Petra (Junípero Serra)

Petra sits in the middle of the flat Pla de Mallorca and has nothing to do with beach Mallorca, here it is almond fields, straight lanes and a town that has kept its rhythm. Petra is known because Junípero Serra was born here in 1713, the Franciscan who later founded nine of the California missions, from San Diego to San Francisco. His birth house on Carrer Barracar is now a small museum, a typical farmhouse from the 17th/18th century, plain, honest, with a second museum next door about his work in America. Open Tuesday to Saturday in the mornings, entry almost free. If you want more: Petra is one of the strongholds of the Mallorcan cellers, old wine cellars turned into restaurants, here you eat frit, arròs brut or tumbet the way the island really cooks. Good as a quiet inland stop between Sineu and the east coast.