We woke to a cloudy day again and there were still some weather alerts for the city. But we had an important job ahead of us, one we did not know would be successful or not. So, we headed off to find a Pharmacia.

Mick had miscounted an essential medication he must take twice per day, and I was anxious about the consequences as we still have a week of our holiday to go.

The first Pharmacia we found was able to help. Mick showed her a sleeve of the now-empty pill packet and was told they could provide him with a replacement. I had thought we might need to find a doctor to obtain a script. Instead, after paying €81.98 ($147AUD) for the packet he would pay $AUD31.60 at home, our important job was done. We had found last year when we were in Italy that it was possible to get antibiotics from the Chemist if you were able to tell him / her that you had taken them before.

We then headed to the Tourist Office to check where we could catch the bus to the Airprot when we leave on Wednesday. It is about the same distance from our accommodation to the bus stop as to the spot the taxi driver dropped us off on Saturday. And for €5 each, it is a much better deal. Let’s hope it is not raining as we head to the bus.

If you’ve been following us on this trip you will know we visited the Bilbao markets, which has been described as one of the best undercover markets in Europe – yet we found them underwhelming. Then we visited the famous markets in Porto where we enjoyed a glass of wine as we shopped – and they were very good.

BUT.. the Mercat de l’Olivar here in Palma is the best market we’ve been to on this trip. For some reason the fish sellers were not open today (Monday) but there were lots of bars open that were selling fresh seafood and glasses of chilled wine. The top floor of the markets houses a large supermarket (Marcandona) for all other grocery needs.

We explored the markets for a good while, spotting some thing we had not seen before and other things that you would expect to find in a Spanish Market.

We had a guess at what this was – Mick was pretty sure it was a stomach of an animal filled with lots of other meats as he’d noticed another one chopped into slices in a nearby butcher.

This speciality (Botillo) is made from various pork cuts (ribs, tail, tongue) seasoned and stuffed into a pig’s stomach or cecum, then smoked and semi-cured. It’s cooked before eating and often served with potatoes or greens. Mmmmm (I don’t think so for me – but I’m sure Mick would try it.)

By now, it was raining pretty heavily outside and we were not keen to leave just yet, so we explored some more.

How clever are some people? To make a bunch of pimientos look like a flower arrangement? I spotted more of these during an afternoon stroll – with the peppers now making a dried flower arrangement.

We decided to have lunch at one of the oyster bars and started with four Number 1 oysters (which are quite large) and a glass of bubbles (Cava for me, but Mick felt like a white wine instead).

They were extremely fresh and delicious, and Mick thought they had the taste of the Mediterranean about them. I was not going to disagree.

Still hungry, we chose a plate of the octopus and potato (Pulpo a la Gallega)

The rain had stopped, so we headed home for a little rest, passing this statue right in front of the Basilica de San Miguel.

The plaque said this staue was created in 1957 by a Mallorcan artist and it symbolises domestic labour and traditional craftsmenship.

You might be able to spot Mick near the door of the Church – a little eager to get home and sick of me and my photos. As you can see, the sun was shining again now.

After a siesta, I headed off on my own to find the Arab Baths (Baños árabes).

I had read that these baths were one of the few surviving pieces of Islamic architecture and culture in Palma and date back to the 10th or 11th Century. According to signs around the place, these have been very difficult to date.

The domed central room is supported by reused Roman and Byzantine columns. It was once used for hot steam baths. the whole space was not very large and my next panoramic photo shows it a little better.

The signage here was a little confusing and I ended up leaving here unsure if this was the tepidarium or the caldarium. Never mind.

Outside was a small, well kept garden with places to sit and relax, but due to the previous rain, most of the paths were quite muddy.

As I headed back to our apartment I discovered another little gem. An old convent.

The sign out the front said this was the Convent of Santa Clara and dated back to the 13th Century.

This had a similar history as the other churches I’ve featured. Yes, the construction started on the site of a former Muslim structure in 1260. Apparently a cloistered community of nuns continues to live here and continues baking and selling handmade sweets through a revolving wooden hatch called a ‘tourno‘. I wish I knew that when I was there!

Closer to our apartment – one of the busy streets in the old town with beautiful historic buildings, now housing shops.

I was lucky to make it home before it started to rain again.