A Girls' Weekend in Mallorca

This past weekend 3 of the girls from my program and I took a trip to a Spanish Balearic Island, Mallorca.  I have heard a lot of good things about this island from my dental hygienist because she hosted a student from there, so I figured that I should check it out.  The plane ticket was very cheap (around €50) and we found a very nice hostel that was only a few blocks from the beach.  We took a plane out on Thursday after everyone was done with their classes and the flight was only around 30 minutes.  
Friday morning we walked by the beach to get to the bus stop to go to the city of Palma, which was about 30 minutes by public bus. 

Stopping at the beach before catching the bus into the city

 While we were on the bus, it started to rain, but that didn't kill our fun.  We were still able to see the cathedral.  It was very unique from the outside and the inside also.  There were some renovations done on the church and some of the inside was designed by Gaudí, which I thought was pretty cool.  (He's the one that did designs for Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and I went to one of his houses when I was in Barcelona.)  

Main altar with some Gaudí designs

Side altar designed completely by Gaudí with sea theme

Cool stained glass window

After the cathedral we walked around the city for a little.  We stopped at an art gallery where we saw some cool artworks.  After that it was still raining pretty hardly so we decided to go back to the hostel and just hang out there until the rain ceased.   
The rain stopped just before sunset and we headed to the beach.  Because of our location on the island, we were able to see the sunset over the sea and the mountains.  I cannot express how beautiful this was.  

Saturday we decided that we would go to the caves on the island and do a little hiking.  In order to do this we had to take a bus into Palma, and then from Palma take another bus that goes across the island to the Caves of Drach. 

Snapped another beach picture on the way to the bus

The bus ride across the island was maybe a little more than an hour and we were at our destination.  I didn't know what to expect when we were there.  We payed for a tour of the caves and the tour also included a violin concert on the lake in the caves.  The concert was very romantic and captivating.  Now I can say I've been to a concert on a lake in a cave!  After the concert we had to opportunity to cross the lake in a rowboat.  
There were millions of stalactites and stalagmites in the cave which made it very intriguing and awesome.  

Cuevas del Drach (translates to Dragon Caves)

Martel Lake in the cave

Crossing the lake in a boat

After our magical experience in the caves we went hiking a little down to the sea, which involved climbing rocks and being scared not to fall into the sea.  The view could not be an prettier and the weather was perfect for this! 

On the way back from the caves, I took some pictures of the beautiful Mallorca scenery.  

Top of a windmill (there were a tons of windmills along the way)

Since we were arriving back in Palma at sunset we went to the cathedral and took some pictures of it from farther away because it is so stunning at nighttime.  

Sunday was a day on the beach.  We considered this our "Spring Break 2016."

I had a great weekend with the girls, even though I am now a "lobster back."  This was our last trip on our own.  We have one more excursion with the school this Saturday.  Then we have a week left of classes and it is already time for finals!  I'm excited to come home and see everyone again but I'm nostalgic about leaving Spain.