ride from our hostel called Cala Blava that apparently had some of the best beaches on the west side of the island. We decided this would be a good starting point so we headed in that direction. When we arrived, we were the first ones on this secluded stretch of sand. We spent a few hours napping under the sun and exploring the nearby cliffs that surrounded our beach. The boys found a spot to go cliff jumping, while Hannah and I found a swimming hole with stunning blue water.
About lunchtime, we packed up our belongings and continued walking further down the coast to discover our next beach to relax on. As we walked along the rocky cliffs above the sea, we stumbled upon a small hidden gem. It was a small crescent of a white sandy beach with piercing turquoise water. Although this beach was small, it was my absolute favorite place that I saw in Mallorca. The best part about it was we had never planned on going there. It was just by complete accident that we found this place, which made it that much more beautiful. We spent the next hour or so swimming in its lagoon, soaking in the perfect weather, and exploring a shallow sea cave that was tucked into the side of the cliff.
That afternoon, we got lunch at a quaint restaurant that had a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We spent the next few hours sipping white wine and sampling their local version of paella. We finished our day back at La Palma’s main beach for a few more hours. This beach was very crowded and touristy but perfect for an afternoon siesta. That night, we went to a great restaurant called Del Sol where I had a fantastic vegetable risotto. Hannah had salmon and a baked potato (which they called jacket potato) and the boys had pasta. After such a long 24 hours of traveling and exploring, all of us were exhausted by the end of the day but agreed to check out one bar before heading back to our hostel. It was an England themed underground hole in the wall with two English native bartenders running the show. They were so much fun that we ended up staying longer than planned. It was nice talking to people who spoke English because everyone else on the island were German. The entire time we were there we didn’t run into one American which was pretty cool, in my opinion.
At some point, our exhaustion finally caught up to us and we called it a night. The next morning we took a 45 minute bus ride down the coast to a beach called Es Trenc. This beach is a very long stretch of white sand with calm shallow waters. It seemed to be one of the more touristy beaches, however, I could tell it was for good reasons. It was beautiful. We spent the day relaxing, swimming, and unwinding. Since we had to catch a ferry that night, we took a bus back to Palma around 4:30 in the afternoon so we could shower and grab our bags from the hostel.
We got to the ferry with plenty of time and were able to snag the comfy sleeping chairs. That night none of us had any trouble sleeping. I woke up before the rest of my group and decided to go outside on the open deck for some fresh air. As my sleepy eyes adjusted to the morning light, I was blown away by the most beautiful sunrise reflecting over the Mediterranean Sea. I sat there for a few minutes just to soak it all in. At this moment in time, I found myself reflecting on how grateful I was to be in that very spot and also having the company of some great people.
Although it was a short weekend, it was an amazing couple of days. I expect that this was the first of many spontaneous weekend adventures and now I’m looking forward to whatever next weekend has in store for me.
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