Palma De Mallorca, Spain
First Picture, Back Row: Claire Henry (scholar, Romania), DeDe Musa (wife of Jamil, Morocco), Liz Kreitlow (wife of Brian, former scholar in Montenegro & now living in Germany), Jen Hensarling (wife of Brian, Belgium), Carrie Flammia (wife of Bobby, Italy) Front Row: Susan Murphy (wife of Patrick, Germany), Gina Senkowski (wife of Neil, Germany), and Megan Anderson (wife of Mark, Bulgaria)
Here's to General Olmsted's wife, Carol! Girl, would I love to hear your stories! Each of the 8 women in Mallorca had such unique but sweetly familiar stories of their own, and we all quickly bonded over Spanish wine and great conversation. This year's annual Olmsted Ladies' Trip was another one to mark down in the history books.
I began my journey stuck in sitting traffic for over an hour and a half. I remained calm... for the first hour. Jamil and I figured there had to be something tragic up ahead, but it was just unreported, middle of the day construction between the two biggest cities in Morocco. Jamil sped to the front door of the Casa airport, and I ran in like a crazy woman. Although I seemed to get checked in at the airport with no problem (FYI, arriving with less than 40 minutes until departure for an international flight seems to be no big deal around here), I noticed that my body was shaking as I finally sat down at my gate. In my frantic/relieved state, I began to cry tears of joy to be getting the heck out of dodge and tears of sadness about leaving the boys. I pretty much could have stamped "I desperately need a girls' trip!" across my forehead.
Needless to say, we had an amazing time exploring the Spanish Island of Mallorca. It was just the perfect amount of adventurous exploration and therapeutic relaxation! I left refreshed, with strengthened friendships, thankful for girl time, and grateful for being apart of the Olmsted family. Much thanks to the amazing Jen Hensarling for organizing this year's festivities. She did a great job! Once again, we missed all of the fabulous ladies who couldn't join us this year. If at all possible, I highly recommend hopping on board for future Olmsted Ladies' Trips!
PuigpuyentI began my journey stuck in sitting traffic for over an hour and a half. I remained calm... for the first hour. Jamil and I figured there had to be something tragic up ahead, but it was just unreported, middle of the day construction between the two biggest cities in Morocco. Jamil sped to the front door of the Casa airport, and I ran in like a crazy woman. Although I seemed to get checked in at the airport with no problem (FYI, arriving with less than 40 minutes until departure for an international flight seems to be no big deal around here), I noticed that my body was shaking as I finally sat down at my gate. In my frantic/relieved state, I began to cry tears of joy to be getting the heck out of dodge and tears of sadness about leaving the boys. I pretty much could have stamped "I desperately need a girls' trip!" across my forehead.
Needless to say, we had an amazing time exploring the Spanish Island of Mallorca. It was just the perfect amount of adventurous exploration and therapeutic relaxation! I left refreshed, with strengthened friendships, thankful for girl time, and grateful for being apart of the Olmsted family. Much thanks to the amazing Jen Hensarling for organizing this year's festivities. She did a great job! Once again, we missed all of the fabulous ladies who couldn't join us this year. If at all possible, I highly recommend hopping on board for future Olmsted Ladies' Trips!
Our gorgeous villa rested in the mountains of Puigpuyent surrounded by nature. We hiked and relaxed by the pool with strawberry mojitos. We even hired chef Pepe to join us at the villa for a cooking class. After 7 hours, we had complete dishes for the remainder of our trip! Our menu included braised endive with brown sugar and prawns, pork with creamed sobrasada sauce, a mixed paella with pork and seafood, and both salmon and chicken croquettes. We enjoyed listening to Pepe speak Spanish and the intensity he brought to the kitchen. Although I'd love to replicate these dishes, I think the recipe we all walked away remembering was a simple, but oh so delicious, aioli spread!
Many of the pictures in this post were taken by my talented friend, Carrie. Thanks!
Soller
The charming beach town of Soller was a hit! We hoped on board an old fashioned train from Palma into the city and then onto an adorable trolly that took us straight to the ocean. The port is surrounded by a breathtaking mountain range, orange groves, and ancient olive trees. If you love oranges, you've come to the right spot! The famous Mallorcan pastry, ensaimadas, can be found here with orange filling. Orange juice and orange ice-cream dawned the walkways, and fresh oranges were everywhere! After walking along the boardwalk, we grabbed lunch at Ses Olivares. This restaurant (dish pictured above-left) was recommended by my friend, Natalia, whose mother lives in Palma. We gave our compliments to the chef, and he kindly complimented us with two more pitchers of sangria!
The charming beach town of Soller was a hit! We hoped on board an old fashioned train from Palma into the city and then onto an adorable trolly that took us straight to the ocean. The port is surrounded by a breathtaking mountain range, orange groves, and ancient olive trees. If you love oranges, you've come to the right spot! The famous Mallorcan pastry, ensaimadas, can be found here with orange filling. Orange juice and orange ice-cream dawned the walkways, and fresh oranges were everywhere! After walking along the boardwalk, we grabbed lunch at Ses Olivares. This restaurant (dish pictured above-left) was recommended by my friend, Natalia, whose mother lives in Palma. We gave our compliments to the chef, and he kindly complimented us with two more pitchers of sangria!
Palma
We planned on visiting Palma, Mallorca's capital, on our final full day. Why, because there was a fabulous beer festival along the port! A Spanish vendor took a lovely group picture of us, so we of course needed to get "just a regular picture" of the person who took our group shot. We convinced ourselves that it was completely normal and giggled about it the rest of the night. At Beer Palma, we snacked on hor d'oeuvres and local beer before heading to a chic tapas restaurant. We did miss some of the charming Palma shops and cafes that are open throughout the day. However, we opted for some extra pool time at the villa and took advantage of seeing the city at sunset and beautifully lit at night. It was the perfect last hurrah for the 2013 Ladies' Trip! I doubt I'll be able to make it back across the Atlantic for next year's adventure, but maybe some of the state-side ladies can get together.... until next time!
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