{"id":589,"date":"2016-12-01T10:29:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T10:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/?p=589"},"modified":"2021-07-15T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T08:50:14","slug":"the-best-way-to-have-a-holiday-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/the-best-way-to-have-a-holiday-home\/","title":{"rendered":"The best way to have a holiday home"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a cross street from La Rambla, among restaurants, cafes and shops, Bj\u00f6rn and Carina Arkhult own a small apartment.\u00a0From the balcony you can see the narrow streets and alleys between the church and beautiful buildings. A staircase leads up to two of Palma\u2019s most popular bars, Babel and Caf\u00e9 L\u2019Antiquari.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Just two steps out of their apartment and Carina and Bj\u00f6rn are in the middle of the city pulse.<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the Old Town there are pleasurable\u00a0cafes and restaurants in\u00a0each and every corner.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2013 I really like these stairs. The atmosphere is great in the evening. People are socializing and the street musicians are playing. There is something about it that reminds me a bit of the Spanish steps in Rome, Carina says and laughs.
<\/br>\n<\/span>Her husband Bj\u00f6rn agrees.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013There are a lot of street musicians around here. Sometimes the music is so amazing that I just go down to sit and listen. But sometimes I sit on the balcony and enjoy the music from there. <\/span>
<\/br>\nAt\u00a0eleven o\u2019clock the music stops. After that, the musicians are not allowed to play.
<\/br>\n<\/span>It is a wonderful contrast between day and night. The buzz and noise during the day, the peace and quiet at night.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Most of the houses in the old part of town are of classic Mallorquin style, with the small balconies and green shutters.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h2>\n

An apartment without maintenance<\/b><\/h2>\n

Bj\u00f6rn and Carina travel a lot and they have children and grandchildren in both Sweden and Australia, so they knew from the start that they wanted an apartment that did not require much maintenance. A home where they can come and go as they please. <\/span>
<\/br>\n\u2013 We call this our little Mallorca hub, Carina says with a smile. <\/span>
<\/br>\nThe apartment is a studio of 25 square meters and is decorated all according to the rules of compact living. There is storage space high and low and furniture that is easy to move around. A curtain attached to the ceiling separates the sleeping area from the kitchen and the office.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 Sure, it\u2019s small, but we live in the center and have the entire city as our living room.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Having an extra wide bunk bed makes the most of the bedroom space.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The living room serves as both an office, a dining area and a nice little reading corner.<\/p><\/div>\n

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From down the street you can hear the street artist sing and play.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Palma cuisine right outside the door<\/h2>\n

Bj\u00f6rn looks down at the street from the small balcony and sees the owner of one of the popular bars down the street.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 \u201cFrancois! Buenos dias!\u201d, he shouts and waves to the man who is about to get the terrace furniture in order.<\/span>
<\/br>\nThe restaurants and cafes in the area are more or less an extension of their own kitchen.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 We only eat breakfast at home, then we usually go out to eat. The choices are so many in this area. <\/span>
<\/br>\nSometimes the nearby coffee shops also work as a temporary office.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 The wifi in the apartment is so strong that I can sit down the street at one of the caf\u00e9s and still be connected. That way I can take the job with me, says Bj\u00f6rn.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There are so many cafes to choose from in the area \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2026 and they are as perfect for a lunch as to set up your temporary outdoor office.<\/p><\/div>\n

Experienced \u201cthe real\u201d Mallorca<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before 1997 Bj\u00f6rn had never been to Mallorca and was under the impression that it was a touristic charter island, but during an EU project in that year he was given the opportunity to visit the island and was also guided by students from the Art Academy.
<\/br>\n\u2013 I got to see another side of Mallorca, they showed me the \u201creal\u201d Mallorca, and I loved it! I felt immediately that I wanted to bring my wife here.
<\/br>\nAnd he did. Again and again. Bj\u00f6rn and Carina visited Mallorca every year after that. In the beginning they rented various apartments through Rent a Home<\/a>. They started thinking about buying an apartment but decided to research the island thoroughly before they did.
<\/br>\n\u2013 We did not want not to buy something right away, we wanted to make sure we knew what we were looking for, Carina says.<\/p>\n

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Bj\u00f6rn and Carina found exactly what they were looking for.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bj\u00f6rn and Carina reasoned their way to where they wanted to live and figured\u00a0that \u201ceither you live by the beach and go to the city, or you live in the city\u00a0and go to the beach\u201d.
<\/br>\n\u2013 And since we spend more time in Palma than we do on the beach, it seemed like the natural choice to live here.
<\/br>\nWhen they found the apartment in the central part of the Old<\/a>\u00a0Town<\/a>, they knew it was the place for them. It was small, central and newly renovated.
<\/br>\n\u2013 We want it to be as easy as possible, Carina says. When we leave, we just lock the door until we come back the next time. We do not need to worry about anything.<\/p>\n

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A quiet corner in the vibrant city.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cThe happy and playful colored key chain describes the feeling of coming here\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Palma by foot or bike<\/b><\/h2>\n

While Carina and Bj\u00f6rn go to Mallorca every spring, summer and autumn they never get tired of what the island has to offer.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 We discover new things every time we come here. New restaurants, new markets and new villages and places to visit. You just cannot get bored! <\/span>
<\/br>\n The flower market in Costitx is a favorite. They also spend a lot of time at the Tennis Club in Santa Catalina, where they swim, do yoga or just eat a nice lunch and meet friends.
<\/br>\n<\/span>\u2013 We really like the way of living here, and that everything is so close. You can get around almost anywhere in Palma on foot or by bike.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The first thing Bj\u00f6rn and Carina do when they arrive in their Mallorca home is to buy flowers for the balcony.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe have the entire city as our living room\u201d. And what a living room! The area around Old town has so much to offer when it comes to art, culture and cuisine.<\/p><\/div>\n

Text: Maria Str\u00f6mqvist
<\/br>\nPhoto: Ida Carlsson<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a cross street from La Rambla, among restaurants, cafes and shops, Bj\u00f6rn and Carina Arkhult own a small apartment. From the balcony Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[388,402,35],"tags":[63,95,103,107,119,121],"class_list":["post-589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-citylife","category-holiday-home","category-palma","tag-buy-a-home","tag-mallorca","tag-palma","tag-palma-old-town","tag-real-estate-agency","tag-realtor"],"lang":"en","translations":{"sv":1810,"en":589,"de":1963},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions\/2111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyahomemallorca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}