May 1- Excursion to Palma de Mallorca

As the sun rose,we arrived in Mallorca around 7:00 am. About half of us signed up for a walking tour of Palma de Mallorca, with the remainder of the group either staying on the boat or exploring on their own. Even though we left the boat as soon as we could (around 8:30), there was a small mix-up so we didn't meet our local tour guide Emma and start our tour until almost 10:00. As you can see from the photo, we were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day. 

Palma is the largest city on Mallorca and it has a rich history, going back to pre-Roman times. The city was established by the Romans around 123 B.C., and was under Byzantine and then Muslim control until the Christian Reconquest in the year 1229. After a very short bus ride to the Old City, we immediately saw Palma's landmark, the beautiful and immense Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca which is dedicated to San Sebastian, Palma's patron saint. It is also known as La Seu. We naturally took this opportunity for another group shot. 
Construction of this Cathedral began in the early 1300's but it took hundreds of years  to complete. In the early 1900's Antoni Gaudi was engaged in a restoration project. 
One of its notable features is its rose window, one of the largest in the world. Although we unfortunately were not able to visit the inside of the cathedral, there is an YouTube video which shows an amazing display of sunlight through the rose window twice a year:  http://mallorcaobserved.com/2013/02/02/the-cathedral-of-light/

Church of Monte Sion.

This was actually a Jewish Heritage Tour, so Emma told us quite a bit about the history of Jews in Palma. Some tombstones from the 5th century provide evidence of Jewish inhabitance back to that time period. We walked through the Jewish Quarter "el call" and passed by the Church of Monte Sion, built on the remains of  an early synagogue. We talked about the time during the inquisition when Jews were forced to convert to Christianity. Some of them continued to practice their Jewish religion in secret (known as Crypto-jews), and some of their descendents are still in Palma to this day, and are identifiable by their Chueto names.

Silk Exchange Building 

Another place we visited was the silk exchange, a Gothic building from the 15th century

Silk Exchange Building

Basilica of St. Francis

Statue of Father Serra

We also passed by the Basilica of St. Francis. In front of the Basilica is a statue of Father Junipero Serra, who founded nine of twenty-one missions in California in the 18th century.

Front View of La Seu

Here are a few of the other photos I took during our walking tour.  

Beautiful View of Waterfront  in Palma

Leslie and Dan Paulonis

We got back to the ship relatively early and had some time to explore the ship before meeting for Mass at around 5:00. We departed early for Marseilles, and had some wonderful views of Mallorca as we left.

Bill Christman and Father Paul Preparing for Mass.

As we arrived at the Fat Cats Lounge, we were pleasantly surprised that our guests at Mass had grown to about 12. The Good Word must have gotten out!

Our Congregation

Sylvia and Jose Perez Enjoying Dinner

Marilyn and Phil Andreski, Jan and Jim Brady,
and Marilyn and Marty Bunker

Father Paul Wicker, Eileen and Randy Scholl,
Leslie and Dan Paulonis, and Betty and Ron Orr

After Mass and our daily meeting, it was time for dinner and free time  on the ship. Some of us attended one of the shows on board and it was excellent. I managed to catch Sylvia and Jose enjoying a quiet dinner together.