En vacances – gardens of Alcúdia

And we are off – anything to avoid clutching a pair of secateurs in the hands for a week.

Is there anything more fun for a gardener than getting to have a good mooch around a town and be at the right height to peer into private gardeners?

It’s the equivalent of perving into houses where the curtains haven’t been drawn of an evening.

This is the little town of Alcúdia. North west of Mallorca. I wasn’t expecting this walled rampart of a town. (That will teach me for doing absolutely no research.)

I was walking towards it by seeking out the highest spire of the church.

And then further around the corner… a rampart. Love a rampart.

So up I trotted (not easy with uneven steps to deter marauders) and had a good explore of the town from the right vantage point.

And is there anything finer than pretending you aren’t part of the problem (yes, you are a tourist) by gazing down on the other tourists below and feeling loftier?

That is me trying to get a close up of a fetching plant in a pot. I’m just as voracious as this tourist.

Most of the houses in the walled town are neat as a pin.

All groomed and gorgeous.

But dare I confess to liking the ruins?

The ones where the vegetation is taking over and reclaiming the stones.

Some of the most fascinating planting were the ones growing out of the ramparts themselves.

Plucky plants.

And what did I spy from one of the crenellations?

A whopping pine tree towering over the road.

That needs investigating. Once I work out how on earth you get off the walls and out into that traffic.