S' aubareta

Sorry it has taken a while to write the first post.  I am planning on writing posts about Spain and a few other prior trips I did not have time to write about over the next few weeks.

Despite having a minor hold up in the Madrid airport, we finally made it to Mallorca.  The island off the west coast of the Spanish mainland is where a majority of our time was spent while in Spain.   Rather than stay in a few different areas around the island, we settled for the week in the mountainside village of Fornalutx (post on Fornalutx coming later).  This is ideal when traveling to Mallorca as most areas of the island can be accessed by car within 90 minutes.  Making the experience even better was rather than staying at a hotel or a boutique  B&B, my mother found a dream like villa to house the seven of us during out stay in Fornalutx.

Still don't know what S'auberta means, but it doesn't matter,
if I everhear it again I will always think of our Spanish Villa. 

The entrance to our villa. 

This was not the first time my family has stayed in a stranger's house while traveling.  Most of the time, the houses have been great with the exception of one Cape Cod house back in middle school that easily could have been the set of a horror film.  However S'aubareta was a step above the rest, even some of the Nantucket cottages which may be hard to wrap your head around.  It was the type of villa that you read about in books and wonder if they actually exist.  Well after spending five days at S'aubareta, I can tell you that they actually do.  

All angles of the exterior of the house were lined
with vibrant flowers. 

The gate leading to the guest bedroom. 

The house itself had all of the features you would imagine of a Spanish villa; iron gates, stone exterior, tiled kitchen and of course a Spanish style roof.  However it was the grounds surrounding S'aubareta that gave the villa a story book feeling.  Scores of orange trees engulfed a bocce court in the backyard, lively flowers swept over the outer walls and in the epicenter of it all was the pool with the draw dropping views of Sierra Tramuntana.  There were no sounds of traffic jams, no sounds of people rushing off to work, just the hooting of owls who inhabited our orange groves and the rush of water in a little creek near by.  It is hard to imagine a more peaceful place on earth.   

The orange grove supplied oranges for freshly squeezed OJ every morning. 

What I imagine authentic bocce balls to look like, not the plastic
kind I used with the Italian club in high school. 

The pool is really what brought the house together and is where I spent some of the most enjoyable hours on our trip.  After being out all day exploring the island, it was a perfect retreat to relax, escape the scorching sun and take it all in for a few hours.  The sun did not set until 10PM in Mallorca so we ate much later while being there.  Given that the beach was a 15 minute drive from our villa, there would have been no way to enjoy the last few hours of daylight while being able to stay refreshed without the pool.  It also provided quality family time where we would sit around lounging, talk and of course eat food and drink wine.    

Everyone's favorite activity, lounging by the pool. 

One of our many happy hours poolside complete with fresh bread,
wine, cheese and Spanish sausage.  

S'aubareta highly exceed my expectations as our home for the week.  Typically when I am on a beach vacation, I prefer to be within walking distance to the water.  However this was the exception, I would stay at S'aubareta time and time again if I were to visit Mallorca.  It was the perfect getaway, the orange groves, the owls, the fresh air, and of course, that view.

The view as the sun was setting over the mountains. 

Samantha in front of our house.