Day 51: Port d'Alcudia Day 2

April 9, 2025

North to Port de Pollenca

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Back south through Alcudia and to our hotel

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Our project for today was first to search out the ferry dock, for our sailing tomorrow to France. We had chosen a hotel in Port d'Alcudia rather than in Alcudia itself, just to be closer to the ferry. Still it was about 3 km from the hotel to the ferry, and not 100% obvious how to get there. But now we know, and we are confident of not getting lost and missing the boat tomorrow.

Unlike at Palma, the port here does not feature any heavy infrastructure.

Our second objective for the day was to maybe cycle through Alcudia itself, but then to head a bit north, to Port de Pollença. Dodie had spotted not one but three birding spots in the area, at least one with a visitor centre.

Alcudia was first up, and as usual the least attractive parts of a town are what you hit first. In this case it was not industry or car dealerships, but just ordinary apartment housing.

The city wall is partly intact, and can be seen in this photo.

We decided to go see the birding before going into the town, so this is just a passing shot.

And then we were out along the bay of Pollenca - beautiful blue water and the Tramuntana mountains in the near distance.

I had intended this shot just to show the abandoned apartment building construction, but it ended illustrating several other things: The fact that any random photo here will capture road cyclists, that there is a cycle path along the bay, and that the road otherwise is fairly large and busy.

Here is the cycle path only. Astute readers will say "Hey, where are the road cyclists?"

... and even more. Dodie is stopped, waiting for them to flow past.

Pollenca lies at the foot of the mountains.

The Pollenca waterfront looks much like that at Palma.

Pollenca held a secret, in that just back from the waterfront lay a birding area, with a nice visitor centre. The lady staffing the centre knew a lot about birds, and was very friendly and forthcoming. When we asked about why there was no admission charge, or a least a donation box, she replied that nobody would know how to handle or manage money flowing in. This told me a lot about the local government here, that created and staffed this place because it was the right thing to do. We also learned that this lady had been here from the inception of the centre. But when I praised her for the quality of the displays, she was quick to begin naming colleagues who deserved any credit. I was pleased by her approach on that as well.

The Las Gola reserve and visitor centre was established in 2007-2010. It had an investment of almost one million euros from the Balearic government and the town of Pollenca. There are at least seven national parks or preserves on Mallorca.

Dodie, the lady, and one of the displays.

As we walked around the small "La Gola" reserve, we spotted only a few birds, but did very much enjoy the natural environment:

Here are two birds that we did see:

The lady at La Gola had helped us pinpoint the other two easy to reach birding spots along the way back toward Alcudia. But first we stopped for some lunch from our bag. We didn't quite find the best stopping spot just then, but as always happens, we came across the best spot shortly thereafter!

Just down the road, people were really enjoying the marine environment, with various forms of kite surfing.

But of course it is cycling that dominates. The two shots below try to cover one of the longer peletons that came along.

We easily locatedthe next birding spot, and found ourselves walking around with a smattering of other birders, all British, except for one German, I think. The German fellow had arrived on a rented bike. I didn't get a chance to ask him about the details, but the bike looked like just the type of thing a touring cyclist might use. We briefly thought of way that we could weave a rental like that into our own plans. In case this piques anyone else's interest, here is the company and the bike:

This birding stop, and the one other one, turned out to be productive of a lot of fun sightings. In fact we had 32 species on our list, of which 5 were new for 2025.

Here are those 2025 new ones:

There were also some golden oldies:

The day was now getting on, but we were committed to at least a quick ride through the centre of Alcudia town. We entered, naturally, by the gate:

Beyond the gate lay more, suitably narrow streets, filled with souvenir shops, restaurants, and of interest to us - gelato shops.

We randomly chose one gelato shop - from where we stood just past that square, there were four within a few paces.

For the record, here were the prices - the same at each shop.

At the end of town, a bit of a gate remained. We passed by that, and the old town experience was over. It was all quite small compared to some we have visited, but it was fun.

We made our way very rapidly back to our hotel near the port, parking our bikes at the back and making our way past or through the now familiar huge dining room. They were getting ready for the evening buffet, and counters were already piled with fruits and many kinds of cake. No, no, not for us. We still feel stuffed from the Chinese restaurant buffet. Did we mention the Chinese restaurant buffet? Don't ask!

As we carry on with what has now become an all Type I fun whirlwind, I am still listening to the news as a bedtime activity. Dodie does not find the news events we have currently to be restful in the least, and she has switched news sources off. But she still has to listen to my accounts of what is going on, over breakfast. We also receive opinions about the Trump administration from almost every European we find ourselves chatting with, so these are forming a part of our touring experience this time. In almost all cases, these opinions include condolences for us being Canadian. This is overlaid on the old model, which is still there, of praise for Canada and often thanks for the WWII liberations.

Into this environment we received an email today from Danny Michel. Danny Michel is an excellent and famous Canadian musician and singer, many times Juno nominee. (As a bit of background, he once wrote a song about Caye Caulker (Belize), where Joni was working on establishing a high school. Joni heard the song and contacted Danny, saying why not help the place in addition to just using it as song material. Danny took that to heart and established a fund to support the school. Joni and Danny became fast friends.)

The email announced that Danny put out a song today called Northern Star. It's a protest song in support of Canada, and its a nod to protest songs of the past, from a protest movement in the States that seems rather moribund right now.

You can check it out at this link.

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 1,461 km (907 miles)

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Tricia GrahamIt concerns me that the many wonderful Americans that will be cycling in Europe this summer will encounter negative comments when they are just as horrified by the goings on as we are.
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3 weeks ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Tricia GrahamThat thought has occurred to us as well. Hopefully there will be recognition that people who travel are less likely to have closed viewpoints and they will be received generously.
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3 weeks ago

Karen PoretTo Tricia GrahamYes. Mindful of this when I will be in EU for 4 weeks. Fortunately, I will keep my mouth shut when someone asks where I am from. I could say “originally”? And reply with Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, but, then, that is “cheating”, because those are my ancestors. We all come from someplace not everyone likes or agrees with anymore…
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3 weeks ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesIn dictatorship conditions it can be difficult for people, even Republican members of Congress, to resist. But when even the MAGAs are paying $6000 for their iPhones, they may all take to the streets.
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2 weeks ago