Mallorca

My first time to this beautiful island. Thanks to the volcano I got to stay for two weeks instead of one. There are worse places to get stranded. Sadly I didn't really get into the swing of drawing until the last few days. I'll have to go again - there's so much to see - and draw (and cakes and ices to eat).

This is the port of Valldemossa. Like a lot of Mallorcan ports it's quite far from the town itself on account of the pirates. Any pirates landing here would have a gruelling 5 mile hike up a cliff before they got to the actual town. Fortunately there are plenty of ice cream parlours and bars where they could stop for refreshments before they started their terrorising...


This is Portal Vells on tthe southern tip of the island. It's accessed by a dusty track which runs past a golf course with chickens roaming on it. The bays are secluded, the turquoise water is crystal clear - very picturesque...

Alcudia is in the North and has a long beach - which was covered with little jelllyfish (valella valella) which had been washed up in the high winter seas...
Deia was the next village to us and is where Robert Graves lived. This is the port. The beach here was covered with a half meter thick layer of stick-like things and seed pods - it was quite soft and made it very comfortable to lie on. Not sure what it was though...

Here's a view of Valldemossa - the hill top villages sometimes look quite Tuscan. In Estellencs the chef made us a vegetarian paella - it wasn't on the menu but it was delicious...
The port in Valldemosa again and also the remains of the well winding gear in the garden of our house...

Just along the road from us were some ancient olive groves. I was very impressed with the gnarled and twisted trunks. Sometimes sheep with bells on would be grazing in the shade beneath...
I think these quick sketches are the ones I'm most pleased with - most were done on the last day...
Here we ae on the way back home again...