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Some useful Spanish phrases (Mallorca final part!)

Wednesday 3rd May continued ...

Feeling reasonably confident with our map reading, instruction understanding, and stone spotting skills by now, and with the return of the sunshine - hurrah! - we decided to search out the naviforme at Can Roig Nou.

From the southern town of Felanitx (a great name for an Asterix character?!) we took the PM512 towards Campos del Port but after about 1km turned off to the right onto the Cami de Son Mesquida. After about 4km, and just before Son Mesquida itself, we took a left onto Cami de Pedreres and almost immediately left again following the signpost to Can Roig. Before long, there was a right turn with a sign saying "Formatges" which we followed, past a building with huge lettering "Santa Son Mesquida" on it. There's a house numbered 2098 to the right, and after this we kept to the left down a farm track - with a substantially sized ostrich in the field to the left - and pulled up in the farmyard.

The directions we had said to ask permission at the farm. There were 4 dogs loose in the yard, 2 of them quite big and one of those quite scary looking, so we sat in the car for a few minutes pondering our next move. Then two men appeared from one of the farm buildings, so I got out and waved, and shouted "hola!". That's part of my very limited command of the Spanish language (of course in Mallorca, it's a Catalan dialect, Mallorquin, that's spoken, rather than Castillian Spanish, but trying either is appreciated). I followed that up, as he approached, with "No hablo espanol. Ruinas prehistoricas?" and with a beaming grin, he shook my hand and pointed into the farmyard. A bit of sign language confirmed that it was OK to leave the car just where it was, and accompanied by the now playful and friendly dogs, we all headed along the track, past the cow sheds and into the field beyond, where we found the naviforme.

Can Roig Nou — Images

31.07.07ce

Overdue explanation time - a naviforme is a boat or enlongated horseshoe shaped structure, similar to the navetas on nearby Menorca, only rather than being contructed entirely of stone, the naviformes had a roof of wooden beams covered with branches and mud. This is one of the most impressive - many others have only their foundation stones remaining, for example at Hospitalet Vell and Es Closos de can Gaia (see the second half of my blog no 1 for Mallorca, Browsing the Balaerics again ...).

It's the remaining one of three; it was the middle one, and the wall to its right contains some of the stones from its neighbour. The inside is impressive, with the walls way taller than us; the interior dividing walls are thought to be later, maybe Roman, additions, and the construction of the apse has lead archaeologists to believe there was originally an attic space.

Can Roig Nou — Images

31.07.07ce

Beardy went to have a look at what was round the left side and beyond the naviforme, and came back followed by a herd of goats; this and the fact the our guide had waited for us meant we didn't check out the surrounding landscape, but headed back to the car. "Muchas gracias, senor!"

We retraced our steps onto Cami de Son Mesquida, but turned away from Felanitx and towards Porreres and less than 2km later, couldn't miss this:

Es Pou Salat — Images

31.07.07ce

Just after the magnificent wall, the road drops down, and there's a handy parking place next to a well. We went to investigate, and behind the wall a series of rooms could be seen

Es Pou Salat — Images

31.07.07ce

and in the field to the south, the remains of a talaiot

and a wall beyond that - both inaccessible.

The (as usual, almost illegible) well hidden information board identified the site as the poblat of Es Pou Salat.

Rumbles of thunder in the distance and increasingly threatening clouds persuaded us to start heading for home via the town of Villafranca de Bonany, but we realised there were a pair of talaiots just off the road (the C715, which is in the process of being turned into dual carriageway for much of its length and roundabouts and ring roads are cropping up all over) so took the PM511 to the right back towards Felanitx. After about 2km, we took a track to the left just before the road bends to the left, marked Privado PM10815, and headed towards the talaiots of Son Pou Vell, also known as Sa Clova des Lladres, at the top of the field guarded by a thousand thistles.

The nearer one is quite ruinous

but the other is better preserved and offers tantalising glimpses of its central column

though its entrance is blocked.

Handy hint for the ladies at this site - don't wear a skirt. There's a four foot wall to climb and those thistles in the field will leave you scratched and bleeding. With the storm brewing and advancing, we went back to our hotel for a final evening, packed, and set off early on Thursday. Our flight back wasn't till the evening, and the hire car not due back till late afternoon, so we'd planned to check out the south west of the island before heading back into Palma.

We'd been looking forward to the poblat of Capocorb Vell, with its three circular and two square talaiots, all of them huge and well preserved. From the town of Llucmajor, take the road signposted to Cala Pi, and it's signposted from there. On a bend in the road, you can't miss the huge sign and there was a car park on the other side of the road ... completely empty. The main gate was locked, and the walls surrounding the poblat had branches laid over them to discourage climbing over, so all we had were glimpses over the wall and through the main gate.

The site has a 2 euro entrance fee and a bar for visitors. The sign outside stated opening times of 10:00 - 17:00. We went back up the road and asked when it would be open at another bar - "mañana". A useful phrase to know in Spanish, or indeed useful information to have when planning a trip - "jueves cerrado" means closed on Thursdays!

We stopped briefly to check out one of several talaiots only about 100m to the south

off a private road belonging to the house called Capocorb Vell, but then with time ticking on, decided to head north and negotiate the mad Palma traffic, road works and one way systems, and after a well deserved pint, got a cab to the airport.

A thoroughly enjoyable week - but so much more, not just the so annoyingly shut Capocorb Vell, to see. We'd visited less than half of the sites I'd turned up in my research, none of those in the north west of the island, and if we'd checked out all those three-little-red-dot markings on the map .....

Don't write Mallorca off as just another package holiday destination! Get one of the many cheap flights and a car, and go exploring. I'm tidying up, decyphering and adding to my notes, and if you plan to visit the island, drop me a mail and I'll share the detailed info with you.