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Mallorca is Spain’s largest island, and a part of the Balearic Islands archipelago, which is located in the Mediterranean Sea and are part of Spain. Like the other Balearic Islands Ibiza, Formentera, and Minorca, the island is a popular tourist destination.

Since the 1960s, however, it has become a synonym for mass tourism. The name derives from Latin insula maior, “larger island”; later Maiorica. The capital of the island is Palma, which is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera archipelago is administratively grouped with Mallorca (in the municipality of Palma). The national anthem of Mallorca is La Balanguera.

Drach (Dragon) Caves

Also known as the Hams Caves (which is in fact the real name of these caves), the Mallorca Drach caves were discovered by the local Pedro Caldentey more than a hundred years ago, on March the 2nd 1905. The Drach Caves are located 1 kilometer and a half south from Porto Cristo, near to Cala Millor and Manacor. That is about 1 hour driving from the capital, Palma de Mallorca. The name is derived from the local literature and legends, as Mallorcans have given the dragon a different number of attributes: one hand, the dragon is a representation of the evil; on the other, it is also of strength. However, on this case, is a mix of the first and also the representation of the guardian of a treasure. The guardian (the dragon) is supposed to be keeping people away from the gold.

Open all year round, a visit to the drach caves takes about an hour and consists of 700 meters of walking. At the end of the walk, you are treated to an unusual experience. You sit in a large auditorium in front of an underground lake and listen to classical music as candle lit boats float by. I imagine that the ambience is akin to when the boat man of Hades comes to take you across the River Styx!

The musicians play a selection of classical music (mostly Chopin) at this underground lake (Lake Martel). The Lake Martel takes its name from its discover, Edouard Alfred Martel, who was invited by the Archiduke Luis Salvador in 1896. He decided to explore the caves further than what was already discovered, and discovered the now famous Lake Martel and the area adjoining it now known as the “Cueva de los Franceses”.

The Drach Caves are divided into a few sections, known by the following names: Cueva Negra (Black Cave), Cueva Blanca (White Cave) and Cueva Luis Salvador, and the end of this one comes La Ventana which is the preamble to the Lake Martel and the Cueva de los Franceses. I was told that the Caves have had their own electricity for years so you can see all of the stalactites and stalagmites. The Drach (Dragon) Caves in Porto Cristo (Mallorca) are a must visit if you are around.

Traditional Spanish House

On the way to the Drach Caves, you may be treated to a traditional Spanish estate.

As you can see they had A LOT to drink…

Majorcan Windmills

As you drive across the countryside, be sure to take note of the many colorful windmills. There are all shapes and sizes and colors. I was told by the guide that these windmills either mill grain or provide alternative power for the farms.

Palma Cathedral

Well known by Gaudi’s refurbishing in 1904, the Palma Cathedral is over 800 years old and has a long history. Begun in the XII century, it was built on a pre-existing Arab mosque but the definitive project was not settled until 200 years later. When Jaime I was on his way to recapture Mallorca, his boats encountered a terrible storm. He vowed to the Virgin Mary that, if he survived the storm, he would build and dedicate a Cathedral to her. Now the Cathedral is home for Jaume I and Jaume III tombs.

Manacor

Manacor is located in the heartland of the island and is the capital city for man-made pearls - yes, MAN MADE pearls! I never thought such thing existed until I saw how they made pearls essentially from glass. They obviously looked fantastic but it made me wonder how many tourists around the world are getting ripped off buying man-made (aka fake) pearls! 

Spain is a great country.  As one of the fountains of world civilization, its definitely a must-see for any world traveler.  In the cities, narrow twisting old streets suddenly open out to views of daring modern architecture, while spit-and-sawdust bars serving wine from the barrel rub shoulders with blaring, glaring discos. My only regret is we only had an opportunity to visit Barcelona and Mallorca on this trip but we plan on returning like the 50 million foreigners who visit Spain annually!

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, capital city of Catalonia and the province with the same name. It is located in the comarca of Barcelonès, along the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs. As capital city of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Generalitat de Catalunya and its Conselleries, the Parliament of Catalonia and the Supreme Court of Catalonia.

