A Secret Place

Ok, let's not get over-excited; calm down, chill-out. There was even some interest coming out of Puerto Pollensa this morning, and a lady mailed me wanting more information, which was fair enough. What, what, what? Yes, friends, the chill-out zone on Puerto Alcúdia beach. The photo above, the one that isn't La Villa, may rather give you an impression. Sorry, the weather was not great this morning; mercifully there were clouds and wind after all the extreme heat. It may not show the chill-out area at its best, but to be honest I'm not sure what the fuss is all about.

The tourist office in Bellevue was also not sure. I went and had a word with Pilar this morning; Pilar who is a tower of knowledge and help. So, Pilar, asks I, this chill-out zone on the beach? Chill-out, she says, and begins to tell me about the chill-out bars Playero, in the marina and in Bonaire. No, no, says I, the chill-out zone, the one on the beach, the one that the town hall has started. What chill-out zone? There isn't one. Yes there is. Oh no there isn't. Oh yes there is. It was in the "Ultima Hora" or "Diario" months ago and there was something in "The Bulletin" the other day. Pah, or something like that, and muttering about English newspapers. But there is, Pilar, and it's the town hall's. The head of town planning was quoted the other day. What's his name? What? I can't remember, but he was talking about the chill-out zone. Give Magdelena (her boss) a call. She's on holiday. So there was a call to a lady who's something to do with technical services on the beach. I get passed to her. Hello, this chill-out zone on the beach. Why do you want to know? Eh? Because people are asking about it, because it's in the newspapers. One moment ... ... ... The phone gets cut off. I tell you what, Pilar, I'll go find it and take a photo. So I do; photos in fact. How does one find it? There is no sign anywhere. Don't whatever you do go left on the beach at the top of The Mile, go right. Go right, over the canal, and then some. Past the Playero and then a bit, and there it is. You know it is as it says so. Well some signs flapping in the wind say so. The loungers look quite nice, wooden-framed and well-cushioned with the town hall's logo on. There are a couple of speakers hanging somewhat apologetically from poles. There is no bar attached. Don't know where you get your drinks from. Remember what I said about the Son Real necropolis the other day? Is that it? The chill-out zone is a contemporary equivalent. Twelve grand for ... Well, let's just say that maybe the weather didn't show it at its best.

Anyway I go back and see Pilar and show her the photos. So now the tourist office in the area knows. Hats off for internal town hall communications. While I'm there I also ask about the WiFi zone. Why, I wonder, aren't there any signs about that either? There is publicity in the hotels. But not on the beach, as such. No. Fine. So how do you actually know about it? Pause. Em, how do you pay for it, assuming you know about it? The sunbed men. You pay them and they give you cards. Well that's something, I guess. Good to know that the million euros or whatever it was has at least got some chaps who will take your money for something that isn't publicised, unless you are in one of the hotels.

Later on, when in Puerto Pollensa and there is somewhat unexpected interest in the chill-out one, I'm told that it (the chill-out zone) has a WiFi zone. Well yes, I say, but it's the beach area not just the chill-out zone; there's a network for the beach and the hotels next to the beach. So not just the chill-out zone? No, no. Oh.

Fabulous. Publicity is everything, or would be. Someone said to me today that these things get put in place but they remain "top secret". Secret places. Strange.


LA VILLA
To other matters. A while back I mentioned that La Villa, the Chinese restaurant in Puerto Alcúdia, had a new place in Puerto Pollensa. Tonight is the official opening. There are many who will know La Villa in Alcúdia, many who will know Ray who is one of the nicest people you could meet. I would go the inauguration but I have a visceral dislike for these occasions; not because of the restaurant or bar owners, but because of the freeloaders who pitch up. I know that they are something that has to be done, but there are those who make a career of attending them. Not for me except to take some photos. But Ray has sent me some, one of which is above. La Villa in Alcúdia has long enjoyed an excellent reputation, and now it is in Puerto Pollensa.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Madonna - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJgzJTg-plc. Today's title - jazz man who was mentioned here recently in connection with Bill Withers.

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Man Ray

Back to prices. I read somewhere someone moaning that things are much more expensive in Alcúdia this year, that all the restaurants have put their prices up. Well, yes, some may well have put their prices up, but equally there are those that have not. But if a bar has whacked on 50 centimos to the price of a pint, and a returning client notices, then that bar's going to have to be doing something else well if that client is not going to shop around. Prices do vary even within reasonably close areas. In Puerto Pollensa, for instance, a pint of Mahou can cost 4.60 euros around and in the square; a bit away and you can get one for 3 euros. Similarly a round of four drinks for a family that can come to 9 euros off the square is 6 just down the road.

