A Train Runs Through It

With Palma only a two hour flight from London, arriving to blue skies and warm sun was such a tonic having left behind Autumn advancing in the UK.  My favourite part of Mallorca is the town of Soller, just half an hour's drive from the airport with the road soon passing almond groves and ancient olive trees.  Once a major citrus exporting area with the port sited for ease of access to ship the crops to Barcelona and France, citrus made Soller's inhabitants rich in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The legacy being some beautiful old mansions dotted around town - one of which has been converted into a wonderful museum and art gallery, well worth a visit (the Can Prunera Museu Modernista). 

If your experience of orange juice comes from a carton in the fridge a journey to Soller is a revelation to taste the delicious freshly squeezed "jugo de fruta naranje" using fruit taken straight from the tree.  For 2.50 euros it's your own glass of liquid sunshine. Nectar.

Even though Soller is only 30km from Palma, 14km of those used to be via a series of hairpin bends snaking their way over the Tramuntana mountains.  The rail line to Palma opened in 1912 and it wasn't until the mid-1990's that a 4km tunnel was opened to make Soller more accessible.  Consequently it's an unspoilt gem with a lovely relaxed atmosphere.  The original "Ferrocil de Soller" is one of the narrowest guage railways in the world and the traditional trains with their wooden carriages look like something from a children's fairy tale with banquette seating and brass fittings.  In Soller the train station has a charm all of it's own and features small permanent exhibitions of Joan Miro's work and Picasso ceramics.  The one hour train journey to or from Palma passes through citrus groves with the oranges, grapefruit and lemons in season almost close enough to pick.  It's a delightful way to travel to the capital, although once in Soller it's hard to leave.  For the best coffee and ensaimadas (light as air buns dusted with icing sugar) go to Cafe Paris on the Placa Constitucio which is the main town square and place to watch the day unfold, especially good on Saturday mornings when the market expands.

The ultimate new taste sensation in Soller has to be the delicious icecreams available from Eiscafe Giovanni, also on the main square.  Everything from the mango to the chocolate chip looked seriously tempting.  For the purposes of research I only tried three all of which were superb - creamy almond; zingy cherry; and a combination of chocolate, pistachio and marzipan all in one scoop which was seriously divine.

There's much to explore from the port at Soller accessible via a short tram journey, to inspiring walks in the mountains.  Hot on my list for next time will be to go to the foodie emporium of Fosh Foods in Palma.  I've been intending to go there for ages but once in Soller never seem to want to leave...At least I've brought my own bag of Soller sunshine home with me in the form of huge lemons which will be transformed into luscious lemoncurd, the taste of which will transport me back there until the next time.

Recipe for Lemoncurd (you'll never buy a jar from a shop again once you've tried homemade)

3 or 4 lemons - zested  (depending on how strong you'd like the lemon flavour to be)
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice 
4oz (110g) unsalted butter (melted)

In a glass or china bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until well blended.  Stir in the lemon juice, zest and melted butter.  You can then either cook the lemoncurd in the bowl over a saucepan of simmering hot water on the stove, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens - which can take over half an hour, or for a quicker result you can use a microwave oven.  With a microwave simply cook on high power for one minute at a time, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.  This process takes around 7 minutes.  Just stir well and be careful to ensure there are no lumps in the lemoncurd as you don't want to over cook it.  Once ready pour the hot lemoncurd into sterilized jars.  Allow to cool and store in the fridge.  It will last up to three weeks but doesn't tend to have a chance to.