Blog Ten – Sol del Este, Menorca

Published by Alastair Reid on October 21, 2018October 21, 2018

Sol del Este, Menorca [7th-22nd October]

It’s not often that arriving in Menorca seems almost like coming closer to home, but after four weeks of travelling in Spain and Portugal, visiting lots of new places, and a re-visiting a few old favourites, it did seem a little like a stepping stone to home.

Arriving by ferry from Palma was a new experience, though it did mean a very early morning start. However, a modest cabin, at little extra cost, allowed us time for a brief kip during the six hour journey and, when we rounded the headland on the way into Mahon harbour, the howling wind and driving rain reminded us that we were in for something of a drop in temperature. Our fellow passengers were mostly lorry drivers, who slept stretched out in the lounge area, and at least one of whom rolled out a beautiful prayer mat and faced Mecca, for his early morning prayers.

Brian and Joanne (Fiona’s brother and his wife) formed a two person reception committee as we approached La Gardenia on the ferry deck, then they raced into Mahon in the car to pick us up from the ferry terminal. Our long planned sailing trip was sabotaged by the stormy weather, but instead we had a lovely lunch and afternoon at Fornells.

Whilst the temperature in Menorca has been mostly low to mid 20s, with a few days climbing towards 30, humidity has been high, which has meant unwanted attention from insects ranging from “ordinary” and tiger mosquitoes, to flying beetles, and a variety of other species we couldn’t see, but which still managed to bite us. One insect bite in four weeks of travelling gave way to being covered in mosquito bites soon after arriving on the island.

Menorca also seems much busier than usual this late in the season, with many parties of ageing German cyclists, who put us to shame fitness-wise, if not sartorially (I hope). Restaurants and cafes are busier, though we just made it to one of our favourite restaurants (Bar a Vins) in Mahon, a couple of days before they closed for the owner to give birth to her first child.

So as usual we have been visiting old haunts, and something unusual happened when we went for a beer to our favourite cafe (Che Spir) in Calas Fonts, the harbour near to La Gardenia. We were sitting beside a table of four “geezer” type guys (two wearing trilby hats), who were not quite the norm for Menorca visitors – they had obviously had a refreshment or two, were quite loud and a bit sweary, but basically harmless guys having a good time. When they left, the chap who had been sitting beside me wished us a courteous good evening.

Some time later, when I went in to pay our (naturally modest!) drinks bill, I was told that the gentleman who had been sitting next to me had taken care of it. After a moment of non-comprehension, we settled for appreciating his random act of kindness. Naturally, we went back to the cafe every day for a week, but they didn’t re-appear, so sadly we had to pay for our own drinks.

As we had done bodega tours and tastings in Oporto, the Douro Valley and Jerez de la Frontera, we felt we should do the tour of our local bodega, Binifadet, where we had eaten and drunk many times previously. Half the tour was actually out amongst the vines, and the passion which goes into the complex processes of wine making in boutique bodegas like Binifadet came through clearly. Having booked the tour for 11:00 am, a leisurely lunch then ensued, which lasted until around 5:30 pm.

A trip to the basketball arena (Pavello) to try to get tickets for the weekend’s match ended up with me on the court, having a long discussion with my mate Oliver, one of the people who has been instrumental in the resurrection of Basquet (now Hestia) Menorca and their promotion to the pro leagues once more. Luckily no basketballs were available, as my right knee has been giving me gyp the last few days.

Match day, for what is probably the only game we’ll get to attend this season, was Saturday, two days before we fly home. A big and noisy home crowd, complete with an energetic and accomplished brass band and drummers, an 18 point lead at half time, which was whittled away, but restored to 11 midway through the final quarter. Things were looking good for a first win of the season. Lost by 2. Never mind, it will hopefully serve as a learning experience for the players, in the new league.

I guess it would have been too much to hope to end such a fantastic trip with a fairytale win for Menorca, but they came so close.

And so we approach the end of our trip – two weeks in Menorca has flown by even faster than normal. The weather has turned out better than predicted and it looks like we’ll fly off from a beautifully sunny, and still pretty warm island, to return home to a 15 degree temperature drop, no sun, and endless discussions of Brexit. Sob.

My dozen favourite images from our two weeks in Menorca are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image.

Image Gallery