Susanne Pacher

As the late afternoon sun had come out, I was continuing my action-packed day in Prague. After a guided tour through Prague's Jewish Quarter, a savory and informative lunch in Prague's oldest kosher restaurant, followed by a tour of Municipal House, Prague's Art Nouveau masterpiece, I had just finished a boat tour on the Vltava River that gave me a completely different view of Prague from the water. Our knowledgeable captain had shared many stories about Prague and enriched us with countless his

Our location in Palma Nova on the western bay of Palma was very convenient with one exception: several of the hotel guests came home between 3 and 6 am in various states of inebriation and were hollering loudly to each other. Their incomprehensible utterings reverberated in the concrete hallways and inevitably woke me up. Just as I was ready to fall asleep again, another group of "lager louts" was coming in and making their presence known to everyone.

I woke up to another day of gorgeous sunshine and took a seat on our spacious balcony at the Torrenova Aparthotel complex. The surrounding view of the Mediterranean was astounding and I still could not believe that we had lucked out with this beautifully located water-front hotel after booking it extremely inexpensively over the Internet.

My stomach problems of yesterday had disappeared and I felt as good as new on this gorgeous late May morning. An early highlight of the day was the breakfast on our large balcony in the Torrenova Aparthotel complex. Although the hotel itself is somewhat outdated and not particularly fancy, our view over the Mediterranean was simply precious.

Our second full day in Mallorca started with an early morning stroll along the Pine Walk promenade in Port de Pollença, a beautiful seafront town on the northeast side of the island. The expansive Bay of Pollença was shimmering in front of us in different hues of blue and green. Walking along the pine-fringed walkway beside attractive hotels and villas was a great way of enjoying the morning. After about an hour and a half we sat down at our hotel, the Hostal Goleta, and savoured our freshly bak

Our second day in Mallorca greeted us with bright sunshine. After a restful night at Finca Son Pont, we got ready to have breakfast in this historic rural hotel. Tables were set up in the shady inner courtyard and we were going to have breakfast in the fresh air. We picked up some cereal, yoghurt, some fresh bread and locally ripened fruits and joined in the conversation with other couples who had sat down at the tables next to us. Two other couples were in town from Germany to attend a large we

We had thoroughly enjoyed our drive through the Tramuntana mountain region yesterday and our discoveries in the town of Sóller. After a restful night of sleep I got up at 8 am and walked to the main house of our rural hotel, Finca Ca's Sant, to use their Internet connection. Then it was time for an outdoor breakfast on the terrace of our hotel, surrounded by palm trees. Fresh croissants, yoghurt, home-made orange marmalade and an egg were waiting for me.

After a tasty home-made breakfast on the balcony of my studio apartment in Port d'Alcudia I was ready to head out for a full day of explorations. Somehow, the northern mountainous part of Mallorca has an almost magical spell on me. I had already spent the major part of my entire first week on this island in the northern Tramuntana Mountains, and I just had to go back there today.

On my last full day in Mallorca my plan was to explore the eastern part of the island. I had spent the vast majority of my time in the north of Mallorca, where the dramatic Serra de Tramuntana mountain range had held an almost magical spell on me. Today my destinations were on the eastern part of the island.

With my love for the Spanish language and my fascination for Mediterranean landscapes, the island of Mallorca has been one of my dream destinations for a long time. A couple of months ago or so I had finally decided that 2009 was going to be year for my visit to Mallorca. Spring is the perfect time to visit southern Europe – the weather is usually great, and the hordes of Northern European tourists have not arrived yet.