Our Holiday in Menorca

Our week in Menorca was wonderful, sunny and warm/hot and we arrived back last Thursday. We flew in and out of Birmingham which is only 40 minutes away and less then 2 and half hour flights. We had never been to Mencora (which is one of the Balearic Islands off Spain); 20 years ago we went to Majorca (another or Balearic Islands), when Aaron was 6 and Jess 3. After our last trip to the states at Christmas Steve and I decided that we need a holiday in the sun doing nothing, because as much as we love our trips to the states (mainly because Aaron, Jess and their families are there) we often come home exhausted (mainly due to the jet lag). It had been too long since we had had that type of holiday in fact it was 2001 when we went to Portugal with Steve’s parents. Menorca is much greener than Majorca and at times driving through the country side I thought we were in England because it’s so green and there are lots of cows in the fields.

Our flight was at 1.30pm so we ate lunch at Frankie & Benny’s (lovely Italian food) at the airport and we arrived around 5pm picked up our rental car and made our way to our villa which was in Son Park over looking the islands only golf course. After dropping of our luggage we went in search of a shop to purchase some food, we all commented on the fact that it all felt a little strange and even a bit uncomfortable, but we soon realised it was because we had never had a holiday with just the 3 of us. We were also in a strange country we didn’t know where anything was, our villa was in a bit of an isolated area and we didn’t speak the native language. By the next morning we were all feeling more relaxed, I think the sun shining in clear blue sky, a heated swimming pool and hot tub had something to do with it!

We visited quite a bit of the island over our week there as you can get anywhere within 45 minutes as the Island really isn’t that big. On Friday we visited Arenal D'En Castell which has a beautiful horse shoe shaped beach, crystal clear water and a white sandy beach. Saturday we went to the old capital Ciutadella (but still known as the religious capital) which was on the other side of the island and it took us about 30 minutes to drive there. It’s a lovely old historic town with lots of old buildings; we walked around the cobbled streets, saw some local dancers and musicians right outside the Cathedral in the Plaza de Pio XII, which was completed in 1362, taking over 50 years to build. The harbour is home to many boats of all shapes and sizes and is one of the smallest ports in the Mediterranean.

On Sunday we took a drive up to Mount Toro which at 354 metres above sea level is the only real mountain on Menorca and home to the 17th Century Sanctuary of the Mare de Déu del Toro a lovely old church. The views from Mount Toro were stunning and apparently on a clear day you can see Majorca, although warm and sunny it wasn’t clear enough for us to see. We then drove into Fornells a popular and pretty unspoilt fishing village in the North, which offers an array of water sports including windsurfing and scuba diving. We enjoyed a nice walk around the village before going back to our villa where I cooked spagetti (the only meal I did cook the whole week it was lovely not to cook!).

On Monday we went into Mahon the new capital as the British moved it from Ciutadella in the eighteenth century, we wanted to go out on the glass bottom boat but had missed the one a day trip, until the season starts up on Friday when they do several. We then drove to a place called 'The Parc Natural S`Albufera d`es Grau' which is a large area of wetland with a freshwater lagoon. The lake is separated from the sea by dunes covered with marram grass and pines, as well as wetlands. The lagoon and surrounding area attract many kinds of birds, especially waders and wildfowl. There are bird watching hides and footpaths. We forgot to take our binoculars and not being too up on birds we didn’t see anything special, as our friend Tim Corbin who is an avid bird watcher told us we were there at a prime time to see lots of incredible birds migrating, but sadly we only heard them.

Tuesday saw us back in Mahon and we went on the glass bottom boat ride around the harbour which took just over an hour. It was good to learn of some of the history and see some more very expensive homes and boats, oh how the other half live! We then went for a walk around the town and did some shopping, mainly gifts to bring home. I have to say because of the euro being so low against the pound we didn’t get much for our money. Another thing we encountered was the ‘Siesta’ what is that I hear some of you asking, well wikipedia’s definition is ‘The siesta is the traditional daily sleep’ usually taken in the afternoon because of the heat, but interestingly it is only observed in tourist places from the end of October to the end of April not during the tourist season! So because we went just before the season started up we learned that not much was open in the afternoon (from 1.30- 4.30pm).

Wednesday saw us spending our last full day driving to Santa Galdana a beautiful golden beach on the south coast. We parked our car and checked out the area before embarking on a 30 minute walk along the coastal paths which took us along the cliffs (well back from the edge) on stony paths through lots of trees and shrubbery. We then had to climb down many stairs to find another beautiful sandy beach, as we went down I just thought I have to come back up which was tough going as it was very warm. The sea wasn’t as warm as I thought it would be but that is because the warmer weather has only just started and so we were so lucky to have had such brilliant weather all week, no rain (well that we were aware of) and just the odd cloud.

We found this brilliant restaurant in Fornells called El Pescador and we ate there 3 times as it only cost 7.50 euros for a four course meal and an incredible meal at that. Our last meal was at lunch time on Thursday and as we sat out in sun eating over looking the harbour I thought I can’t believe we will be home in 6 hours. So all in all we had the wonderful time and just what we needed as we have a very busy 6weeks ahead, with family (Jess, Ben & Jack coming over for 3 weeks) and friends coming to visit and Steve's 5oth birthday tomorrow!