Today we explored portions of eastern Mallorca. The town of Lloseta where we’re staying is small and quiet and very central so in around an hour we can get to almost any point on the island. This has been very handy, and although we loved the small mountain town of Fornalutx last time, Lloseta has been much easier to use as a base camp for vacationing. So today.. we went East!

We were aiming for Coves d’Arta on the East coast, but along the way we realized that we could likely visit another market day at a small town along our route. Sure enough, the town of Arta had its weekly market ~9-1:30 as is customary across Mallorca, so we headed there. After the now familiar hunt for parking (definite opportunity for improvement!), we all convened in what turned out to be a medium-sized market coupled with a flea. market and lots of shops, so quite large overall.

You never know what sorts of local art.. WHAT THE?! ..you’ll see in these markets.

We all found cool things at good prices.. and apparently didn’t take pictures of any of them so the secrets are safe! We then continued on our way to Coves d’Arta. This is a large cave complex in a cliff overlooking the ocean. We really didn’t know what to expect and it was STUNNING!

Here are a ton of pictures and not a lot of text. These caves are huge, with massive stalagmites, stalactites, and pillars up to 22m tall. It’s all formed of limestone, which naturally has a sort of beige appearance, but years of lighting the caves with torches left ash dust everywhere.

One chamber is nicknamed Hell and appropriately they turn off the lights, backlight everything with reds and purples, and play O Fortuna. It’s a scene!

After 35+ minutes we emerged from the cool caverns into the hot, humid world outside.

It was now early afternoon, so we drove north to Cala Rajada, a small town over a huge beach and cliffs. We had lunch at Restaurante Caligula, right on the Main Street. As usual we were sort of between local mealtimes to it was quiet. As a result though, the owner, a cool chef/restauranteer/handball player from Slovakia, spent a lot of time with us. Very good food and excellent service all around.

I finally got some paella! This was a single-serving seafood variant with all shells removed, which I loved. It was creamy and flavorful, and with the lemon squeezed on it really popped. I would prefer some crust on the rice, but this is a faster cooked approach and uses a non-stick pan instead of the traditional methods.

The short ribs were delicious and fell off the bone. You could see the chef’s many cultural interests combined on the menu.

We then walked down to Cala Agulla, a long soft white beach with hundreds if not thousands of people on it. The depth varies a lot, so as you swim out it slowly deepens then all of a sudden is chest-deep, then thigh-deep then over your head. As has become our default, Matt, Cole, and Kayla went out snorkeling while Liza and I lazily hung out at the outer edge of the swimmers and Savitri baked in the sun on the beach. We didn’t really take any pictures while we were there, but here are some from the walk to/from!

Looking back at Cala Agulla, barely visible in the background.

Once we got back to town afterward, we of course got frozen yogurt (yep we mixed it up!) from Yogurt House. It’s no gelato, but it’s a yummy and cool way to combat the heat.

We drove home through the rural farmlands. Way less traffic than highways and so much more appealing. The fields were filled with round bales of hay, with an occasional tractor on the road. Good times.