Jueves, el 8 Septiembre 2016, 07:20, Suite 103.

…… and here I am wide awake, I am stood almost as naked as the actual moment I was born as I bear witness to the most beautiful sunrise that delivers my sixtieth year.

Slowly, the sun emerges from behind the Cap de Formentor, its sudden heat blasts away the slight chill of the early morn, the tiny birds and cicadas stir and the pine tree which gently nudges our balcony emits its fragrance. As the aged Señor from the Municipio de Pollença sweeps his broom along the paseo maritimo I listen to the rhythm which started quietly, steadily getting louder and louder, then calmingly quietens, as he passes on below. 

My eyes are closed, I can hear and feel this daily phenomenon happening, a gentle rumble from behind the slight ajar door indicates that the small kettle on the hospitality tray is boiling. Mmmm, a tea bag on a string with a yellow tag attached bearing the name ‘Liptons’, desperately awaits its own infusion.

Feliz cumpleaños para mi !

Today, espeially, I have to have a bubble bath, (its the law) infact almost everyday its the law, although, sometimes I break it!. After my careful physiognomy routine with cream and other paraphernalia (because im worth it) I open my cards, loads of them, Its hard to pick my top four for display as there is not a lot of space available, I am humbled indeed.

Got my outfit ready for the day and as we have already made a joint decision, considering that as yesterday was so exhausting we would meander slowly down to the ‘Illa d’or’ after breakfast for an early Mocktail (cocktail before midday)

Further down the pinewalk the path way gets rather treacherous, the aging trees have disrupted the paving and the roots have now had other ideas, they wish to be above ground instead of below. We joke how we are going to manage in a few years time with the wheelchair and exactly who will be pushing who, Lou and Andy spring to mind and bad impressions consisting of “I dont like it” and “I wanna go helsinki” are proferred. Unstubbed toes are not negotiable, decent footwear is paramount, I should know.

We reach our favoured property, a detached villa set back in pine scrub, of course, there is room for a pool, that would be the frst thing to be installed once our lottery balls have come forth, and the space for a small outhouse for the housekeeper to be built. Exactly opposite is our family tree, a name we have given this old evergreen, both strinking and undeniably strong, its main torso is now held up by building blocks as it hangs over the path and touches the warm blue waters. This sempervirens has seen many many thousand people walk past, a vast majority have aslo sat on its trunk and been the main composition that has been imortalised in many impressive family photographs, like ours taken in 2008.

Now, picture this as Sophia Petrillio would say …. A ‘white party in Florida’ sunbaked wealthy aged people sitting at white tables under white parasols on white painted wicker cane chairs wearing white baseball caps playing cards, sipping at tall cool drinks with straws. The bar tenders in white aprons and the once aging bar-hut now stark white, all far too sterile, now devoid of character, this is new style of the once beautiful waterside bar area of the famous Illa d’or, we find a seat under shade and make ourselves less conspicuous, it would appear ages sixty and less are definately frowned upon.

I had promised myself a famed Bloody Mary, it arrives, vastly overpriced. Sometimes trying to recreate a once upon a time doesnt always work, the drink was sallow and the overall bar atmosphere dull, it had changed since our last visit, certainly not for the better either, we might as well have been the invisible men, so we decided to drink up and disappear, but not before taking an opportunity to capture the moment. This was the point where we decided that the Polaroid had to go, trying to recapture the past was now infact, past.

….. to be continued …