Casa Enrique, Paguera, Mallorca, Spain
To me, there is always something poignant about the dinner you eat the last night of a trip. There is (hopefully) the happiness of a much enjoyed sojourn, the wish that you could stay longer, the desire to return (although, with so many places to see around the world, who knows if you will), the slight apprehension about something going wrong with your travel plans, and the anticipation of returning home.
We spent a leisurely last day on Mallorca — enjoying the view over Port d’Andratx from our deck, visiting a village in the mountains, relaxing at what had become our favorite beach, and finishing with Ruby and Mr. Miscellany playing evening tennis on the red clay at the tennis center in Paguera while I bought last-minute gifts.
We wanted Spanish food for dinner, not as easy to find as you might think. Paguera is a tourist town, popular with German tourists, so popular, in fact, that when you walk into a shop or restaurant, you are greeted in German (not a problem, as I know German), and many restaurants have German or Germanized menu choices (as opposed to most other places, where those things are Americanized). Like all tourists towns, Paguera has the disadvantage of being crowded, the sense that it’s difficult to know what the town is really like because there are so many “outsiders” (including us) in it, but the flipside of many tourist towns is that you can always find a gem or two.
As we looked at restaurants along the main street, Casa Enrique, on a side street, caught our eye. It had covered, well-lit outdoor seating, the tables didn’t seem crowded together, and everyone eating there looked, as far as we could tell, relaxed, and many of them had children. We walked up to take a look, and when the posted menu revealed that they did, in fact, serve real Spanish food, we sat down.
We had olives, bread, and olive oil, delicious meat cooked in spices, glasses of fruity sangria. For Ruby, they easily modified a dish, serving plain chicken with French Fries. We talked about our trip, were charmed by the tablecloths (oilcloth printed with a retro map), and speculated about where (Africa, perhaps) we might plan to travel next.
Even though we had not yet packed and had to catch an early flight out of Palma, we ordered coffee and more soda, doing what we could to extend our stay in the warm Spanish air.
