Customer Satisfaction Feedback for Whistle Stop Tours

Our humans received a card from Carlos and the nice lady in Stirling thanking Whistle-Stop Tours for their recent "tour" of Mallorca. They thanked the driver for his good driving and consideration in providing adequate "comfort breaks", and they thanked the navigator for guiding them to so many places and providing interesting details on the local places of interest as they whizzed past them. Perhaps this is a new career for the humans - taking oldies on tours of different countries, herding them into cafes for cups of tea and comfort breaks, and providing in-coach entertainment in the form of Bev's iPod. And all the bears could come too - what a brilliant idea!

Holiday in Mallorca, Summary

We have to confess that our humans were a bit worried about going to Mallorca on holiday, as they thought it would be a bit too touristy for them. However, they needn't have worried, as the island wasn't as touristy or tacky as they had expected.


They loved the house in Pollensa, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the island, visiting the caves, seeing Palma and its cathedral, driving up and down the mountains (with or without their eyes closed), relaxing by the sea shore or having a delicious meal in the town square or at the water's edge.










All in all, it was a thoroughly interesting and relaxing holiday, just what our stressed-out humans needed.

And, here are some photographs to prove it!










Paul enjoying lunch in Cala Figuera.










Bev & Paul at Formentor.




Bev's mum at Cap Blanc enjoying the sea breeze and beautiful colours of the water.



The whole family at Colonnia de Sant Pere.



And finally, the nice lady from Stirling avoiding the papparazzi!

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 8 (Soller and another White Knuckle Ride through the mountains)

On the last day of the holiday, the nice lady from Stirling and Carlos decided to stay at home, so Bev and Paul headed up into the mountains on the north-west coast to find a place called Sa Colabra, which they had heard was a pretty cove. However, the guide book said the journey was more enjoyable than the destination, but they decided to give it a go anyway. Having set off into the mountains, they discovered that they needed to get diesel for the car, so headed for Soller, which was another of those unexpected delights - a pretty town surrounded by high mountains, with its own tram system and an antique wooden train that travels across the mountains from Palma to Soller. Unfortunately, Bev and Paul did not have time to try out either the train or tram, so headed back across the mountains to the road to Sa Colabra.

The guide book was correct - the journey was more interesting (terrifying is probably a more accurate description) than the destination. The narrow road wound up and down the mountains with little more than a white line separating the car from the sheer drop at the edge, and then there were the coaches trying to squeeze past the car! Bev spent much of the journey with her eyes closed or looking up at the mountains, but luckily Paul kept his eyes open as he was driving the car. When they finally got to the cove they discovered they had to pay to park the car! Sorry, but if you have managed to get to Sa Colabra in one piece, you deserve a free space in the car park! Bev and Paul felt this was a bit of a rip-off and it was getting late, so they decided to leave rather than pay to park.

The humans headed back up the mountain road, which was just as much of a white-knuckle ride as the journey down the mountain, and to make it just a little bit scarier, Bev and Paul could see the remains of a bus that had toppled off the road.

Never mind, all the nervous energy they used up during their white-knuckle ride gave them a good appetite, and they thoroughly enjoyed their evening meal when they got back to Pollensa.

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 7 (South Coast)

The next big "tour" was along the south coast, from Palma to Porto Petro on the east coast. This was fascinating, as you come out of Palma towards Arenal, which is one of the more touristy parts of the island, but the further south you head the quieter and more remote it becomes. We got some stunning views along the south coast, and stopped at a couple of lighthouses along the way. The first one was perched on top of very high cliffs, and the second one, at the most southerly point of the island, was at sea level.

At the second one, Cap Blanc, you could walk down to the water's edge and enjoy the sea breeze and wonderful deep blue and aquamarine colours of the water. Bev and Paul whipped out their cameras and took lots of photographs while Bev's mum enjoyed the sea breeze, Carlos slept in the car and we bears jumped in and out of the waves. Brilliant fun!

We then headed round the coast to a village where we had lunch overlooking a pretty sandy beach and a bay. The sea breeze kept us all nice and cool on what was a very hot day, and we finished our "tour" with a pit stop at Porto Petro and a delicious ice cream by the water's edge.

We then headed back up the east coast to Arta and then took a detour to Colonnia de Sant Pere, a delightful little place that Bev and Paul had found on one of their expeditions. We had a delicious evening meal by the sea shore watching the sun setting across the bay, and Bev took lots of photographs of the sunset.

We then bundled Carlos and Bev's mum into the car and headed back to Pollensa in time for cocoa and bed.

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 6 (Caves)

As Bev's parents wanted a couple of quieter days round the house, Bev and Paul bunked off with just us bears for company and visited caves - the Caves of Drac and the Coves d'Arta. The Caves of Drac were stunning, with a large underground lake and auditorium. We sat in the auditorium in the dark while 3 boats came across the lake - the boats were lit and carried musicians playing classical music. It was an amazing experience, though unfortunately Bev and Paul were not allowed to take any photographs. But never mind, we got the chance to cross the lake in one of the boats to complete our tour round the caves. The Coves d'Arta were also spectacular, with stunning stalactites and a cave that was 45 meters high (the same height as the nave of Palma Cathedral!). Bev and Paul were allowed to take photographs in these caves, so they spent ages clicking away with their cameras. The caves were visited by Jules Verne, inspiring his wonderful book "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", which Bev has now downloaded onto her iPod - she will be thinking about the caves when she listens to the book.

Paul got a good photograph of us bears climbing in the caves - we thought it was a great place to play and hide, but we didn't stray too far in case we got left behind by forgetful Paul.