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean sea, in a plateau limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river on the south and the Besòs river on the north. It is 100 miles south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Collserola, part of the coastal mountain range, forms a soft rounded backdrop to the city. The city is peppered with small hills, most of them urbanized and that gave name to the neighborhoods build upon them: Carmel (267 m.), Monterols (121 m.), Putxet (181 m.), Rovira (261 m.) and Peira (133 m.).

The mountain of Montjuïc (173 m.) is situated to the southeast, overlooking the harbor, topped by the Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17-18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Nowadays, the fortress is a museum and the mountain houses former Olympic and cultural venues, as well as some well-known gardens. To the north, the city borders the municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs; to the south it borders L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and Esplugues de Llobregat; to the east is the Mediterranean; and to the west are Montcada i Reixach and Sant Cugat del Vallès.

Museu Picasso

The Museu Picasso (Picasso Museum) in Barcelona, Spain, has one of the most extensive collections of artworks by the 20th century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. This is one of the most popular and most visited museum in Barcelona. The museum is housed in five adjoining medieval palaces in Barcelona’s Barri Gotic. There are more than 3,500 works making up the permanent collection of the museum, mostly his early works from when he lived in Barcelona. Picasso arrived in the city in 1894, when his father, an art teacher, had found work teaching in the city art school. Highlights of the collection include two of his first major works, The First Communion(1896), and Science and Charity(1897). In particular, the Museu Picasso reveals Picasso’s relationship with the city of Barcelona, a relationship that was shaped in his youth and adolescence, and continued until his death.

Casa Milà

Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera (Catalan for ‘The Quarry’), is a building designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1905–1907. It is located at 92, Passeig de Gràcia (’passeig’ is Catalan for promenade or avenue) in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was built for Roger Segimon de Milà. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Works of Antoni Gaudí”. The building does not have any straight lines. Most people consider it magnificent and overwhelming; some say it is like waves of lava or a sand-dune. This building seems to break our understanding of conventional architecture.

The most astonishing part is the roof with an almost lunar appearance and dreamlike landscape. The building can be considered more of a sculpture than a regular building. Critics remark on its detachment from usefulness, but others consider it to be art. The Barcelonese of the time considered it ugly, hence the “quarry” nickname, but today it is a landmark of Barcelona.

It could be compared with the steep cliff walls in which African tribes build their cave-like dwellings. The wavy facade, with its large pores, reminds one also of an undulating beach of fine sand, formed, for example, by a receding dune. The honeycombs made by industrious bees might also spring to the mind of the observer viewing the snake-like ups-and-downs that run through the whole building.

Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló is a building designed by Antoni Gaudi and built in years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia (passeig is Catalan for promenade or avenue), part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (house of bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona. The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudi designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.

Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) is a large Roman Catholic basilica under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The formal title of the basilica is the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família or Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family. The basilica is the last, and perhaps most extraordinary, of the designs of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. It is not a cathedral; the cathedral of Barcelona is the Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia, a Gothic building of the late Middle Ages.

The Sagrada Família was planned in the late 19th century and construction work, under the supervision of Gaudí, commenced in the 1880s. After disagreements between the founding association and the original architect Francesco del Villar, Gaudí was assigned the project in 1883 and created an entirely new design. At the time, the basilica stood in an empty field over a mile away from urban Barcelona.

The Sagrada Familia exterior in November 2006 Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour; on the subject of the extremely long construction, Gaudí is said to have joked, “My client is not in a hurry.” After Gaudí’s death in 1926, work continued under the direction of Domènech Sugranyes until interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1935. Parts of the unfinished building and Gaudí’s models and workshop were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War by Catalan anarchists. The design, as now being constructed, is based both on reconstructed versions of the lost plans and on modern adaptations. Since 1940 the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada, Lluís Bonet i Gari and Fracesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The current director and son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, has been introducing computers into the design and construction process since the 1980s. Sculptures by J. Busquets, Etsuro Sotoo, and the controversial Josep Subirachs decorate the fantastical façades.

Park Güell

Park Güell is a wide garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Works of Antoni Gaudí”.

The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi de Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement, hence the original English name Park. It has since been converted into a municipal garden. While entrance to the Park is free, Gaudí’s house — containing furniture that he designed — can be only visited for an entrance fee. Gaudí’s mosaic work on the main terrace Gaudí’s multi coloured mosaic lizard fountain at the main entrance. Although it sounds unlikely, the place is skilfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park.

