An Island Caper
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| The beaches of Menorca |
Whoopee, we are off to the Mediterranean and we will be flying from Bournemouth Airport, just 15 minutes from home. In just 20 minutes we were in the Terminal, car parked and ready for check-in. Menorca is a destination popular with young families and our fellow TUI passengers definitely reflected this. Fore and aft in the queue were potential screamers - aagh! All aboard for Mahon. As we took our seats a young girl in the seat behind asked if I was the Pilot, I told her no but I asked if was she the Stewardess. This made her chuckle. She had 'special needs' and it was her first flight.
We sat next to chap from Salisbury on a Saga Holiday who told us about the impact of the recent Russian poisoning. Apparently the disruption has been immense and he did not feel that it was his City anymore. His wife was sitting a few seats in front and was definitely not happy. They had booked seats together and had been separated. He did not seem too concerned and was amused at my suggestion that they might get separate rooms as well. We wondered if he had arranged it? We bumped into them later in the week in Es Castell and she was still moaning about it.
Anyway, after our 2 hour flight it was time to pick up our rental car. We had originally booked a shared shuttle but cancelled it when we found they could not drop us at our villa and also would probably take a circuitous route via other passengers hotels. Our little Opel Corsa came from an off-airport Hire company called Owners Cars. Picking up should have been simple but they put 800 Euros on a credit car as a CDW deposit. This was blocked by my Bank. Then I had to put a couple of extras on my Debit Card and that was also blocked. Oh, the joys of travel! Happily everything was sorted. Just as well we never travel with just one Bank card.
Our little car was almost new and we sped off across the island to Cap D'Artruxt where we had booked a Villa. Menorca is small and it only takes about an hour to get across the island. Unlike the Spanish mainland there is no coastal road. There is just a central spine that runs from Mahon in the East to Citiudella in the West. The ribs that run from the spine take you to the coastal resorts. It means that there are large stretches of coast between resorts that are totally unspoiled. Great for riding the bike!
Our Villa, booked via James Villas, was lovely. Private, plenty of space and a nice pool. The only problem we had was with the demon hedge-cutter! There were several Villas in the vicinity due a trim and the gardeners use a petrol driven machine that is horrendously noisy. We needed ear defenders but the operators did not seem bothered at all. They must have damaged hearing.
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| Bruised knee at the beach |
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| My bumpy bike path |
I really enjoyed my cycling along the South Coast. Plenty of lovely quiet beaches to stop at along the way.
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| The trusty Scott hire bike |
We found Menorca little changed from our previous visit, about 15 years ago. Our favourite Restaurant the Bahia at Cala Santandria was still there. We drove up one evening and had a good meal and watched the sun go down. The fantastic beaches on the South Cost were still unspoiled and it remains a superb area for Mountain Biking.
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| Mahon - on the waterfront |
Our two one-day excursions in the car were to the East Coast. The first was to the capital. There is a lovely area of Mahon near the Port with historic buildings and nice shops. We had a nice lunch in lovely Bakery and Cafe. After lunch we made our way up the coast to Es Grau and took a long walk along the coastal path. The scenery was stunning, not unlike Cornwall.
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Es Grau on the East coast.
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Our second day trip was to was to Es Castell, a village South of Mahon. We had Sunday Lunch in a very pleasant Restaurant over-looking the water. We walked this off by going South along the coast.
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| Es Castell - TW getting ready for lunch |
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| Es Castell near Mahon |
We were sorry to leave our villa and Menorca at the end of a lovely week.
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