Preparation Hour in Palma

Hotel Santa Clara

We concluded zone conference in Valencia at about 4:00 pm, took a taxi to the airport, and flew to Palma where we have zone conference tomorrow. On the plane we did a little "tweaking" to the zone conference - Valencia was the first of six this month so it was a bit of a trial run, and we have going non-stop for a while and even 40 minutes on the plane provided some time to think.

But we had a special treat tonight. The mission secretary, ever alert, had found a bargain rate at our favorite hotel, the Hotel Santa Clara, a little boutique hotel in an ancient building in the old medieval center of Palma, our favorite neighborhood, and we were able to take wonderful little break for an hour or two. We have stayed here a couple of times before (sometimes in the off season there are bargain rates which match what we can get in the hotels we typically stay in). The desk clerk recognized us, gave us the room key, and was kind enough to make reservations for dinner at Las Olas, a little neighborhood restaurant.

Santa Eulalia in the fog

We had about an hour before the restaurant opened (at 8:15), so we walked down to the little plaza in front of the Santa Eulalia Church. It was a foggy night and the old quarter was particularly charming. We stopped by Monica´s little pastry shop to say hello picked up some homemade carrot cake as well as a pear cobbler with chocolate frosting (for breakfast tomorrow), then to our dinner appointment. The proprietor of Las Olas recognized us - we had forgotten that Doug and Karen Hammer had taken us and the Thompson´s there for lunch many months ago. It was a pleasant evening visiting with the shopkeepers around the neighborhood. We´re going to miss this place!