On The Wrong Side Of Town

I ate in the port the other evening - the port of Alcúdia. I had salmon with a sauce and some vegetables. Fifteen euros and some centimos. Not particularly expensive but not particularly good. I don't indulge in naming places that don't impress, so I'm not going to now. Just let's say that the meal was at a well-known and long-established restaurant.

The salmon was ok, nothing wrong with it. However, it was covered in a quite thick, brown sauce. It drowned the taste of the salmon, and brown just doesn't do it for me where pink salmon is concerned. The vegetables were a couple of boiled and only just soft potatoes and some mange-tout and carrots and something else in too much oil. The vegetables seemed to come as standard; my companions had the same. No-one was that impressed. One could not help but feel that we were at the end of the mass production line. The service, to be fair, was very good.

The point about this is that, for fifteen euros, it is quite possible to eat out very well and very much better than I did the other evening. It is also quite possible to eat out very well for around half the price. I have no wish to discourage people from going into the port, or anywhere else that has a good atmosphere and location, but it is the location, and not the quality of the cuisine, that often dictates the size of the bill. There is also the fact that this restaurant was "Spanish", whatever that means. Authenticity can also command a price, even if the authenticity is vague and the food impossible to define as being from anywhere in particular.


Some of you who have been following this blog over the months and years will know that wrong definitions get my goat; wrong definitions as in, for example, what constitutes Alcúdia. These wrong definitions are the result of ignorance, lack of knowledge or because people are given the incorrect information. With this in mind, let me pose this question: what is the "town" of Alcúdia, the town in some tourists' minds? The old town? The port? Neither. It is of course The Mile. And it is plain wrong. On a forum someone was offering instructions as to how to get to the "town" from the Club Mac complex. The directions were to head for the Bellevue hotel. Give me strength.

It isn't necessarily the holidaymaker's fault that he or she might define The Mile as the "town" and therefore issue instructions accordingly. The ill-informed tour rep is quite likely to be the source of such intelligence, or the rep who has a vested interest in directing people to a particular bar or restaurant in the "town". But this misinformation has a habit of perpetuating itself, handed down across the internet and around the poolside, with the consequence that the holidaymaker is unaware of what actually is the town or indeed the main centre of Puerto Alcúdia, which is also not The Mile. And then the misinformed discover that the "town" is not to their liking (and believe it or not there are those who think this way about The Mile) and then go and slag off Alcúdia. All because they have been to the wrong town.


Tony Hadley
Ok, folks, I got a comment on the Wordpress version of the blog to yesterday's piece. It came from the lady who runs Tony Hadley's fan site:

"I think this article is a bit unfair to Tony Hadley. I run a fansite about Tony Hadley http://www.tonyhadleyfansite.co.uk and have seen him play with the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra several times. This type of show is very different to his pop/rock shows or his forthcoming Spandau Ballet Tour. He usually sings ‘True’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Through the Barricades’ but with a different arrangement to the originals along with many songs from the Passing Strangers album. This is Tony with the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra in Marbella last summer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RVlmaas4k4 (I didn’t post this video). I will be going and I am really looking forward to what I expect to be an excellent evening."

I'm really grateful for the comment. I need to make it clear, I think Tony Hadley's great. No, really, I do think that. Fabulous singer. It's just a shame that Tony seemed to have dropped off the musical radar for so long. And I too will be looking forward to an excellent evening, as I'm sure it will be. Oh, and for Denise, if you see this version, do send me a direct email to the address below.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - PM Dawn, "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" (Tony Hadley's in this right at the end): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOVf9p9ht4. Spandau Ballet, "True": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYb83KM4at4. Today's title - missing one word (love), which band, with a strong connection with Bruce Springsteen, did this?

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)


Index for May 2009

Acampallengua - 25 May 2009, 26 May 2009
All-inclusives - 19 May 2009, 24 May 2009
All-inclusives' wristbands - 18 May 2009
BBC Holiday programme - 19 May 2009, 20 May 2009
Bridge, Playa de Muro - 22 May 2009
Building work in summer - 29 May 2009
Bypass roads, Puerto Pollensa - 4 May 2009
Can Picafort frontline - 21 May 2009
Canals & bridges, Puerto Alcúdia - 26 May 2009
Cap Roig restaurant, Puerto Alcúdia - 27 May 2009
Catalan - 11 May 2009, 25 May 2009, 26 May 2009
Dallas steak house, Puerto Alcúdia - 11 May 2009
Demonstrations against violence, Alcúdia - 6 May 2009
Employment, lack of - 3 May 2009
Estación náutica, Alcúdia - 17 May 2009
Eurovision Song Contest - 17 May 2009
Fire on the Sa Pobla train - 16 May 2009
Floral tributes - 9 May 2009
Footballers - 23 May 2009
German individuality - 8 May 2009
Greenpeace - 23 May 2009
Holiday club scratch cards - 15 May 2009, 21 May 2009
Holidays, how they have changed - 20 May 2009
Industrial estates - 18 May 2009
International Museum Day - 13 May 2009
Mallorca railway history - 14 May 2009
Manners - 10 May 2009
Miguel Nadal, Unió Mallorquina - 12 May 2009
Military bases - 1 May 2009
Noise from sound systems - 25 May 2009
Nordic walking - 8 May 2009, 21 May 2009
Pedestrian crossings - 10 May 2009, 29 May 2009
Petrol stations closing - 7 May 2009
Pickpocketing - 3 May 2009
Pollensa Music Festival 2009 - 30 May 2009
Portuguese Man O' War - 7 May 2009
Price comparisons - 14 May 2009
Puerto Pollensa's water - 15 May 2009
Recycling - 2 May 2009
Restaurant prices - 31 May 2009
Ses Casetes des Capellans, Playa de Muro - 5 May 2009
Son Bosc golf course - 15 May 2009, 16 May 2009
Street cleaning, Pollensa - 5 May 2009
Street drinking - 28 May 2009
Tea - 27 May 2009
Tony Hadley - 30 May 2009
Tour reps - 26 May 2009
Tourism promotion - 24 May 2009
Water-sports resort, Alcúdia as - 17 May 2009
What is Alcúdia town - 31 May 2009
What tourists take on holiday - 27 May 2009, 28 May 2009