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 5 (East Coast)

So, after several white-knuckle tours through the mountains, Bev and Paul decided on a more sedate tour down the east coast. Paul drove from Pollensa to Arta, then down to Manacor, which was where Bev planned to stop and look at the pearl factories. However, Manacor was much bigger than everyone had anticipated, Bev had no idea where the pearl factories were, and Carlos needed a pit stop, so they drove on to Portocristo, which was an unexpected delight. It was very pretty, with a little beach and harbour. After refuelling at Portocristo, Bev's parents sat under some trees at the sea front and enjoyed the pleasant sea breeze while Bev and Paul went off to take photographs. Then they drove on to Porto Colom, which has a wide bay, a lighthouse and some pretty houses on the waterfront. Bev and Paul took more photographs and enjoyed the lovely views of the bay, while Bev's mum and Carlos sat and relaxed. Everyone liked the East Coast of the island, especially Carlos because of the cool sea breeze and lack of scary mountain roads.

The photographs are both of Porto Colom, which Bev said reminded her slightly of Venice.

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 4 (White Knuckle Ride to Formentor)

The next "tour" was the peninsula of Formentor, which consisted of a white-knuckle ride over the mountains to a remote lighthouse at the most northerly point of Mallorca. Carlos spent much of the journey listening to Bev's iPod, and at one point the road was so narrow that Bev and Carlos decided it was safer to walk down than travel in the car - this was absolutely no reflection on Paul's driving, but on the narrowness of the road, the lack of a wall to prevent the car falling off the cliff and the sheer drop on their side of the car. As it happened, Paul had to reverse up the narrow road so that another car could pass - Bev and Carlos would have been gibbering wrecks if they had been in the car at that point!

The views on this road were stunning, and there were plenty of well-placed view-points for Bev and Paul to take photographs of the dramatic scenery. The road finally ran out when it reached the lighthouse, and from there Bev, Paul, Carlos and Bev's mum got amazing views back across the mountains. Paul still had to drive back to Pollensa along the scary road, but he loved every minute of it, and Bev and Carlos managed to cope with the white-knuckle ride without becoming gibbering wrecks, so everyone was happy.

The photographs all show views from the road to Formentor - a good head for heights is required!

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 3 (Sierra de Tramuntana)

Having visited the largest city on the island, the humans then concentrated on the coastline. They treated this like a project or military campaign, listing the places they wanted to visit, checking them on the map and in the guidebook, then grouping them together into "tours". The first tour was through the Tramuntana mountains on the north-west coast, from Pollensa down to Valdemossa, which was a scary drive with stunning views of the mountains and coast. It was at this point that we discovered that Carlos has no head for heights, so he spent most of the journey distracting himself from the scary views by listening to Bev's iPod. On the other paw, we bears loved the views of the deep gorges and high mountains, and had an excellent day out. We stopped at the pretty village of Fornalutx, then we drove on to Deja and Valdemossa.

All in all, it was a good day out - Paul loved driving on the mountain roads, Bev and Paul took lots of photographs, Bev's mum enjoyed seeing a part of the island she had never seen before and Carlos enjoyed listening to Treasure Island on the iPod and his lunch in Fornalutx. So, everyone was happy - what more could we bears ask for?

The photograph above is of Valdemossa, and the one below is taken along the coastal road leading to Valdemossa.

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 2 (Palma)

We bears and humans stayed in a very pretty house in the village of Pollensa in northern Mallorca. From there, Paul (our chauffeur) drove us around the island in an air-conditioned car, which was lovely as it was almost 40C outside in the sunshine! The whole family spent a day visiting Palma and its stunning cathedral, then they took a ride in a horse-drawn carriage so that they could see the old town - Bev's parents aren't too good on their pins these days and Bev and Paul are getting on a bit, so this was the easiest way to cover a large distance. It was a bit shoogly for us bears, but Bev held onto us very tightly so that we didn't fall out the carriage. Bev and Paul went back again on Sunday morning and had a leisurely stroll round the old town, soaking up the atmosphere, admiring the delightful architecture and taking lots of photographs of the buildings. Palma is a lovely mixture of wide tree-lined boulevards, narrow alleyways, pretty café-lined squares, cool courtyards hidden behind iron gates and art-nouveau architecture. We were all very impressed, but it was time to call it a day when we could hear ice creams calling us from a nearby café.

The photograph above is of Little Ted and Magnus in Palma, soaking up the sun and on the watch for pretty bearesses!

Holiday in Mallorca, Part 1

Apologies for the delay in writing the holiday blog, but I had to get a detailed account of what happened from Little Ted and Magnus, then I had to get the photographs from the cameras, and I then had to tend to Bev who had a stinking cold. Since Bev is getting better and Paul is en route to Blackpool, I now have a few spare minutes to write up my blog!
Ok, Bev, Paul, the nice lady from Stirling, and Carlos all had a very pleasant time in sunny Mallorca with Little Ted and Magnus, while Bill, Phoebe and I partied for the entire fortnight with pole-dancing bearesses and a chippenbear (he was for Phoebe). So, a good time was had by all, though we bears are still suffering from too much partying.
Magnus and Little Ted had fun playing on the beach, seeing all the sights, chasing the Spanish bearesses and generally having a good time, though Little Ted was somewhat anxious in case Paul left him behind again, but Bev made sure both bears arrived home safely - Paul only managed to leave a fleece in Mallorca (silly boy!). Yet again, his lost property was picked up by the nice lady from Stirling - she's a star!
Anyway, what did Magnus and Little Ted see when they were in sunny Mallorca? Well, they went to Palma, they visited caves, they went to a glass-blowing factory, they explored most of the coastline and they drove up scary roads in the mountains.
For a more detailed description and photographs of their great Spanish adventure, read on.....