Thursday, November 19, 2009

Motorcycle Diaries

I have to admit, when I was invited to go on a day trip “por moto” (or scooters as we typically refer to them in the US (although I think moto sounds way cooler)) I exuberantly accepted, but never actually thought people would follow through with it. To my surprise/delight this past Saturday I joined a group of 12 people for a cruise up into the mountains and to the beautiful Valldemosa (which is a village I mentioned a bit in a previous blog post). Since our route was along the water we enjoyed some of the most breathtaking views that Mallorca has to offer. I shared a scooter with my friend David, and was able to take a ton of photos from the back seat. The entire trip took about seven hours, but that included stops for lunch and coffee...keep in mind that Spanish lunch is typically at least 2 hours. When we returned to Palma we decided to ride around a parking lot to give all of the people who were on the backs of the scooters the chance to drive them (ie me and a couple of other girls). My first time driving the scooter went something like this…


Revved up the engine and pulled down the handle for the gas.

Scooter takes off...

I make it about 2 feet before I lose control of the scooter.

Instead of braking I pull even further down on the gas.

The scooter spins out from under me, I jump off, and it smashes on the ground.

All the while the engine is still going and oil gets all over the side of the scooter.


Umm yeah so I definitely needed a little bit of practice, but right after that exciting event I hopped back on and tried again. Thankfully I quickly figured out how to use the brakes and then everything was smooth cruising.

Here are some pictures of our first pit stop on the way to Valldemosa...


The following pictures are taken from up in the mountains.  We stopped at this cliff that had views which I can't even describe...you'll just have to look at the pics and see for yourself  :)




And we finally made it to Valldemosa!!!





And these are some pictures that I took from the road...

3 comments:

  1. Wow! you're so brave- motorcycles freak me out!! but the pictures are gorgeous and the pink shirt and helmet are a good look for you (for real, you look nice!) :D. Maybe you should make it a point to always get around by moto...

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  2. It seems that you take after your Dad. When we were in Bermuda I was driving the "moto" and Aunt Helen and I ended up on the wrong side of the road, face to face with a truck - actually she jumped off the scooter and sent me to a possible head-on collision alone.
    Luvya...

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  3. Hey Anne!!! Actually before I got here I fantasized about buying a light pink scooter, a metallic silver helmet, and black leather pants and riding all throughout the island...but since scooters are 2000 euros and i found a bike for 100 euros I ended up settling with the latter...the dream lives on though!

    hahaha dad, mom just told me about that incident.

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