July 5 - Mallorca, Spain 🇪🇸

Today we had a great day touring the west end of the island. We started with an excursion to Valldemossa, a beautiful village steeped in old-world charm in an idyllic valley in the midst of the Tramuntana mountains. It’s ancient blonde stone houses contrast vividly against the surrounding green forests of olive, oak and almond trees and the blue sky above. With a population of 2,000 people, Valldemossa’s quiet and picturesque streets are sprinkled with shops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants. Doorways are lined with beautiful plants and flowers, and many houses feature a portrait of Saint Catalina Thomas, the first saint to be born in Mallorca.

This is a popular place for hikers and nature lovers. Most tourists come to Valldemossa on day trips to see the Real Cartuja, the Carthusian Monastery where Chopin and George Sand once spent a winter. Tourism began in this small village in the mountains thanks to one cold, damp winter in 1838. When composer Frederic Chopin arrived in Valldemossa with his lover, George Sand, they rented a former monk’s cell planning to carry on their affair away from the gossip of Paris and hoping that the climate would benefit Chopin’s health (he had tuberculosis). Nothing worked out as planned. The weather was wet and windy, the couple were shunned by the locals and Chopin’s piano was late to arrive. It is said however that Chopin worked on some of his finest pieces during this very winter in Mallorca.

Valldemossa is also the birthplace of Santa Catalina Thomas, Mallorca’s patron saint. A peasant girl born in 1531, she became a nun in Palma and was renowned for her humility. Catalina died in 1574, was beatified in 1792 and achieved sainthood in 1935. From Valldemossa, we traveled north to Deia then on to Soller before descending to Alaro, the wine region of Mallorca. We hit Castell Miguel and tasted some of the best that Mallorca offers. What a great day!

Valldemossa, where Chopin wrote some of his best pieces!

Déia, a beautiful spot where Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have a beautiful villa. This place is gorgeous

This is the place where Chopin and his partner spent a winter and some of his best pieces of work were written

Valldemossa

Chopin rented an apartment here and spent a cold winter writing music

We topped off the day with some wine tasting at Castell Miguel in Alaro