Tag: christmas

Shop Locally This Christmas

I’ve put together some ideas to make your Christmas a little easier. Whether you’re looking for some ideas for gifts or some deals from proven quality suppliers on the island, you should read on. 

The tanning product that has taken TikTok by storm and has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. 2BTanned is a premium tanning brand dedicated to helping you achieve a flawless, sun-kissed glow. Offering a range of high-quality tanning products, including accelerators and bronzers, 2BTanned delivers a deep, natural-looking tan with ease. Their formulas are designed to enhance your tanning experience, whether indoors on a sunbed or outdoors on the beach, for a radiant finish every time. Quite simply, the ultimate confidence boost which will make a great Christmas present or stocking filler. 

Items available to buy are;

Lip Gloss €10

100ml cream €10

200ml cream €20

Face creams €15

Gels €20

They can make up some Christmas bundles too if you wish. 

You can place an order on what’s app (0034) 692 920 017 or email julie@square1limited.com, and they can deliver them to you here on the island before December 20th. 

Simon at Bespoke Provisioning studied for 3 years training at Chefs school, which included becoming a fully fledged butcher and fishmonger. 

You may remember him from the Escape bar in Palma, which he ran for 16 years. When he left the bar he started The Meat & Fish Society which has now become Bespoke Provisioning. They specialise in the highest quality meat and fish, fully trimmed, cut, filleted, vacuum packed and labelled and delivered on time. They deliver to Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca (fixed rates to Ibiza and Menorca so no surprises) Simon has cheffed for Queen drummer Roger Taylor on his new yacht ‘Rock n Roll’ and has cooked at countless events. 

As yacht provisioning is a little quieter at this time of year, he has some special festive offerings for Christmas. Whole organic Turkeys and gammon joints in various sizes, with a special offer of a 6kg Turkey with a 4kg gammon for €100. He can also offer other meats and fish, including geese, a rib roast or smoked salmon and even caviar. 

Simon has very kindly offered a 5% discount on all of his products if you use the code Richie Xmas. 

For more information, please call or WhatsApp Simon on 619 593 387. Facebook 

“the meat and fish society” for pictures, videos and general information. 

And you can Email him on sales@mn2v.co

Stuck what to buy someone this Christmas? Why not treat them to a sightseeing helicopter trip or get them a voucher for a trip or a voucher to go towards a trip?

Without doubt, one of the best ways to see Mallorca or one of our other islands is from a helicopter. It gives you a totally different perspective of the Balearics rather than driving around in a car or an excursion by coach. The Helicopter Center has over 20 years of experience to make flying a pleasure whilst maintaining the highest standards of safety.

They offer pleasure flights around our idyllic island, an island hop between Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, or you could indulge in their ultimate helicopter dining package. Which I have been lucky enough to experience. We flew from Son Bonet down to the South West coast and up through the beautiful mountainous West coast. Passing Richard Branson’s estate and the stunning villa of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. We landed at the 5-star hotel Son Brull, surrounded by 32 hectares of vineyards, orchards and centuries-old olive trees, just 2 km from the town of Pollença and 6 km from the sea. This historic 18th century monastery is the perfect place to enjoy a lunch and a bottle of Mallorca wine (lunch not included). We then flew back through the centre of the island, passing the reservoirs and the capital city of Palma. 

Stewart has very kindly offered a 5% discount on all flights and vouchers if you use the code Richie1.

For more information please go to http://www.thehelicoptercentre.com email info@thehelicoptercentre.com or call 0034 638 603 197

In my opinion, no Christmas is complete until you get yourself a tree. Not a fake one for me, it has to be real. A few years ago, I met a guy called Quentin who was bringing Christmas trees over to Mallorca from a farm in Denmark. 

