It was my first day on the island that Hannah, Arjan, and I decided to go to the market in Inca. There wasn't anything particularly special about this specific market, but it was my first impression of Mallorca.


They lived in the countryside, a bicycle ride away from the city of Inca. We biked down the dirt road that they lived on and turned a sharp corner. The local roads there were like a maze. No signs, just narrow roads that seemed impossible for two cars to fit through. We bicycled own the roads as Hannah pointed out all of the different almond, fig, date, lemon, and orange trees. It was so beautiful and I could see the town of Selva on the hill with the church on top. We eventually got to a main road that was busier. It lead us into the city and we bicycled down the narrow, bumpy sidewalks, dodging people and turning sharp corners. We parked the bikes at a lamp post and chained them there. Then we walked around the city to the market. 



We turned down a crowded street that was lined with dozens of vendors. There were people selling kitchen utensils, flower, clothes, leather goods, sunglasses, jewelry, and various other things. I carried my camera and took pictures. It was kind of late in the morning for the market but there were still lots of vendors.


We were offered a churro sample as we walked down the street. It was very buttery and sugary but I liked it. I wasn't very hungry though and gave the rest of y piece to Hannah. Adjusting to the food and water there took a few days because it was all so different. You can't dribk the tap water and even the bottled water they had hurt my stomach at first, I think the pH or the minerals were different to what I was used to.




We went to another side street that had people selling different produce. I gazed at all the fruit like oranges, lemons, limes, apricots, dates, figs, and nisperos, a small fruit that tasted like a mix of an orange and and peach. Hannah excitedly pointed out the organic produce stand. There wasn't much left after noon and many people had sold a lot of their produce. There were still some bread, cheese, and meat vendors who had not packed up. 


There were a lot of little streeet food stands that sold things like churros and crepes. The only thing I bought at the market was some loose leaf tea for my mom, which smelled delicious.



There were vendors that sold flowers or vegetables all around. There was a church with a fountain in the center of the plaza, nest to a church. It was a busy city but still beautiful. We went to a store to get bread and avocaddo for a later trip to the beach and a pretzel which we ate while walking back to the bikes. We bicycled back up the narrow sidewalks and then turned down the road that led us home, past the fields of animals and the fruit tree farms. 

In the second day we went to a town within castle walls, called Alcudia. The buildings were 
contained inside and there was a large church attached. We walked in and the walls were covered in intricate paintings and lined with statues of Jesus or Mary. There were stained glass windows and the architecture was Gothic style. 



I took a few pictures and then we walked out of the church and into the city contained inside the castle walls. The castle was built around the the 1500’s. There were little tourist shops and restaurants but much of the castle walls remained. It had become a popular tourist destination but was still a beautiful sight. 





























We walked around and then got ice cream at a tiny shop. I got hazelnut soy ice-cream but I was too shy to pronounce it myself. Hannah, Arjan, and their mom spoke in Spanish around Sunia. It had been a full Spanish emersion that afternoon. Like what Hannah’s mom mentioned to me in the car, it was kind of isolating to not understand the language and it was much more comfortable to easily communicate with people who spoke the same language.





















We ate our ice cream as we continued waking around the city. At that point it was pretty late and the town was only lit up by lanterns. We walked up the staircase so we could walk on the stone wall. You could see all the tops of the colorful buildings in the city, and then the ocean beyond the wall.


There was a dried out moat at the bottom that used to be filled with water when the castle was used so long ago. The castle walls were there for protection and there were only a few entrances back then. The King and Queen would live in the middle with the towns people surrounding them. Some of the wall and been rebuilt and there the king and queen had lived was no longer there and much of the building had been replaced with shops and Spanish apartments. There was even one for sale. People still lived in the city.