...and even longer since I was in Majorca!

As our guide Sofi introduced us to the island of Majorca yesterday, she spoke of the boom in tourism that began in the 1960s, when package holidays started. My parents loved to travel and were amongst the first to take advantage of these tempting offers of two weeks in the sunshine and so we came to Majorca in 1968.

Though I've not been here since, as soon as we glimpsed sight of the island, the memories returned.

Now of course, the numbers of tourists each year are staggeringly huge and Sofi asked for guesses, responding to each guess with “No, higher!” because we were so far from the actual figure for 2023: 18 million.

As we sailed into the harbour bringing another 650, the Oasis of the Seas was already there, bringing her 6,700 to add to the total for 2024.

It was a lovely sail in to Palma with a fine view of the Cathedral.

We were also relieved that the storm had passed though, leaving a bright sunny day in prospect. We joined a tour heading for the pretty town of Soller today and drove into the Tramuntana mountains.

As we drove, Sofi explained that Soller was a popular place and that motor vehicles were forbidden, except for those belonging to residents. We'd leave our coach on the outskirts and walk in, past the old Convent building, now a school.

It was easy to see why vehicles needed restrictions. Just as at home, every space large enough for a car had one parked there. The streets were narrow and as we walked we were continually squeezing past delivery vans and cars, each navigating their way through the town, dodging pedestrians and other vehicles as they went.

We made it, thankfully without incident, to the square, where we stopped to note the detail on the Bank of Soller.

From here, we took the opportunity to stroll around this lovely town, equipped with the essential information from Sofi: the time and place where we'd meet and where the best ice cream was to be found!

The square was filled with cafes doing a brisk trade on this sunny afternoon.

As we turned a corner, we heard the unmistakeable “toot” of a tram heading our way. That prompted the memory I'd been trying to recall, for I was sure I had been here in Soller all those years ago!

Yes, the “Orange Soller” ice cream was delicious!

Soller is in a pretty setting, with the mountains providing a fine backdrop to the town. As we sat eating our ice creams, several trams passed us by, each one full of people enjoying the ride.

With an eye on the time, however, we made our way back past the church towards the station and our meeting point.

We stopped in the leafy square by the station whilst hundreds of people gathered to wait for the next tram, which tooted its arrival a couple of minutes later.

Our meeting point was on the platform in the station, from where a train would take us back down into Palma. A wooden carriage had been reserved for us and we climbed aboard and took our seats by the open windows.

The journey down into the city was an interesting one, for the lush, green hillsides around Soller soon opened out into more expansive areas.

Every so often we'd go into a tunnel and the open windows rattled, adding to the noise from the train itself. The electric engine made no noise at all and in those tunnels I felt very thankful that there was no exhaust or fumes either.

For some reason, we had both expected the terminus to be in the city, but when we saw our coach awaiting us in what appeared to be a car park, we realised our mistake. We were still some way from the centre of the city, but this gave us a chance to drive along the Promenade, past the Cathedral and the waterfront.