We are a little behind but just wrapped another fast-moving week!
Monday we had our move-in inspection for our new house. A few days prior, Matt and I had come by the house and talked with the previous tenants about the quirks of the house and certain issues they had. Thanks to that, the move-in inspection was pretty quick since we knew what items we needed to flag.
We had our loaner furniture (3 cots, 1 couch, and 1 coffee table) dropped off as well as a washer, dryer, American fridge, and our wardrobes, that are all issued to us by the base.
Throughout the week, we took several loads of stuff from the hotel over to the house. Being that we each only arrived at the hotel with two suitcases, I have no idea how we accumulated so much stuff!
Throughout the week, we drove back and forth past the vehicle shipping lot, at least five or six times a day to see if Matt’s truck had arrived. On the previous Thursday, it’s status had changed to “In Truck Transit.” The drive from the port in Bremerhaven to Stuttgart is only seven hours so we figured it would arrive quickly. It wasn’t until Tuesday that we saw that it had arrived at the lot.
It was too late in the day for us to get temp tags for it and with our luck, the following day was the 30th. Turns out on the last day of the month, the vehicle registration office is closed. So, first thing Thursday morning, Matt went over to the office to get the tags. He arrived at 7 and was eventually next in line by 2pm.
He got the truck and then immediately had to head to IKEA and then the PX to pick up furniture orders we had placed. It is so nice to be a two vehicle family again. While we don’t have many places we “have” to go, sharing one car was definitely an added layer of stress we did not anticipate.
Thursday was also the day we had to vacate the hotel so I made a couple of trips back and forth to the house and we officially moved in at noon. Our house still doesn’t have internet or satellite, but I caved and ran to Real to buy a TV that we can use with our phones and hotspots.
Friday we dropped the dogs off at their new kennel and flew to Mallorca. Ryan was complaining about how cold it was Friday morning and then as soon as we landed, he was complaining about how hot it was.
The first night, we stayed in downtown Palma. We dropped our luggage at the hotel, had a late lunch/early dinner, and then walked around the Old Town.
We had a Spanish siesta and then Matt and I went out for some Sangria in the square. Spain was playing in the Euro Cup and won so there was a really fun atmosphere.
Saturday, we slept in then headed to our new hotel at Can Pastillas Beach. Our room wasn’t ready but by the time we grabbed lunch, we were able to check in. We spent the whole afternoon between the hotel pool and the gorgeous beach, which was right out front.
Sunday, we rented a car to do a driving tour of the island. I found the route online and it took us to Sóller, Déia, Valdemossa, and Santa Ponça.
We didn’t get out of the car at Sóller because Brooklyn was asleep by then and we were mainly trying to maneuver through the super narrow streets. I wish I had a video of Matt’s driving. We kept hitting dead ends in the streets and having to back all the way out. Matt was so ready to get out of Sóller.
The route to Déia took us up and over a mountain and down a cliff hanging road.
By the time we got to Déia we needed to use the bathroom, so we walked around the town looking for one and even though we didn’t find one, we had a nice tour.
The next stop on the tour was Valldemossa, where we did find a bathroom but neglected to take any pictures.
After Valdemossa, we stopped for a very American meal since it was 4th of July.
We finally got to Santa Ponça, where we had reserved a boat that didn’t require a license. We showed up at the dock and met the guy. He asked if we had driven a boat before. We said ‘yes’ and we were on our way.
We had rented a similar boat in Lake Como and enjoyed a day of smooth, easy boating. Here, after we got out of the marina, we were on the open Mediterranean on a windy day and it felt like we were on an episode of ‘Deadliest Catch.’
We survived though and made it to all of the swimming spots along the route. Matt even did a little droning and then we made it back to the marina in one piece.
Matt was able to do a little droning from the boat. The best part was when the panel he was sitting on collapsed and he fell through. Even Matt was laughing and his drone map had a huge zip zag on it at that moment.
We went back to the hotel for some more pool time and dinner. We found a burger restaurant, and had more ice cream and sangria.
Monday, we had to check out of the hotel by noon but our flight was not until 9pm. We got checked out and then were able to spend the rest of the day at the hotel pool and beach.
Mallorca is pretty interesting because it’s like mini-Germany. All the menus are in Spanish and German and there are just as many biergartens as tapas bars. Every single flight on the arrivals board at the airport was from a German city. Even when we were house hunting earlier in the year and not getting any responses, someone told me to be patient because ‘all the Germans were in Mallorca.’ It’s so funny how they taken over the place as their vacation destination.
We made it to the airport in time for our flight and arrived back in Stuttgart by 11pm.
We had valeted our car when we got to the airport and the guy was waiting with our car right at the door. This was such an awesome service since it was half the price of parking in the garage and saved us the time and stress of walking there and we were home by 11:30pm.
We still have not received our furniture and have no internet. Next weekend we are heading to Switzerland and if our stuff hasn’t arrived this week, hopefully it will be there next week!
Links:
Palma Hotel: AC Hotel Ciutat Palma https://tinyurl.com/3w2sfjvt
Can Pastilla Beach Hotel Aparthotel Fontanellas: https://tinyurl.com/fde5v38u
Embark Boat Rental: https://embark.es/en/
Gilcrests Abroad 