Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Algaida: Oliver Moragues Grandhouse and Vineyard (Airbnb), Day 1 of 2

Bike Route: Caimari to Algaida, 18 miles, 800 feet of climb

Oh, what a difference a day makes. We went from a tiny (but nice) room in a small guest house, to a spacious suite in a large guest house. At Oliver Moragues, we had our own living room, bedroom, and bath, plus access to a full kitchen, dining room, wine cellar, snack room, two pools, gardens (flower and vegetable), common sitting room, and numerous terraces. All food and beverage purchases were on the honor system: write them down in a log, and the charges were added to the room bill when you checked out. We are amazed at the variety of accommodations we have had on this trip!

The ride to Algaida was so easy and so stressless, mostly on country lanes through farms. About halfway, we turned left to follow a two-track, passing a woman coming out of a house with a dog. She yelled something at us. We smiled and waved and said, "Hola!" A hundred feet or so later, we realized we were going the wrong way and went back to the turn. The woman and dog were still there, and she pointed down a footpath and called "Inca!" which was the name of the next town. Okay, we turned onto the footpath and followed it around the neighboring farm to a gravel driveway and onto the highway outside Inca.

It rained a bit the last couple of miles. We arrived at the vineyard about 1:30, checked in, showered, biked about a mile to Algaida, and had a fantastic meal with local ingredients: salad with fennel (we could smell the fennel in the fields on our way to Algaida), loin of negro (black) pig (we saw black pigs on our ride to Algaida), sauteed mushrooms, fried potatoes, and cannoli stuffed with duck and mushrooms. We biked around town to see the windmills and church, then back to Oliver Moragues for a little walk around the property. At 7:00, we were ready to crawl into our king-sized bed.

We were in the main guest house, called the grandhouse, which has 10 guest rooms. There are also a number of separate little guest houses with their own kitchens and gardens. The vineyard and guesthouses have been in the family since 1511 (really), and the house was actually built in the 1300s. Our hosts were Rocio and her mother, Joana. Rocio lived in San Francisco for a year. As she was showing us around, she made it very clear that the vineyard is separate from the guest houses and is run by "the others"--her brother, cousins, and uncle. She apologized for the nearly empty wine cellar, explaining that "the others" had just sold everything to a single buyer, and there was almost nothing left. Only a few reds. No whites. When we got to the snack room, she showed us the refrigerator filled with beverages and spotted an open bottle of white wine. "You should just take this right now, before it is gone," she said. "Just take the bottle to your room, or you won't get any." Funny. It will take me a week to drink the complementary bottle of red that was in our room. I passed on the white.

We were surprised to see windmills. Ken did some research and found that the south central area of Mallorca is famous for them. 

Windmills with skinny towers and cones were built in the 14th-15th centuries for grinding grain (to make flour) and salt.

Flowers are still in full bloom on the island. Although it is starting to look and feel like fall here too, the weather is about a month behind that in Catalonia.

The mountains in the distance make for stunning views.

These lucky goats were being fed corn.

Ken on the terrace of our guest house. Our suite is just inside the arched doorway, to the left; you can see the corner of our living room window over Ken's right shoulder.

Luxury blogging.