Their arborists (aka tree surgeons to you and I) have been growing and selling the highest quality, most sustainable and durable Nordmann fir Christmas Trees since the industry commenced in Denmark in the early 70s. Their philosophy has always been to produce quality over quantity, whereby the ethical treatment of the workers, the earth and the clients is always respected and maintained, these are the values which are essential to their organisation. For every 10 trees they cut, they replant 14. 

When I last spoke to Quentin, he didn’t have too many trees left, but has very kindly offered a 5% discount on the last few trees if you quote the code Richie Tree.

Delivery, stands and branches for decorations are available for an extra cost. 

For more information, please visit http://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com 

Mallorca Christmas Trees on Facebook and Instagram or call or what’s app 

658 342 941.

I totally believe in buying and helping local businesses at this time of year. All of the above I count as friends who have always helped when I’ve asked for help with charity events. Rest assured, they are all professional people that have lived and worked in Mallorca for as long as I have. 

December 1st!

December 1st has been named as the best date to put your Christmas tree up. According to the experts at Christmas Tree World, December 1 is the perfect date for other reasons too. By embracing the Christmas spirit early, families are left with enough time to establish their own traditions. Having the tree up can also encourage you to get ahead of the rush when it comes to buying presents for loved ones. Interestingly, minimalist Christmas trees have surged in popularity this year, devoid of tinsel, sparkling fairy lights and homemade decorations. Designs now proving popular with shoppers include trees with metal branches, or skeletal-like wooden frames. It comes after research suggested that traditional Christmas decorations are on the decline, with over a third (34%) of Brits saying they’re boring and half (50%) saying they want their Christmas tree to reflect their passions. Instead, people are opting for more meaningful decor, with more than three-quarters of Brits owning personal baubles that have a special meaning to them. 

Don’t forget, Mallorca Christmas trees are open for business in Son Oms industrial estate. For more information, please visit http://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com Mallorca Christmas Trees on Facebook and Instagram or call or what’s app (0034) 658 342 941.

Britain is a proud nation of fakers, with two-thirds believing we have perfected the art of receiving presents we do not like. As many as 69 per cent of Brits would not dream of telling someone they didn’t like a gift given to them – with a third (30 per cent) regularly pretending to like pressies they actually hate, according to a new survey. In fact, half (49 per cent) admit they often receive Christmas gifts they dislike – so much so that 60 per cent believe they have perfected the art of faking their joy. And, according to one in three (31 per cent) of the nation’s ‘faking experts’, exclaiming ‘thank you! It’s what I’ve always wanted’ in a big voice, is the best way to disguise your dislike, along with common phrases, ‘you really shouldn’t have’ (23 per cent) or ‘it’ll be souseful’ (22 per cent), according to the findings by online card marketplace thortful. Changing the topic quickly to focus on someone else (nine per cent) and hopefully quipping ‘it will look great when I put it on’ (nine per cent) are also among the top ways to hide dislike. In our family we do a secret Santa where we randomly pick a family name from an online app and each person can make up a wish list from Amazon, Etsy, JD Sports, Nike and Look Fantastic to the value of £50.00. Meaning everyone ends up with a present that they wanted and not having to come up with the excuses like above. 

Football league one side Stockport County has embraced the festive spirit with an innovative meal that’s sure to go down a treat at half-time, and it’s already gone viral. 

Food at football grounds can leave a lot to be desired, and you will normally pay through the nose for it. There’s a superb Instagram app called ‘footyscran’ which features good and bad food at football stadiums.

The ‘Christmas dinner in a cup’ has captured the imagination of fans nationwide, leaving them eager to sample it, and it’s already gone viral. The Hatters as they’re known have produced, a delicious offering of tender turkey, savoury stuffing, creamy mash, and rich gravy, and at £4.50 it is an absolute bargain. Complete with brussels sprouts, pigs in blankets, and roast potatoes, the cup prompted comments such as, 

“A lot of pubs would pour that on a plate and charge £18. Pick out the sprouts

and that’s a top half-time warmer!”

