The Big Six-0 Birthday

It's my birthday! And there is no need to wake early so, after a string of busy days on the go so far, I come to life at a civilised hour. I am now officially 60 in just about all corners of the globe and there is no escape from my 7th decade. It's okay. 

I make my way upstairs where presents and cake await. Yes, morning cake! "Trufa Nata" (truffle cream) cake - all creamy and spongey and delicious. I blow out the candles and make a wish. It's a lovely touch and slips down very nicely. 

Birthday morning cake!

We enjoy cheese, jambon, tomatoes, gherkins and baguette for lunch in the courtyard under blue skies. 

It is very warm and a swim is in order. We walk 2 minutes to the beach at the end of the street - it's actually quite breezy and the usually smooth Med is a bit like a washing machine. No matter, it is warm like a bath and very easy to slip into. We swim out through the gap in the rock walls. The water has a high salt content and we bob about like corks. We are the only corks as these are not optimum conditions - the locals need perfection before venturing into the water, but we're up for a sea challenge. It's almost impossible to avoid a wave washing over you or getting a mouthful of salty water - but it is tame in comparison to Omaha Beach on a rough day!!!

After a decent time frolicking in the oh-so-warm water, we head back and get ready for a special degustation experience - Jill and Peter are treating me to a 60th birthday meal at Marc Fosh, a Michelin Star restaurant in Palma. We are due there at 7.30pm. 

Peter rings for a taxi - this turns out to be an impossibility. It's Friday night and the taxi companies are either not answering, not obliging or just too damn busy. We persevere but eventually realise it's a no-go. By now time is rather tight so Peter suggests the bus - they've never taken the bus before as they usually walk into Palma. A new experience awaits!

We turn the corner into the street the bus goes along - we've just missed one dammit. We decide to walk on to the next stop - and the next - and the next. It is HOT, we are sweating, we fear we may arrive at the posh Fosh restaurant looking rather dishevelled.

We walk on. Hmmm, there is now a distinct lack of buses on top of no available taxis. Peter is getting anxious and Jill is wearing the most beautiful shade of yellow. Next minute, there she is in front of me, matching a postbox. It's a photo opp I can't resist - and then on we march ...

Past Portixol, past the big conference centre, onwards we go ... and then, yahoo, along comes a No. 35 bus. We hop on board, pay 2 Euro pp, and grab a seat. Everyone is masked up and we haven't even thought about the things. We are being frowned upon. In that moment, as Jill whips out her mask, Peter and I gulp - we have forgotten our masks! As I am to discover, the mandate for wearing a mask on public transport in Mallorca is taken very seriously, much more so than in Barcelona. 

Jill has a spare one for Peter. Peter hands me a man-hanky from his pocket which I clutch to my face. It's not a very dignified way to go to town on my birthday, and we chuckle away, blending into the bus crowd. We hop off, walk through a few charming lanes in the old town and, soon enough, we are outside Marc Fosh. Let my birthday dinner begin ...

Inside there is an air of serenity and muted sophistication. Housed in the stylish surroundings of the 17th Century Hotel Convent de la Missio, this restaurant combines Michelin Starred cooking with a modern, relaxed and contemporary space in the old town of Palma de Mallorca. We are greeted as VIPs and told that Marc sends his profuse apologies, he cannot be here tonight as he is hosting a private function. 

We are led to our table and prepare to experience their tasting menu ... but first, a glass of champagne on the house and a copy of his signed cookbook are delivered. It's a complex back-story that leads to this VIP treatment. Sometimes, when things go wrong, they end up very right.  

The staff are faultless in delivering a steady stream of fabulous tasting dishes and we have excellent wine to accompany them - a rose, a white, a red. 

We dine on fish, foie gras, pigeon. We sip mango gazpacho and lobster bisque - and much more. Jill, being vegetarian, has a series of vege dishes that are very nice but by all accounts not in the same league as the exquisite taste sensations Peter and I are experiencing. On a night like this, it is good to be a meat and fisher eater!! My favourite is the foie and fig dish - with a hint of sardine thrown in, it is a heavenly and memorable combo.

The night concludes with a delicious and substantial selection of sweet treats and a "Felicidades" cake. Staff order us a taxi - with success - and, full to the brim, home we go. 

We talk well into the wee small hours and thus a most excellent and memorable Mallorcan birthday spent with dear friends comes to an end. 

OBSERVATION OF THE DAY:

So I'm officially 60 - and content with the wrinkles and crinkles that have been acquired through a life of rich experiences. Age may bring grey hair, niggles and saggy bits, but it also brings a huge kit of positive things that are generally intangible, often invisible, and always valuable. 

I recently found some photos of me when I turned ONE. There are no wrinkles or crinkles, only childhood innocence and a cute little dress my mother will have sewn. The blonde hair is now grey, the knee is buggered and there is no flexibility to enable me to sit on the floor like this - but, at 60, I like to think I retain the joy, enthusiasm and curiosity for life that my one-year-old self portrays. 

My one-year-old self had no idea of the ups and down of life ahead; but my 60-year-old self has enjoyed and endured them all! With plenty more to come I hope ...!