At dinner last night, the host told me that Inca, in central Mallorca, is the center of leatherwork on the island. The train gets there in about 45 minutes, so I hopped on. The town was festooned with decorations for the Fira de la Terra (Fair of the Land) this weekend.
Google maps indicated there was a leather workshop northeast of the station. I walked to the address, walked past, doubled back, looked around; no shop could I see. Looking at the doorbell, there was a tiny label which had a similar name. I rang and a woman soon emerged from a small door within the garage door. There was some postal notice on the ground and she seemed to think I was delivering it. Not me.
"Habla Ingles?" I enquired hopefully. "No" came the quick reply. Reaching far back to my high school Spanish, I ventured: "Yo quiero compared una ...???... para ma esposa." The woman supplied the missing noun "bolsa!" (purse). Cautioning me about the trailer hitch on the small van in the garage, she beckoned me in. Narrowing the search from big purses "demasiado grande" to small purses "demasiado pequeño" to just right ("bueno"). She led me to the workshop in the back and introduced me to her husband, who was working on a strap.
Leaving the garage, the woman again cautioned me about the trailer hitch, which I carefully avoided, hitting my head on the small door instead. She came and rubbed my head. I soon left, insisting I was "muy bien."
Back at Palma, the maze of streets in old Town eventually led to the Cathedral, construction of which began in 1229. The cathedral was built on the site of a former mosque, which itself had been constructed over the original cathedral. I opted for the combo ticket, which included entrance to the cathedral and access to the terrace high above. After a quick dip in the hotel pool, I took a late flight to Toulouse.
Rare Spanish flag
At Inca Station
Hamburgers restaurants are ubiquitous in Spain
AED at top of stairs, just in case!
Cathedral terrace views
Flying buttresses
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