Mallorca is an island off the coast of Barcelona.

Prepare yourself for a little bit of Mallorca overload. I have kept you waiting and you have been patient. And the people must not wait any longer. So in one post, I give you...

Mallorca.

For those of you five people out there who took my "How well do you know Stephanie?" quiz on facebook, only one person knew what my favorite food was. Yes, I enjoy tacos immensely, but nothing beats my mom's tuna casserole. Yep - that is weird, but it is the truth. Since my mom was the only one to get 100% on the quiz, my dad encouraged her to make my favorite food as my "Welcome to Mallorca" meal. Nothing quite like tuna casserole to make a girl feel like she's at home.

And then I went outside and took some pictures of the backyard. Yep, that is a pool.

And here are some of the sheep that roam around the front yard. And seriously - what is wrong with that sheep? Personally, I think it is a cow/sheep hybrid. Maybe rivals the ugly cat?

I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and Kristine got there a few hours after I did. The next morning once we were able to get a little rest, we headed towards Valdemossa. We took the scenic route, of course, and this was on our way.

So Kristine and I climbed to the top of the tower.

And the view did not disappoint.

Once we got to Valdemossa we just walked around and shopped a bit. Here are a few pictures of our walk around the town center.

...stopping to smell the roses.

Day 2 was spent doing things like:
Touring the Bellver Castle...

Enjoying the view from the roof of the castle...

And here is the only picture that I took of my parents on my trip.

Based on a friend's suggestion, we went to the Camper outlet and got some shoes, which are not pictured. For those of you who have been to my Mom's kitchen in Utah, you will understand why my dad wanted to buy her these. Too bad they didn't fit her well. Hilarious.

That evening we went to dinner with some British and German friends of my parents. We did meet a fair amount of British people in the five days that we were there, which surprised me more than it should have. They really are everywhere there. Here I am with Kristine in Alistair's backyard. I couldn't get over how quiet it was there. So peaceful everywhere you went.

On Saturday, Kristine and I requested some time at the beach. The one closest to my paren't house is St. Elm's. Only 20 minutes away - from walking out the front door to being on the beach. I can't even do that anymore here in San Francisco! Plus, Ocean Beach doesn't really look so much like St. Elm.

The water was just so crystal clear - quite unbelievable.

Kristine was swimming around in the ocean when she noticed a jellyfish about 10 feet away, swimming around. For some reason, it wasn't very scary being in the water right next to a jelly when you could see it so clearly. Also, it wasn't moving very fast. Please don't expect me to ever get so close to another jellyfish for the rest of my life. Just looking at the below picture makes me question my sanity.

On Sunday after church, my Dad took us up to the top of the mountains on his boss's property. The logo for the ranch we were in has a picture of the mountains with this one tree on the top. You might need to click on the below picture to see the lone tree better. When you are top of the mountain, the perspective changes and it doesn't look so strange, but driving into Andratx, you can see this one huge tree, all by itself.

And here is what it looks like from the top of the mountain.

At the top was this old Mallorcan house. The house seemed rather large for an old home, but this is only the entry way that I took a picture of. Tip for my next trip: bring a photographer.

After a quite bumpy ride back down the mountain, we were able to visit the horses. What is not to love about a horse?

And here is "the boss's" front yard. Seriously? Those aren't bushes there either - they are large trees. I'm trying to find out how my dad's boss can put me in his will so that I can inherit this place. Yikes.

The last day we were in Mallorca, my Mom, Kristine, and I decided to go into Palma and see what there is to see. Of course since we were in Europe there were some castles...

and some cathedrals...

Me and Mom.

And Me and Kristine. In front of another geyser. It only seemed appropriate, you know.

I am fairly convinced that if I take weekend trips every weekend this summer, I can keep my tan up. So far, so good. If only it didn't take about 24 hours to get to Mallorca or I would go again this summer when work stress slows down a bit. Then maybe I could get a more relaxing vacation. Still though, it was all wonderful. Incredibly peaceful and just nice. I love playing cards and dominoes with the family - and fighting off bugs while I am trying to go to sleep.


**Just as a note in case you don't know why I went to Mallorca. My parents live there for five(ish) months currently in the summer for my dad's job. My dad's boss lives there, so they live in one of his homes. My parents also met in Spain over 38 years ago and lived there for quite a while before I was born, so it is kind of not a big deal that they live in Spain right now. Also, Kristine was coming home from France around the time that I was planning my trip, so she met me there. Hearing Spanish with a French/American accent is quite hilarious if I do say so myself.