My Friends Got Married in Mallorca!!

Mallorca is an island off the east coast of Spain and is just a one-hour flight from Barcelona. I hadn’t heard much about it before, but when my lovely college friends, Orly and Kam, invited me to their wedding there, I booked my plane ticket!

A FEW THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT MALLORCA

As of writing, Uber exists on Mallorca but it isn’t very reliable (might not get matched with a driver), so taking a taxi is easier and cheaper (so I’ve heard)
In Palma, there aren’t a ton of grocery stores
It’s Spain, so restaurants will be open late into the night, but you should probably check the opening hours if you’re searching for breakfast early in the morning

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, 9/18

My friend Kat and I were both invited to the wedding, so we decided to make a longer European trip. We spent 4 days in Zurich, Switzerland before flying to Spain. Upon arriving at the Palma Airport, the first thing Kat and I noticed was how insanely crowded it was. Uber is limited in Mallorca, and public transportation required us to take out cash, so we decided to take a taxi to our hotel instead. Our taxi driver said this wasn’t peak crowds, and it was even more hectic during the summer.

We checked into Hotel Costa Azul and then went for a walk. Mallorca reminds me a lot of the Big Island in Hawaii and it takes over an hour to drive across it by car. There are a ton of different little villages and beaches around the island; however, we didn’t rent a car because most of our activities during the week would be for the wedding. Because of this, I didn’t really do too much research on Palma or Mallorca in general, and I already know I need to go back to see more of the island!

Kat and I walked along the port near the marina and then made our way to the old town. We saw the big cathedral and the palace, which towered above on the hill. We walked through a market with a lot of food, clothing, and houseware stalls. We couldn’t spend too much time in town, because we had to meet up with the wedding party for dinner.

The hotel called a taxi to take us to Restaurante Can Costa Valldemossa. It was a 30-minute drive up into the Tramuntana mountain range to the lush village of Valldemossa. It was so beautiful, I wish I had more time! The restaurant was very cute and it was great to meet the other wedding guests. Kat and I shared the seafood paella because when in Spain, ya know?

The restaurant was able to call us a taxi home. We wanted some dessert, so we walked over to Grand Siena and got pistachio ice cream and some sort of bread thing. It was too much but we did eat it all.

DAY 2: THURSDAY, 9/19

Wedding day! We had the whole morning to do whatever we wanted so we walked to what we thought was old town and got breakfast at Santina for brunch. It truly rivaled any LA establishment with an assortment of acai bowls and juices. Kat and I both got breakfast sandwiches. Kat had booked a hair appointment at a nearby salon, so I wandered the streets a bit. I liked how nothing felt too touristy. The shops were super aesthetic.

After Kat’s blowout, we went to McDonald’s for some coffee. Santini had an assortment of flavored lattes, but all the other places in Spain only seemed to have black coffee or coffee with milk. The wedding was supposed to go until 2 am, so we needed some midday caffeine and got iced caramel lattes at the cleanest McDonald’s I’ve ever been to. It was located in a very pretty square with some designer brand stores. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped into several mini-marts in search of granola bars, and finally found some.

Kat had been appointed shuttle captain by the bride and so went downstairs early and greeted everyone as they boarded the shuttle which drove us 25 minutes north to the gorgeous wedding venue, Finca Es Cabàs. We had some time for photos and chatting before the wedding started. The ceremony space was made of stone (I think) and it was intimate and beautifully decorated with candles and flowers.

After the wedding, we had drinks and light bites by a pool. Then, dinner was a magical tablescape from Pinterest boards with string lights overhead. Each place setting had a name card and on the back was a personalized message to each guest (it was around a 45-person wedding). There were speeches and a three-course meal, and then we were led to an indoor space for dancing. Pizza came out around midnight and the shuttle didn’t drop us off back at the hotel until 3:30 am.

DAY 3: FRIDAY, 9/20

Needless to say, we were exhausted the next day. Kat and I walked to Crepes Suzette for smoothies around noon before getting back on the shuttle for the day’s activities. It was pool party day, so we went back to the wedding venue. However, it was overcast and kind of raining, so not many people went for a swim.

Lunch was a big Spanish spread and we just hung out until the shuttle came back at 7 pm. Kat and I got dinner at a new place called Cosmico, a restaurant I just found on Google. Like most of the restaurants on the street, it was empty on a Friday night at 8 pm (too early for dinner I guess?) and I think the food definitely would’ve tasted better if we were drunk. I redeemed myself with dessert and found a little gelato spot called Cremola where the woman serving us spoke Italian.

DAY 4: SATURDAY, 9/21

I had planned and paid to partake in the organized activity, boating with Magic Catamarans, but I was so exhausted from the past two days. I decided to skip it and have a more chill day exploring on my own. Kat rallied and went on the boat with the other wedding guests.

I walked down to the cathedral and found the real old town of Palma. I had been wondering where all the tourists that we saw at the airport were and didn’t realize that the main part of the city was up the hill behind the palace and the church. I walked around and explored for 1.5 hours before my ticket for the palace. There were cobblestone streets and horse-drawn carriages and surprisingly gelato shops on every corner. I considered getting a cone at 10 am but found some willpower and decided to wait until after lunch.

The Royal Palace of La Almudaina wasn’t that big, and not many tourists were inside, but the ticket was only 7 euros. I think it took me at most 30 minutes to get through. The main attraction really was the Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca. If you buy your ticket online, you can essentially bypass the whole line you’ll see outside. Just go in on the left side and scan your ticket at the turnstiles. They also didn’t really care what time you purchased your ticket for. I was able to go in 30 minutes early. While I did take care to wear clothing that covered my shoulders and knees, this church wasn’t as strict as others I’ve been to in Italy and they didn’t turn anyone away who was in shorts and tank tops. Inside was large, dark and crowded. It was nice to sit down in the pews for a bit and just people-watch.

For a year, I’ve been saying that I’m going to go and eat at a restaurant alone and I haven’t done it in America, but I did it in Palma. I went to Lili’s Brunch & Cocktails, a super cute spot with avocado toast. I got a Greek salad bowl with salmon and a lemonade and it was light and refreshing.

I roamed the streets a little more and found the main square before grabbing some gelato and heading back to the hotel to meet up with Kat.

The weather was coming in and it started to lightly rain again, so we got snacks from the mini-mart and hung out in the hotel for a little while. Kat wanted to see the town, so we went back out despite the sprinkling. There was a cool art installation at the Llotja de Palma exhibition space with big figures made of wire. We popped into any churches that were open #churchcrawl.

We got dinner at La Malvasia, which was actually across the square from where I got lunch. It was cheery and pretty inside. We went there early, but if you want to eat there for dinner at 7:30 pm or later, you should definitely make a reservation. We shared a salad and ravioli and they were light and delicious. It finally stopped raining after dinner and we got more gelato for dessert and walked to see the cathedral before walking back to the hotel.