The buildings, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, are relatively inconspicuous in the landscape, when one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaudí. The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. To design the curvature of the bench surface Gaudí used the shape of buttocks left by a naked workman sitting in wet clay. The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere.

Gaudí incorporated many motifs of Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park. The visitor was originally greeted by two life-size mechanical gazelles (a major euphemistic symbol of ‘the young beloved’ in the Hebrew strand of the medieval love poetry of the region), but these have since been lost during the turbulence of war. The large cross at the Park’s high-point offers the most complete view of Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in panaroma, with the Sagrada Família and the Montjuïc area visible at a distance.

Aquarium

We also visited the Barcelona Aquarium.  Its a great place to take kids and reminded me of the aquarium in Sydney.  Enjoy!

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various overseas islands and territories located in other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. French people often refer to Metropolitan France as L’Hexagone (The “Hexagon”) because of the geometric shape of its territory. France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. The French Republic is a democracy that is organised as a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is a developed country with the sixth-largest economy in the world. France is the most popular international tourist destination in the world, receiving over 75 million foreign tourists annually. The name France originates from the Franks, a Germanic tribe that occupied the region after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. More precisely, the region around Paris, called Île-de-France, was the original French royal demesne.

MARSEILLE

Marseille is the second largest city in France and the third metropolitan area. Located in the former province of Provence and on the Mediterranean Sea, it is France’s largest commercial port. It is considered the Provençal capital, one of the Occitan capitals of Occitania, and the most populated, and France. Marseille is also the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur région, as well as the préfecture (capital) of the Bouches-du-Rhône département. To the east are the villages of the Calanques and Cassis, further afield is the town of Toulon. To the north of Marseille are a range of small mountains and the Mont Saint Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the Camargue region and the Gulf of Lyon. The city itself is spread across a wide geographical area divided into 15 arrondissements. The central four contain most of the city’s historic buildings and its services. The city’s main thoroughfare, the wide boulevard called La Canebière, stretches eastward from the Old Port (Vieux Port/Panier quarter). Adjacent to La Canebière is the Old Port (where the marina and fish market are located.)

To the south east of central Marseille is the Prefecture and the roundabout Castellane (a bus and metro interchange) in the 7th arrondissement. To the south west are the hills of the 9th arrondissement, dominated by the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. The train station - Gare St Charles - is north of the Centre Bourse in the 3rd arrondissement. It is at the end of La Canebière and is near the square of Victor Hugo. The airport Marseille-en-Provence lies to the North West of the city at the Etang de Berre.

Below is a family picture we took overlooking the city and some of the mountains overlooking the nearby area.

Vieux Port

Vieux Port is the old harbor and heart of Marseille.  Lined with yachts, fishing boats and restaurants, most streets lead to this historic center.  Vieux is also the location of Marseille’s famous fish market held on Monday through Saturday mornings.

At the entrance to the old Port are two large forts - Fort St Nicholas on the south side and Fort St Jean on the other. The main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at Rue Paradis and the Centre Bourse (the main shopping mall). Pedestrianised squares radiate away from the Canebière and the old port such as Cours Julien and the Place du Général De Gaulle, both of which have fountains.

Abbey of Saint-Victor

Dating back to the 5th century, this structure is located on a hill above the old port and contains the twin tombs of the 4th century martyrs and a 3rd century sacrophagus.  The sanctuary was destroyed in a Saracen raid but rebuilt in 1040 A.D.  Each year on February 2nd, the statue of the Black Virgin inside the abbey is carried through the streets in a candle lit procession; green candles are used to represent light and hope.

Notre-Dame de La Garde

This structure is the highest point in the city and offers beautiful panoramic views of the Marseille area.  The architecture dates back to the 19th century and is located 1 km south of the Vieux Port.  Inside the cathedral are beautiful mosaics, multicolored marble and paintings by the Dusseldorf School.

