Menorca, Spain - A Tale of Two Towns (Part. I)

Menorca, one of the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean Sea, is a popular holiday destination for Brits, Northern Europeans and Spaniards alike. But unlike Mallorca and Ibiza, the more well known of this Spanish group of islands, Menorca is a laid back, much more rural and untouched gem, surviving on its own cultural and natural beauty, away from the mass commercialisation that many of Southern Europe's isles have succumbed to. I remember visiting Menorca as a child, before my teen years with my brother, parents and grandparents and staying in one of the few touristic bays called Cala Galdana on its southern shores. Fifteen years later, older, probably not much wiser, definitely balder but with a greater sense of enthusiasm, passion for exploration and travel, I ventured back, about 7km to the East to the small town of Santo Tomas. Lidya and I had kindly been invited by my parents to share a villa with them and my nan to which I gladly agreed (Free holiday! How can you reject that!?). We spent a week here which, unfortunately for everyone involved, was sadly marred by the passing of two very close family members within 5 days of each other. Although this greatly hindered our enthusiasm we managed to achieve the purpose of what this blog is all about; getting to know a place beyond its usual reputation. For me, Menorca has always been renowned for its beautiful natural coves and its 'floating' boats on the crystal clear waters. As we found out however, Menorca is very much a tale of two towns.

Part 1 - Mao-Mahon (Llevant)

From our base in Santo Tomas, Mao is reachable within 45 minutes on the local buses which operate throughout the week from around 8:30am to 8;30pm at a cost of 3.25 euros each way. Our villa at Santo Tomas was very much central to the island in terms of West to East (it sits on Menorca's southern coast) so it gave us an ideal starting point in which to explore Menorca. The 27km drive passes through the municipalities of Es Migjorn Gran and Alaior, of which I shall revisit in a future post, along the major road, ME1, which dissects the island. The main roads leading into the town of Mao from the west consist of numerous retail shops, factory outlets and small business blocks, the more modern side of the centuries old town. Along with car dealerships there was also a yacht showroom, all of which I assume were well out of my price range. Before entering the traditional part of the islands capital we passed the small football and athletics stadium, home to Menorca and Mahon football clubs.

Expertly drawn map of our route through Mahon.

The bus dropped us off at the towns station where all the islands buses arrive, a 10 minute walk to the harbour and just 5 minutes to a selection of shops and restaurants. The above map marks our twenty toes trail through the old town cobbled streets. As we had caught the earliest bus at 8:35am from Santo Tomas we had decided to eat breakfast in Mahon. Straight outside the bus terminal we found three or four busy cafes; Casa Sexto, El Viejo Cafetin, mostly packed with the chatter of locals who sipped on their morning lattes, cigarette in hand. All the menu's sold very similar selections of tapas and beverages all at a very cheap price comparative to the central hub. We walked to a nearby square named Placa Esplanada and selected Cafe Amadeus (1) as our first port of call, only 200m from the station. One of the meals I love to eat when in a European city is breakfast since nearly every nation on the continent has their own version of a sweet pastry. Although most commonly associated with Menorca's neighbour Mallorca, the ensaimada is on near enough every menu and available in any bakery. Similar in texture to a croissant but looking more like a Danish pastry, it's light, flaky, sweet from the icing sugar and is either served plain or with a filling of chocolate sauce or custard cream. I'm writing this the day after returning from Spain and I'm already starting to have withdrawal symptoms. The cafe itself has a pleasant view over the square as we watched the shop tellers set up for the day ahead in the warm morning sun. Inside was a fully stocked bar and they had a wide variety of dishes ranging from a breakfast selection, tapas and full course meals, no doubt a lively establishment when the sun hits the horizon. The staff were all amiable and helpful and it'll definitely be a cafe I'd enjoy spending a lazy hour or two in the temperate Mediterranean sun.

A statue in Plaza Colon in front of Santa
Maria's bell tower.

