Since there are only two flights a day from València to Palma de Mallorca, I opted for the 8:40 flight. The València airport is easy to navigate and security was a snap. The security personal were polite and smiling, unlike the often dour Soviet-style TSA agents, although the TSA in Nashville are a bit more cheerful. The flight was uncrowded and fast. When I got to the National counter, I upgraded to an automatic BMW X3 for a modest upcharge and headed up island to Söller, where I had booked an Airbnb. Parking was challenging, since my place doesn’t have any spaces, but I found one about 50 meters from the apartment, so no big deal. The Airbnb is really fantastic. The owner is an English woman who lives in the place next door. The interior of the 1901 house has been tastefully remodeled. It’s the largest space I’ve ever rented, with a big terrace featuring views of the surrounding Tramuntanas. As in València, the local language is Catalan, although everyone speaks Castilian (Spanish).

Before meeting my Nashville neighbor Leah for drinks and dinner, I ventured up the much steeper than expected Ca de Rocafort trail. On the map it looked a lot shorter. I decided to turn back after a few kms. since I didn’t want to get caught in the dark. When I got back to the central plaza, I met Leah at her hotel terrace and enjoyed some charcuterie and a local Mallorcan red before walking over to a relatively new place called Chez Junior Söller, which was pretty upscale but cheap by Nashville standards. We enjoyed martinis before dinner, mine with gin, hers with vodka. The meal was superb as was the service. After a long dinner, I walked back to my place for a deep sleep.

This morning I had Leah over for breakfast, after which we decided to hike over the mountain to the highly recommended village of Deià. The trail was an old mule track, quite rocky and initially pretty steep. We gained almost 1,800’ in altitude. The trail wove through olive trees, citrus, pines and live oaks. The day was cloudy and quite gusty. After a few miles we encountered more hikers, including two women with whom we chatted. They were heading to Sollër and asked if we were heading to Deià, which we affirmed. They told us that they’d met two Irish guys at a pop-up fresh orange juice hut further down the trail, which I found interesting. They told us one of the guys left his mobile at the OJ stand and asked if we could drop it off for them there. Of course we agreed, and fortunately “Johnie” called the number and we agreed that we’d bring it to Deià where he’d reclaim it. One of the women, Anja, was from Berlin, Prenzlauerberg to be precise. We chatted about my visit to Berlin earlier in the year. Her friend was an attractive blue-eyed Spanish woman from Barcelona who was equally pleasant.

We arrived at the orange juice hut just before the owner ran out of oranges. The juice was amazing, as was the view. We chatted with two guys from San Francisco and a woman from Denmark. The drinks were pricey, but where else would one find something like this in the middle of a mountain pass!

When we finally got to Deià we dropped by Cafe Deià for some cava and charcuterie and a creamy beetroot plate. I was flattered that our server understood my Spanish!

Afterwards, we grabbed the bus back to Söller. En route, we were stopped by the policía on a road that reminded me of Highway 1 in Big Sur. An SUV missed one of the perilous turns and dropped into a ravine. The tow truck had to use a crane to pull it out.

Needless to say, the vehicle sustained major damage.

After I dropped Leah off, I finally found a parking spot on the street near my Airbnb. It’s mildly annoying that one must use an old-fashioned meter that only allows for two hours’ parking until 8 pm. I wish they had an app as in the US where one could simply add more time online. Oh well, the quaintness of Söller absolves it of guilt for forgoing 21st century convenience.

Leah came over for wine on the terrace. The winds all day were prodigious, but luckily the terrace is on the lee of the building. We walked to dinner at a charming tapas restaurant midway between our places and enjoyed a light dinner.

Afterwards I headed back through enchanting streets to my apartment to finish this post.