Château d’If

The Château d’If is a stable (later a prison) located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France. It is famous as the setting of Alexandre Dumas’ adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo. The château is a square, three-story building 28 m long on each side, flanked by three towers with large gun embrasures. The remainder of the island, which only measures 30,000 square meters, is heavily fortified; high ramparts with gun platforms surmount the island’s cliffs. The Château was built in 1524–1531 on the orders of King François I as a defense against attacks from the sea. However, its construction was extremely controversial. When Marseille was annexed to France in 1481, it retained the right to provide for its own defense. The castle was therefore seen by many of the local inhabitants as an unwanted imposition of central authority. The castle’s principal military value was as a deterrent; it never had to fight off an actual attack. The closest that it came to a genuine test of strength was in July 1531, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V made preparations to attack Marseille. However, he abandoned the invasion plan, perhaps deterred by the presence of the castle. This was perhaps fortunate, given the weaknesses identified by the military engineer Vauban in a scathing report in 1701: “The fortifications look like the rock, they are fully rendered, but very roughly and carelessly, with many imperfections. The whole having been very badly built and with little care… All the buildings, very crudely done, are ill made.”

The Château d’If’s isolated location and dangerous offshore currents made it an ideal escape-proof prison, very much like the island of Alcatraz in California. Its use as a dumping ground for political and religious detainees soon made it one of the most feared and notorious jails in France. Over 3,500 Huguenots (French Protestants) were sent to If, as was Gaston Crémieux, a leader of the Paris Commune, who was shot there in 1871.

The island became internationally famous in the 19th century when Alexandre Dumas, père, used it as a setting for The Count of Monte Cristo, published to widespread acclaim in 1844. In the book, the “Count” (actually the commoner Edmond Dantès) and his mentor, Abbé Faria, were both imprisoned on If. After fourteen years, Dantès makes a daring escape from the castle, becoming the first person ever to do so and survive (in reality, none are known to have done so). He adopts the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo and takes revenge on those who had falsely sent him to the island, driving them into bankruptcy and suicide. As was common practice in those days, prisoners were treated differently according to their class and wealth. The poorest were literally at the bottom of the pile, being confined to a windowless dungeon under the castle. The wealthiest were much better off, living comparatively comfortably in their own private cells (or pistoles) higher up, with windows, a garderobe and a fireplace. However, they were expected to pay for this privilege, effectively forcing them to fund their own incarceration.

Sports

The city boasts a wide variety of sports facilities and caters to almost every interest. Among the more interesting sports is one that is similar to marbles/bocchi ball (see picture below). Sailing is also a major sport in Marseille. The winds can blow from different directions and allow interesting regattas in the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Most of the time it can be windy while the sea remains smooth enough to allow sailing. It has been considered as a possible site for 2008 Americas Cup. Marseille is also a place for other water sports such as windsurfing, sailing and powerboating. Marseille has three golf courses to its north and north east. The city also boasts dozens of gyms and several council owned swimming pools. Running is also popular in many of Marseilles parks such as Le Pharo and Le Jardin Pierre Puget.

CASSIS

Cassis is a town commune of the Bouches-du-Rhône département, in southeastern France. It is a popular tourist destination, famous for its cliffs and the calanques.

Cassis has drawn many famous painters to its sunny bay including Vlamick, Matisse and Dufy.  Cafes, restaurants and seafood shops cluster around its harbor and three beaches.  Be careful not to look up as as Cassis lies at the foot of Europe’s highest cliff, the 1,300 foot Cap Canaille!

VALLETTA 

If you’ve ever wondered what sort of prize you’d get for saving Europe, look no further than Valletta. Named after La Valette, the Grandmaster who masterminded Malta’s successful stand against the Turkish siege of 1565, Valletta became the city of the Knights of the Order of St John and the seat of Malta’s government.

While traveling through the Mediterranean, Sir Walter Scott described Valletta as ‘the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen’. Today it’s a beautifully preserved 16th-century walled city, small enough to cover in a few hours without sweating too much in the Mediterranean sun. In fact, the streets were carefully laid out to channel cool breezes in from the harbour.

Situated on the northeast coast of Malta, Valletta is the capital, and is built on the promontory of Mount Sciberras which juts out into the middle of a bay. This dissects the bay into two deep harbours: the Grand Harbour to the east and the Marsamxett to the west. Valletta is a rough rectangle at the tip of a peninsula on the coast, just a few hundred metres across in either direction and thus surrounded by water on its northern, eastern and southern sides.

The city was named after Jean Parisot de la Valette who was the Grand Master of the Order of the Knight Hospitallers (Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem).

