An Afternoon in Valldemossa
Please don’t go to Mallorca without visiting Valldemossa. The cobbled, plant-lined streets with lurking cats provide an afternoon of aimless wandering and wonder. It's dreamy during the day, and there are lights strung all over the village hinting that an evening there has just as much to offer. It’s no surprise that this place inspired some of Frederic Chopin’s 24 preludes. My friend and I drove up to Valldemossa for the afternoon from Palma, but knowing what I know now, I would spend a night in Valldemossa.
Valldemossa is the birthplace of Mallorca's patron saint, Saint Catalina Thomas, and you will see images of the Saint throughout the village. In the winter of 1838, composer Frederic Chopin arrived from Paris with his lover, George Sand, and composed some of his more famous pieces. However, Chopin and Sand were not impressed with how the locals received them, so Sand wrote a book, ‘Winter in Mallorca,’ which you can find for sale all over Valldemossa. After all, all press is good press, right?
If you plan on driving, bring coins for parking. Parking was not hard to find, but it does get busy and almost everywhere has a meter. We were there in June, and while most of Mallorca was warm and humid, Valldemossa danced between sunny and chilly, so I recommend dressing in layers.
Given how small Valldemossa is and the level of tourists, it’s hard to sort through the average food and find the good stuff. My friend and I ended up settling for Cappuccino Grand Cafe, which is not unique to Valldemossa as I also saw it in Soller and Palma, but it does offer outdoor seating that allows you to do some exceptional people watching. For something less touristy, I recommend checking out Aromas and eating on their cute little terrace or QuitaPenas. For dessert, try the traditional Mallorcan pastry, cocas de patata, a simple pastry made of potato, egg, sugar, and fat. Cocas de patatas is supposed to be the best in Valldemossa. You can get it almost anywhere, but I recommend Ca’n Molinas.
