Dia Cinco.

Despite Alcuida being in the top north of the island, it doesnt take that long to get there, probably because it's a tourist hot spot. There's a motorway that goes straight from Palma to Alcuida and it only took about an hour to get there. This place is worth a visit, initially the area was inhabited by Phonenicians and Greeks, then settled by the Romans as far back as 132 BC! Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs all came to tear the place apart and eventally it was conquered by Katalan Christians. Fast forward to James II, he shored up the place to be the magnificent Walled City it is today, but have a wander round the back streets and you'll find that the city has retained parts of it's varied history. We were glad we came when we did, it was pretty bereft of tourists and once again I imagine that this gets very busy in high season, as it was we pretty much had the place to ourselves to wander down alleys and walk on top of the city walls. It's great, go visit.

After seeing the sights for a while, we once again came across another gambling den, so rude not to and in we popped. Did Grant make any money in there? Yes he did, so once again with loot on board we headed off to find some grub. The temperature had dropped somewhat and was about 8 degrees C. also a drizzle not too disimilar to what we get back home descended on us. There were only a couple of restaurants open and so it being cold and raining, decided that the best place to sit would be outside surrounded by empty tables. We were attended to very quickly which is unusual for us and so we ordered a couple of spicy pizzas and a couple of pints ( It was an Italian themed place in case you're wondering...). The food came quickly and so did the rain. We could have been in Aberwristslit. After eating our wonderful pizzas, they were big and really good, the waiter came back and must have thought that we werent the philistines we are, and asked us if we would like a coffee. More beer was ordered. We shivered for a while then I decided to head to the washroom.......the place was full of locals inside and the heating was turned up full and everyone was having a wonderful time. Earlier, I had said to Grant, they must be mental keeping this place open during the winter......but they were doing a roaring trade inside the restaurant so they probably didnt mind popping outside for a minute to serve idiots sitting out in the cold and rain.

We headed back on the bus nodding off and dribbling on the shoulders off other travellers and then got off back in Dodge, we went to the Mercado and bought a bottle of vino collapso and a box of Ferraro Rocheros or whatever they're called, for Catarina, our friendly host. So we got all the stuff sorted as we were going to be up oily the next day as sadly, The Palma Lark was coming to an end. We caught up with Catarina and asked her if she wanted to join us later for some drinks. She said she would and to send her a text as to where we were. I did point out to her that it was only down the road. So anyway, we went to our regular haunt, a traditional Spanish bar which was funnily enough run by a very friendly Chinese chap and his family. He was from Northern China and so my Putonghua is pretty much non existent, but he did know enough Cantonese to have a bit of a laugh. We thanked him and his family for looking after us this week, they had been brilliant.

Next on the agenda, was the walk to the Cafe ran by Lucy. I was thinking that it may be a bit quiet for Catarina, when she came to join us but as luck would have it, there was a street festival going on. Lots of the locals were out and about 30 very big barbeques had been lit and the flames were shooting up, so there was excitement in the air which was great. Inside we met up with our Peruvian Friend Miraglo and Daniel from Brazil, Lucy told us you could buy a plate of beef for 5 euros and then cook it on the barbie. I wasnt really hungry but once the flames had subsided Daniel went out and bought a bucket of beef, cooked it superbly and brought it in for everyone to dig in. Catarina eventually showed up after getting lost for an hour and the party was by then in full flow. About 10 pm when things seemed to be slowing down, there was the loud sounds of drums coming from the park to the left of us. Then lots of people came out with flaming torches, followed by people dressed as Diablo...that's the Devil to you lot. Then all the drumming parade came out making a fantastic noise while the devils ran around trying to scare people. It went on for about 40 minutes and ended the night perfectly for us......we'd had a great party. We left around midnight and ended up talking till 2.00 am..... It had been a brilliant end to a great trip.

All good things must come to an end though and tomorrow, it's back to Blighty.