Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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Archduke Ludwig Salvator and his Majorca

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Son Marroig is a house that originally dates from late medieval times. It is built on a hill on the rocky northwest coast of Majorca with a magnificent view over the sea. To this place came a young archduke of the Habsburg family, Ludwig Salvator, 19 years old. He fell high over heel in love with the place. What started out, as a love for the beauty of the place became an overwhelming interest in everything Mallorquín. He learned the dialect and chronicled the island’s topography, archeology, history and folklore in detail.

He became quite an expert and wrote many books about the island. One of the most important one is ‘The Balearics’ which took him 20 years to write. His scientific work has contributed to the knowledge of Mediterranean geography and he was playing a leading role in environmental issues such as conserving the coastline of his estates. He was thus far ahead of his time.

It is said that he spoke 14 languages. His interest in all things scientific and especially in Botany, led to him discovering a wild plant in Majorca which is named Saxifraga Ludovichi Salvatoris and a small bush named Rhamnus Ludovichi Salvatoris after him.



In 1870 he bought the estate of Son Marroig and he spent a lot of time here. His favourite boat Nixe II was anchored below and could be seen from his window. The estate has a tower from the 16th century and it was especially equipped to defend the area from pirates, which made the waters unsafe at the time. The archduke refers to this in his book What I know about Miramar. It is said, that a lady from the Marroig family from the nearby village of Soller, was kidnapped by pirates from this tower, never to be heard of again!

Most of what was his estate is now owned by Michael Douglas who has an elegant house by the sea below Son Marroig.

Son Marroig because of it’s
 view up to La Dragonera, seems to
be most incomparable beautiful.
There is a wonderful garden at the back of the house with a marble pavilion from Carrera. The view is magnificent. The craggy coastline gives a magical touch to the place. Or like the archduke himself writes in his book: Son Marroig because of it’s view up to La Dragonera, seems to be most incomparable beautiful.

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