After a super busy start to the summer, we took a little time in Mallorca for some relaxing. We hadn't been there before but I'd heard amazing things about it. I had plans to workout every day, hike, spend hours meditating and doing yoga. Write heaps, read more and take a load of photos for the blog and Instagram. All that on top of exploring the island. I was sure I'd have loads of tips and travel adventures to share with you by the end of our holiday. Well, that's not exactly how things went. I'd heard so many good things about Mallorca from a lot of people this year, so we were excited to go. We had two nights planned in Palma, five nights on the coast and two nights in the mountains. That way it felt like we were seeing everything the island had to offer.We landed late on our first night so we went straight to the hotel to get some sleep. We stayed close to the old town in a really cool new hotel, Ars Magna Bleisure Hotel. It's only been open a few months so there were a few things not quite finished. Like the poolside bar :) But nothing we couldn't live without. The design of the hotel was urban and clean with a Scandinavian feel. Usually, I'd insert photos here... but I was so busy relaxing that I didn't take any good photos. Sorry! But I would highly recommend staying here if you've got a few days in Palma, it was a great little boutique hotel.

Exploring Palma

I was actually a bit lazy (tired) in the lead up to this holiday and didn't do any research on what there was to see and do in Palma. So we just wandered around on foot. Stopping in cafes to get out of the midday heat before retreating back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. It was so hot that night that we didn't get more than a few doors down from the hotel before stopping for some Sangria and dinner. Then our time in Palma was over, it was nice, but not really what we were looking for so I was excited to head to the beach the next day.

Alcudia

We stayed in a really beautiful Airbnb for the 5 days that we spent in Alcudia. And again, I'm sorry! I didn't take any photos. I was way too busy relaxing! This is where I planned to get up and exercise by the pool every morning. I then pictured myself walking to the beach and exploring the local area for the day. In reality, the beaches near us were not as nice as we thought they were going to be. (Yes, I know, I'm a beach snob. What can I say, I grew up in Australia!) There were some really nice beaches driving distance from where we were staying, but they were so crowded we couldn't get a spot.In reality, we ended up sleeping in every morning, rolling out of bed and jumping straight into the pool for a swim. This is where we stayed for most of the day. Swimming, reading, eating and napping. Some days we went out for lunch and a drive to see what else was nearby and every night we ate dinner early before going back to chill out at the Airbnb. It wasn't the holiday that I'd pictured, but it was perfect.When I could be dragged away from the pool, the highlight of the local area was definitely Alcudia Old Town. It's exactly the small Spanish town that I had in my mind. The traditional Mallorcan boat cruise through the harbour at sunset was also beautiful.

Mountain Air

For our last two nights in Mallorca, we stayed up in the mountain town of Fornalutx. I can highly, highly, recommend visiting here. It was one of the prettiest little towns I've seen. It was much quieter than anywhere else we went on the island and had a much more relaxing feel to it. By this stage of the holiday, I'd basically stopped taking any photos and was just enjoying every moment.The day before we left, we were told about a great swimming spot that the locals enjoy. It was about a 15-minute drive from Fornalutx and took us about 5 minutes to walk down the cliff to the water. There's no beach to sit on so you have to find a comfy rock to perch your butt in between swims. But the water was crystal clear and beautifully warm. It reminded me so much of the swimming spot that we found in Italy a few years ago.So, the lesson I learnt from this holiday is that you have to be flexible and willing to let go of expectations. It turned out that this wasn't exactly the holiday we had in our heads but it was exactly the holiday we needed.

Cheers, Jess xx