Cala Gat
I love Cala Gat! It is the most beautiful cove in Mallorca that you can still get to by car - there are others, but only accessible by boat. All the houses at the edge of the sea are owned and lived in by Spaniards, mostly Catalans, except for mine! And I have lived here, almost continuously, for nearly 50 years. From my house, you just walk down through the garden and some steps, and you reach a sunbathing terrace and slipway for a small dinghy. I am the only house in this happy position, as there is a path that runs along the coast from the beach, and separates all the other houses directly from the sea. This means that, as the coastline is public, the rocks or sunbathing sites can be used by other people. To get to "mine" is much more difficult, as you either have to swim there from the beach, 100 yards away, or trespass across my land - which does sometimes happen. There is a delightful beach at the beginning of Cala Gat for anyone who prefers swimming off sand - urgh! This has a small bar/restaurant on it, which is useful for some. From there, you can cross the beach and go for a delightful 15min walk along a tiled "Paseo Maritimo". Halfway along, there is an amazing statue by a very famous sculptor, made entirely of old anchors. He has used no fixative of any sort, and starts of with the biggest - HUGE - gradually going upwards in graduated phases. It is dedicated to the fishermen of the village - which is at the end of this walk, starting off with the port, which is mainly full of fishing boats. If you look at a shipping chart, you will see "open roadstead" written over "Cala Gat". For those who are not sailors, this means that it is a safe anchorage (when it is not blowing a "Xaloc", or strong wind from the SE). Before there was a port, Cala Gat was where the small fishing boats were kept, either at anchor, or pulled up on the beach. These small boats are called "llauds", and are incredibly seaworthy in the choppy, and sometimes very dangerous, Mediterranean. Some boatyards in Mallorca and Menorca have tarted them up, to suit rich people who want to go fishing, or swimming, off a llaud. They now have cabins, loos, kitchens - you name it. And come in all colours! And, for the timorous, some have steering wheels with wooden, or sailcloth awnings, instead of the romance of the tiller. The owners of these super-llauds are usually to be seen with a glass in their hands, and wearing bikinis and swimming shorts. They also often get into trouble, and have to be towed home with engine failure!
Behind the coastline of Cala Gat, the land rises more and more steeply until you reach the lighthouse. Inbetween, before it gets too steep to build, there are some more private houses. All these, including the ones on the coastline, are set amongst pinetrees and attractive natural ground cover, including wild rosemary, and, in the season, wild asparagus.
When we first came here, in 1955, for a month´s holiday in September, one day when there was very little wind, slightly from the North, our hotel owner sent us to Cala Gat to swim. His exact words were "It´s a Cala Gat day"! We could not believe our eyes when we arrived - this perfect sandy cove, no-one to be seen, a few houses (one of which was later to become ours) and the most perfect, flatcalm, cristaline sea that you have ever seen. Then, full of fascinating fish, including the odd morey eel (to be avoided at all costs) sting rays (which didnt). We spent the whole morning here, and returned later, after the obligatory siesta. And again, every day that was similar.
A year later, business affairs dealt with, we returned to Mallorca to live. After a lot of difficult negotiations, we eventually secured our present house, which then did not even have an inside loo, and proceeded to adapt and enlarge it. We also added an annexe for our guests, so that we could be on the same property, but only see each other when we wanted to! This was christened "La Casita" and, nowadays, seems to be full of happy people - or so they tell me - from Easter until end October.
28/12/05 Winter can be as gorgeous as spring, summer and autumn in Cala Gat, but it can also be horrendously stormy, with enormous seas, or very cold - as to-day, 7ªC daytime and with the threat of snow to a level of 300metres to-morrow. But, how dull life would be if the climate was always the same - as it nearly always is in the Canary Islands! The main thing is to have seriously warm clothing for the two or three weeks of v. cold weather. Rohan wouldnt believe me when I bought their Winter Bags and a Polartec sweater. "But you live in Mallorca!". Better believe it! We go from bikinis to Polartec - and beware anyone not protected.
20 Jan. 2006. "Las Calmas de Enero", "The January Calms", arrived a couple of weeks ago. The sea is nearly always flat calm in Cala Gat, cold in the early morning and at night, but during the day it is really hot and sunny. So many people say "Oh, we ant to come in February to see the almond blossom". Dont! The blossom may be out, but it is generally freezing cold, with a howling wind straight off Siberia - blowing away all the blossom. Far better to wait until April, and buy a really good painting of Mallorca with almond blossom.
1 Feb 2006. Huge Fiesta! Oldest dog had his SEVENTEENTH birthday! Whole household celebrated, ie, me, young dog, and two cats! Old dog had bits of Jamon Iberica, young dog had a few smaller bits. Burmese Blue cat wanted a bit of everything, and had a little, plus a little of my real smoked salmon, all the way from North Uist. None of that farmed muck, which seems to be all we can get down here. Added to which, it was a lovely day for the first time in ages, sunny and warm. So we all had a wonderful time - but I fear 18th birthday is dubious. One can only hop
17 Feb.2006. Poor old dog, Badger, was put to sleep this morning. His back legs finally packed up on him on Thursday night. On Vet´s advice, I put him to bed, just in case he could walk again on Friday morning, but no good. As he got terribly distressed, normally, but was only semi-consious Fri am, a friend came down to put him in car and we got to Vet at 0815. Juan agreed there was nothing more to be done, and kindest thing was to put him to sleep. So we did, and he is now buried at the bottom of the garden. He gave me 17 years of faithful love and care, just as I did for him. We shall all, me, young dog and two cats, miss him immensely. But Juan did say that of the very few dogs he had had who reached 17, Badger was the luckiest because he had never had a single illness in his life - just two accidents, when he ate some poison, and when he swallowed a fish hook. Both events immediately put right by Juan and his team. I think youngster probably added a year to his life, by encouraging him to move about. End of an era.
20 Feb. 2006. Young dog seems to have recovered from loss of his much-loved old Badger. He didnt eat v. much for two days, but to-day has made up for it!
1 March, 2006. Big Fiestas! TWO! St. David´s day for me, born in Wales. Dia de Las Islas Baleares, also for me, as I live here, and for animals still here, as they either were born Mallorquin, or are adopted Mallorquin. But, no sign of bad weather letting up until the week-end - when we have another big Fiesta - the beginning of a new era.
5 March, 2006. New era began with belting rain, howling gale, and general discomfort. Will Spring NEVER really arrive? Anyway, new era is that to-day I had my 75th birthday! Never did I imagine I would reach such an ancient age in relatively good shape. A big feast was held, this time for me, but also with the wonderful peat-smoked salmon from North Uist. and a half-botle of Moet´s Brut Imperial. This is the only champage I have been able to discover in half bottles. Quite acceptable, but not my favourite. For anyone who is potty about REAL smoked salmon, go to webpage www.hebrideansmokehouse.com, and download the details and order forms for all their wonders. And the joy is that they will ship overseas, even to the States.
So, this is "ancient me" signing off for now, and still awaiting Spring!
1 April (Fools Day!). So, probably Spring hasnt arrived after all! But, it feels as if it has. Sun out, warm enough to have had no heat for 10days, windows open all day - when at home, and all animals, and me, sunbathing.
Some tourists are swimming, which fills me with horror, as water about 14ºC. I wait for 22ºC. Fill you in on weather soon. Easter coming up, and, regardless of date, weather nearly always changes for "the bad". All my Mallorquin friends preparing to put central heating on again.
