Of Monasteries and Mountains

Having successfully mastered the art of the Peugeot driving - honestly, it wasn't the various gears per se, I did learn to drive that way, not on automatic, I am that old; it was the secret of the reverse! - I was set to chauffeur my mother around the island. Well, we planned various tours, and on Tuesday, we did the first. Which led us to Valdemosa, boasting of a Carthusian monastary where Chopin and George Sand spent a winter (which was the vacation from hell - it rained, they didn't get along with the locals, and their relationship was falling apart, but we did get one and a half books by G.S. and the Preludes out of it) as well as a charming small town, then to Port de Soller (lovely harbor) and then through spectacular mountain roads roughly following the outlines of the coast to Poncella, then back across the country so we could see some more blooming almonds to Santa Maria. En route, we also stopped by at Deia (where Robert Graves spent his last 30 years and is buried; he also made sure no bus is allowed to drive through or park there, but cars are okay, which was good for us) and Miramar (one of the Habsburg archdukes, Ludwig Salvator, nabbed a monastary and made it his home for the holidays; again, spectacular view).

( Behold! )