Mallorca

On Wednesday afternoon, just after Benjamin's school Thanksgiving potluck, we jumped on a bus to the airport.  We met Josie and Marty mid way.  It is always a bit complicated when we take these late afternoon flights.  We send the kids to school with very little.  We have their bags packed (we fly so cheap we are all just allowed one backpack each) and then meet them at school as their day is ending and then we go straight to the airport from school. Because Benjamin had a potluck that day it made it a touch more complicated but it all worked out and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

When we first started talking about celebrating Thanksgiving and my birthday we looked around for deals.  Where could we go for cheap. Which has been and probably always will be our style.  We talked about Mallorca but I'd always been a bit turned off as I know it is quite the tourist trap, particularly with Germans.  But it seemed in the off season there were some pretty amazing deals.  We ended up booking a fairly nice (great layout, clean, right on the beach although not necessarily brand new and showing its age a bit) hotel which included what was reviewed as

amazing breakfast and dinner.  This is what the Europeans call "half board"  This was our biggest win of the trip because had we not planned on eating at the hotel it would have been VERY difficult to find open restaurants.
So, anyway, our deal was 4 RT (2.5 hour direct flight) airfare, hotel on the beach, all food and drinks, (we would normally just pack an extra roll or fruit for a snack at lunch) rental car and gas - pretty much the entire vacation for 4 people for 4 nights came to 600 Euro.  Which breaks down to 150 per person.  I don't even know how that works.  But we were thrilled all the same.

Turns out Mallorca is not only quiet in the off season, it is flat out dead.  We stayed on the Eastern Coast, about an hour drive from the main city, Palma, and the airport.  The area was called Cala Millor and I can imagine it is bustling in the high season.  There were TONS of hotels - the majority were completely closed down for the season.  By the way, I don't think I have ever been to a city where things just completely close.  Alki beach, just a couple miles from our Seattle house, gets really quiet in the winter but businesses don't just close.  It seems the smart choice though for these businesses because other than our hotel and a handful of others that had a handful of people staying the area was so unbelievably still.  There was a pristine beach and a several mile promenade that NO ONE was on except us.  It definitely wasn't warm, beachy weather but it was upper 60's nearly 70 and often sunny.  We were in shorts and short sleeves and sandals and coming from a barely above freezing Berlin it felt great.

The food turned out to be some of the best we have had since moving to Europe.  I really despise eating at the hotel I'm staying in while traveling normally, but in this case it turned out to be our best decision.  As mentioned one out of every 10 stores or restaurants was even open and even then had very select menus and hours.  The food at the hotel, even though it was a buffet, was truly delicious with plenty of variety and high class touches.  One night they had paella, one night they had sushi, two nights they had a chocolate fountain.  Every breakfast and dinner was fresh and handmade.
We scored.  Now we keep telling everyone to go to Mallorca over Thanksgiving break.  For if you do, you will have the island to yourselves.