There are plenty of reasons why prices may have gone up - the additional costs of energy, petrol, social security etc. have to be taken into account. But while upping the price of a pint by 50 cents or so may increase the profit per pint, the question is whether those increased prices translate into volume of sales. It is volume that counts, and price, ever more so this season, is the key selling point for many. Of course, there is also the price perception issue, among the Brits most obviously. The strength of the euro has changed the mental picture for the tourist. Last year's 1.40 plus to the pound has gone down to 1.20 or so to the pound. Last year, that 1.40 was rounded up - to 1.50 in the tourist's mind; this year, it has been rounded down to 1.00. The tourist makes a cognitive error in calculating a 33% difference in value, even if it is an understandable error of mathematical convenience and even if the real cost has not shifted or has gone up by no more than, say, 10%. However, it cannot of course be denied that the euro in your pocket (if you are British) is worth less. And an evening out with a hundred euro note may, last year, have allowed you to enjoy a good night out and leave you with considerably more than enough for a bag of chips on the way back; this year, it would probably just be enough to cover the cost of that bag of chips.


And just on Puerto Pollensa. There will, in the next couple of weeks, be a new Chinese restaurant opening. Another Chinese, you ask? Well yes, except this one will bring with it an already strong reputation, as Ray from La Villa in Puerto Alcúdia has taken over what was La Vall (a remarkable piece of closely named serendipity, one feels) and will be bringing the 15 years of La Villa experience to Puerto Pollensa, from where people already go to Alcúdia in order to sample the La Villa menu. Well, from 8 July, they will not need to. And I think I may have mentioned this before, but La Villa is the only Chinese I know locally that gets itself listed in the a la carte league; it has also, unlike many Alcúdia Chinese restaurants, not had to stoop to the "buffet libre" form of promotion. Price is indeed important, but it is not everything.


QUIZ
Chain - The Four Seasons, "Let's Hang On"; The McCoys, "Hang On Sloopy". And what official role does Hang On Sloopy have? Yesterday's title - Kajagoogoo (see this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P6I4pT_tVA). Today's title - a very different sort of question today. Ray isn't really Ray's name as such (I could give you the full Chinese, but I won't); neither was Man Ray the actual name of ...?

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Wired For Sound

I walk the streets. This street, next street. I walk the streets, and often I don't get to the end of the street. It happens all the time. Bump into somebody or they bump into me, or call out from a bar as I pass. Today it happened, several times, like many days. I was going along the road by the car parking in Puerto Alcúdia, taking care of falling masonry and heavy equipment barging its way across the pavement. There was this lady. No, I didn't recognise her. It was the rather racy outfit and the sunglasses, and then she told me. Of course, she used to work at La Villa.

La Villa is one of Alcúdia's numerous Chinese restaurants, but it is arguably the best. Put it this way, it features in a recent a la carte type publication. Not something that your bog-standard Chinky would normally aspire to. I have been going there for years, taking photos there for years. And that was the thing. She had worked there for 15 years and was wondering if I had a record of her time there. It is really quite odd what you get stopped in the street and asked.

Then there was earlier in the day, passing Sandra´s Bar, and out runs Bill and is keen to show me something. Head phones. Head phones, as in headphones in clubs and discos and anywhere else that they might be useful. First I'd heard of the idea. The deal is that clubbers (or others) get a set of wireless headphones and they can hear the music through them. Sounds a bit odd to me, but there is a big plus point in that clubs and bars that give out too much noise and too many reverberations can now get round this by having, supposedly, total silence save for the muffled sound of headsets. Except it wouldn't be silent. Firstly, there would be people screaming their heads off trying to talk to each other and secondly I can't quite imagine a club without music booming out - without the aid of headphones. But apparently it is already a bit of a thing, and so Bill's looking to get it off the ground in Mallorca. Fair enough. Here's the link that tells you how it all works - www.hedfoneparty.com - and here's Bill's number, 637 987 576.

The idea may have legs. Bars have become hamstrung by rules on noise, especially that which means they have to use limiters on music volume. So these headphones could be a good idea, even if it does seem a tad bizarre.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield. Today's title - wouldn't find him down a club nowadays, one imagines.

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