This famed religious order of hospitallers was founded in Jerusalem in the 11th century and made their base in Malta after they were expelled from Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks. During the time of Grand Master La Valette, in 1565, the Knights and the Maltese managed to suppress a siege on the island by the forces of Süleyman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in what was to become known as one of history’s greatest sieges.

Following the siege, the building of the city began in the same year 1565 in order to create a base for the defense of the island. Although Grand Master La Valette managed to lay the first stone, he died before its completion. Most of the embellishments of Valletta were done during the time of Grand Master La Cassiere, especially the magnificent St John’s Co-Cathedral. The reign of the Knights of St John eventually came to an end with the successful invasion by Napoleon who occupied Malta on his way to Egypt. A Maltese revolt against the French garrison was the catalyst for the occupation of Valletta by the British in 1800. Valetta is also the spot where the Italian fleet surrendered to the Allies in 1943. (For more details see the History section).

Valletta’s network of streets is laid out in an orthogonal grid dominated by a main artery which crosses the length of the entire city and opens up into a series of squares at its geometric centre, around the Palace of the Grand Masters. The city architecture is inspired by Italian Renaissance planning principles, and served as an early model of urban design.

Valletta is one of the most important planned towns of the Renaissance. It equals in its noble architecture, any capital in Europe, while its timeless beauty and artistic treasures make it a well-deserved World Heritage site. There are a number of superb museums here as well as historical sites that are worth visiting. The main thoroughfare in the city is Republic Street.

You’ll find all the main shops and character-filled side streets leading off from here. For those interested in shopping, Merchant’s Street and Lucia Street are the places to go for the most interesting merchandise. Lucia Street is famous for the exquisite silver and gold filigree jewellery sold there. Merchant Street specializes in souvenirs and is also home to a large open market.

When I first visited Malta, I was reminded of all those medieval movies with knights, dragons and looming castles. Sure enough, I later learned that this is a frequent destination for Hollywood movies and has included such greats as Troy and Gladiator! For several decades its main source of movie fame was another classic: Midnight Express.

Malta is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, dating as far back as 5,000 B.C.  Throughout the centuries, navigators as well as invaders have been attracted to Malta due to its strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea.  The island’s harbor provided a sheltered base for naval fleets while the island itself, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, enabled its colonizing powers to exercise control over shipping in this vast and turbulent sea.  Originally colonized by the Phoenicians between 800 and 200 B.C., Malta later became part of the Roman Empire.  St. Paul is said to have converted the island to Christianity in 60 A.D. after having been shipwrecked on the island while en route to prison in Rome.

Malta may not be big, and it may not have the swarmy, breezy feel of other Mediterranean destinations, but the feelings that exude when you enter the harbor and tour the surrounding group of islands gives one a sense of a remote, less touristy escape. Below are some pictures which include Fort St. Angelo.

The deep blue water with brightly painted fishing boats buzzing around honey-colored stone buildings reminded me of a less touristy Venice.

A mix of cultures from Rome to Britain has influenced these five little islands over the centuries, so you’ll find Italian baroque architecture and an English accent combined with the Maltese gusto for life. Add good restaurants, friendly people and the remains of an ancient culture, and you’ll begin to understand Malta’s appeal.

Malta’s capital, the minicity of Valletta on the island of Malta, has ornate palaces and museums protected by massive fortifications of honey-color limestone. Houses along the narrow streets have overhanging wooden balconies for people-watching.

The three cities area of Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua, across the Grand Harbor from Valletta, has its old-world charms, while Malta’s southern and eastern areas have prehistoric sites, as well as the stunning cliffs and waters around the Blue Grotto.

The ancient and silent walled city of Mdina rises out of the center of the island. The island of Gozo, northwest of Malta, is a place to relax. Its capital, Victoria, is a charming old city with warrens of narrow streets, a hilltop Cittadella, and two main squares. The island has some superb restaurants, and local bakeries turn out tasty, crusty round loaves. Lace making is practiced here by a diminishing number of older women. At the same time, diving has become increasingly popular, especially at Xlendi Bay.

The 3-square-km (1-square-mi) island of Comino, between Malta and Gozo, is populated by a handful of people year-round. Day-trippers walk the dirt paths and swim in the beautiful but overcrowded Blue Lagoon.