Port Visit: Palma de Mallorca

The Palace of L'Almudaina (left) and La Seu cathedral (right)

Our next port of call was Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands in Spain. We had a short shuttle ride to the main attraction, La Seu, or Palma Cathedral, a massive cathedral near the water, and it was built to look like a ship moored at the city's edge.

The beautiful nave of the cathedral

When James I, King of Aragon conquered the area, the mosque on that site was turned into a cathedral with construction starting in 1300 and didn't finish until 1601. James I wanted to make a statement with the church, that Christianity had established itself here. And it is a grand statement.

It's a Gothic cathedral complete with flying buttresses and has one of the largest rose windows in the world, known as "the Gothic eye". Its nave is also one of the highest in all the Gothic cathedrals in Europe.

After an earthquake struck in 1851, parts of the cathedral had to be rebuilt and was overseen by architect Antonio Gaudi.

Inside it's magnificent -- one is filled with awe seeing the light bouncing off the stained glass windows and creating a kaleidoscope effect with colours. It's absolutely beautiful. You feel so tiny in the cathedral and at the same time in awe of the beauty of the place that's quite eclectic.

Everyone is drawn to the nave, which has a kind of hanging chandelier, perhaps designed by Gaudi, with a string of lights supporting the crucifixion of Christ at the top, and below more strings of lights.

Our delicious seafood paella for lunch

To the right is an area that's been completely designed by Gaudi. It looks very organic and hardly structured. On the left it looks like the sea, with fish looking like they are coming out of the wall, while the other walls have various textures and sculptures covered with splattered paint. Was it a rush job or deliberately done like that to contrast with the orderliness of the cathedral?

Next door is the Palau de L'Almudaina, originally an Islamic fort that was converted into a residence for Mallorcan monarchs at the end of the 13th century.

It is very grand and solid inside, thanks to the Moorish architecture, while the walls are filled with Flemish tapestries and paintings. Some of the rooms are very grand (though probably cold in the evenings). One dining hall has a series of arches holding up the room, with a massive carpet on the floor and the windows overlook the sea.

The tomatoes (left) and mushrooms (right) were huge!

The palace has its own small chapel too, intimate, and even the vestments are on display in glass showcases. There is also a small courtyard complete with a fountain.

Afterwards we wandered through the streets in search of a bite to eat and found a small place that actually did a decent seafood paella, thought it took a while for it to be prepared.

Nearby was a food market, but many of the stalls were closing for the afternoon already. Of the ones that were still open, the produce looked amazing -- the tomatoes were massive together with the mushrooms, while the seafood, such as oysters looked delicious.

The elegant Parliament building

On our way back to the shuttle, we stumbled upon the Parliament building, a beautiful ornate building with the Spanish, Catalan and EU flags flying out front.