The summation of the day is that not all upgrades are good upgrades and bigger is not always better!
We had a slight delay leaving Luton due to air traffic restrictions at the Palma end, but the flight was uneventful and we arrived in Palma just about on time. I've entered Europe a few times since the introduction of the new Entry/Exit System, but it was the first time for Amber and the kids and despite the horror stories in the press, we were through passport control, collected our cases and in the queue for our hire car in no time.
Normally I'd book a car direct, but after reading so many positive reviews about Zest (and discovering that they are based in Dereham in Norfolk), I decided to give them a go and they brokered a good price with Hertz. Knowing that the mountain roads are rather tight, and especially those to our accommodation, we had picked a car that I would describe as 'big enough but small enough', but after completing all the formalities with Hertz, I was told that they didn't have any small SUVs available so I would be upgraded to a full SUV. The car was also something I'd never heard of, a Lynk & Co 01! From having a quick Google it's apparently from the same Chinese owners as Volvo and loosely based on the XC40, but it just looked big and wide.
My S-Max is now 7 years old and Amber's Twingo is almost as old as Forrest, so both vehicles are proper cars that you have to drive. Getting into the 01 was like taking command of a semi-automated computer and I really didn't like how it was trying to drive for me! After stopping at Lidl on the outskirts of Palma to grab some lunch and working out how to turn off most of the driving aids, it felt much better to drive and we made our way to the rendezvous point with the owner of our property in the small village of Fornalutx. This is where things got interesting.
To get to our accommodation we have a drive up a mountain lane that cuts back with 180° turns. Whilst the owner was having no difficulties in his Transit Connect van, the 01 had a turning circle of an aircraft carrier and as the bends got tighter, I had to make multiple forward and back moves to negotiate the bends. Eventually we made it all the way and parked up at our small cottage nestled into the side of the mountain and the view from the garden was just about worth the drive!
We then did the drive again to get some shopping and it didn't seem quite so bad on the run down and then back up, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be driving it with my eyes closed! We stopped briefly at one of the potential locations to watch the eclipse on the way to Sóller and it was another great view.
It's very hot here, but we are the fortunate first guests to benefit from the newly installed air conditioning in the bedroom so hopefully we'll all get a good nights sleep before we explore the locality by foot tomorrow.
Blogged by Matt.