Another admirer remarked: “If clubs were judged on food, Stockport County would be in the Champions League. 

Last Friday, we started playing Christmas songs on the radio. Normally we will wait until December 1st but as that’s today, the listeners decided for us to start last Friday. Now just to make you feel old, this year marks the 40th anniversary of Band Aid song ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ and the Wham! song ‘Last Christmas. Also, it’s the 30th anniversary of the East 17 song ‘Stay Another Day’. 

This week’s Official Singles Chart already has 10 Christmas songs in it, with Wham! The highest at number 8 and Mariah Carey at number 10.

I wonder what will be this year’s Christmas number one?

Dare I Mention The “C” Word?

Dare I mention the “C” word? Well, my friends, there are now 39 days until Christmas!

The grand switch on of the Christmas lights in our capital city of Palma will be on Saturday, November 23rd in the evening. Palma at Christmas is definitely worth a visit, whether you live here or you’re coming over for a short break. I’m not sure if we’re on top of many peoples lists to visit for a pre-Christmas visit, but we should be. Firstly of course we’re within 2 hours of most Uk airports and in fact most European ones too. It’s a 15-minute taxi ride into the centre of town from the airport, and there are loads of beautiful boutique hotels. Palma City centre is great for shopping and don’t forget we have three superb shopping malls on the outskirts. They are Porto Pi, Fan and Mallorca Shopping Outlets, all are worth a visit, have a good variety of shops and all three are different in their own way. What you will find in Palma now is a wide range of cafés, markets, bars and restaurants with cuisine from all over the world. There are also some amazing sights to be seen. Palma Cathedral, Bellver Castle and the marina are a few of the must-sees. You could also take in a La Liga game if you wish. Barcelona are in town in early December! 

There are also some beautiful Christmas markets in Plaza Espanya and Pueblo Espanyol. All in all, Palma at Christmas, I would thoroughly recommend you visit.

Previous Christmas Number 1s have been claimed by music icons, cartoon characters, punk-rock disruptors, TV talent show winners, and all-star charity records. Last year, WHAM! Finally secured the Official Christmas Number 1 with “Last Christmas”, 39 years after its release.

Without doubt, if you can write a good Christmas song or in some cases a not very good Christmas song, then it could well give you a good income for the rest of your life. The Performing Rights Society or PRS as it’s known don’t tend to divulge this information easily to protect their artists’ privacy. But it’s a well known fact that the following artists make substantial amounts per year from just one song. The top ten are listed below. 

  1. “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade, £1m 
  2. “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl £400,000
  3. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey £400,000 
  4. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby £328,000
  5. “Last Christmas” by Wham! £300,000
  6. “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney £260,000
  7.  “Stop the Cavalry” by Jona Lewie £120,000
  8. “2000 Miles” by The Pretenders £102,000
  9. “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard £100,000
  10. “Stay Another Day” by East 17 £97,000

In my opinion, no Christmas is complete until you get yourself a tree. Not a fake one for me, it has to be real. A few years ago, I met a guy called Quentin who was bringing Christmas trees over to Mallorca from a farm in Denmark. 

Their arborists (aka tree surgeons to you and I) have been growing and selling the highest quality, most sustainable and durable Nordmann fir Christmas Trees since the industry commenced in Denmark in the early 70s. Their philosophy has always been to produce quality over quantity, whereby the ethical treatment of the workers, the earth and the clients is always respected and maintained, these are the values which are essential to their organisation. For every 10 trees they cut, they replant 14. 

Delivery, stands and branches for decorations are available for an extra cost. 

For more information, please visit http://www.mallorcachristmastrees.com 

Mallorca Christmas Trees on Facebook and Instagram or call or what’s app 

658 342 941.

Quentin has also agreed to donate a tree to a local charity home, and I’m talking to Nick at Yachting Gives Back, who will decide where to donate it. 

I know it’s a little early, but let me be the first to wish you a very Merry Christmas!