Walking away from Placa Esplanada, we headed north east towards the centre of Mao, passing through terraced styled Spanish shops and buildings, three or four storeys high with nonuniform verandas and window boxes, jutting out over the streets below. Tables and chairs from half a dozen cafes adorn a broad pathway (2) trailing towards the unconventional streets of central Mahon. At this point, the walkway starts to descend past intermittent shops of modern fashion and traditional bakeries. Another small square, Plaza Colon, provides another pit stop to refill on Menorcan Pomada. Towering over this square is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria (Iglesia de Santa Maria) (3). Partly Gothic, partly neo-classical, the church is neither striking in detail nor structure yet stands out purely based on its size among the surrounding buildings. Built from 1748, its most notable feature is its 3210 piped organ. I'm pretty happy I didn't hear it being played as I'd left my ear defenders at work. Located along the Placa Constitucio with the town hall, we found it to be one of Mao's most memorably squares. The town hall, or S'Ajuntament, is definitely the most aesthetically appealing building in this opening, decked with arches, moderately detailed facades and topped by a clock, that was presented to Mahon by Richard Kane, the first of the towns British governors. We walked down a narrow alleyway between the church and the town hall to another common, whilst the crowd followed the main road towards the market. Placa de la Conquesta is nestled between the back of the church of Santa Maria and the houses clinging to the cliff face, vacant, except for a lone statue of Alfonso III, who liberated Menorca from the occupation of the Moorish (North Africa Arab) rulers. The main highlight of this location however is the viewpoint from the cliff face (4), the panorama being of the most inner part of Mahon's large natural habour. From here you can see the winding path that leads down to the dockside, plenty of yachts and villas that climb up the banks of the opposite shore, the old British naval port that is now occupied by the Spanish Navy and an array of seafood restaurants and bars that wind around the inlets bay.

The clock face and archways of the
S'Ajuntament, or town hall.

Stature of King Alfonso III in Placa de la
Conquesta, who evicted the north Africa
 Moors from Mao-Mahon.

The winding road down to the port was a pleasant, tree shaded descent to the waterside cafes, bars and restaurants of Llevant (Llevant, as Mao-Mahon is sometimes referred, means 'East', as oppose to Ciutadella 'Ponent', or 'West'). Although we didn't venture far along the meandering road that mimicked the contours of the waters edge, we had a wander around the few makeshift stalls that sold the typical 'I love 'enter city's name here'' T-shirts and common souvenirs and trinkets before settling at a dockside bar named 'Varadero' (5). Close to midday, the south European sun was bordering on sweltering so the much needed respite came with the opportunity to sample the local Spanish beer, a must in any country. Although Menorca is renowned for its gin as oppose to its beer, I had the choice of three Spanish mainland options; Estrella Galicia of A Coruna, Mahou of Madrid or Estrella Damm of Barcelona. Since the Catalan's had an involvement in the history of the island, I opted for Estrella Damm (it was the cheapest but I am pretending it's due to its possible slight significance). Despite the glorious weather and it being lunchtime, the harbour restaurants and bars were oddly quiet, very strange considering the beautiful setting. Granted seaside establishments tend to be pricier than the rest but the bar we drank in was very reasonably priced, offered great views and the staff were once again attentive and friendly.

View from Varadero's on the harbour.

After our beers we headed back from where we came, through Parc Rochina, this time turning in the opposite direction towards Placa Del Carme. Down at dockside, the two standout features of the town are the two churches, that of Santa Maria and Esglesia Del Carme (6), so having already walked past the former we naturally headed for the latter. Fronted by a statue of three darkened steel horses, the church and adjoining convent, built from 1726 onwards, looks of a different era, much older in my opinion, although as you can see from the information given, they were built around the same time. The styles are very much dissimilar and the Esglesia Del Carme was built outside the original city walls, maybe a reason towards its different characteristics. The church is very much second choice to the treasures to be found in the converted convent. Within the Mercat des Covent (7), or the Convent Market, there is a wonderful array of local fruit and veg, meats, fish, chorizo, cheeses, bakeries, confectionery, clothes and other regional products. It's refreshing to go into a food market and be greeted with vegetables of peculiar size and shape but undoubtedly fresh and delicious, as oppose to the general supermarkets that only select the produce that's 'aesthetically pleasing' on the eye. We bought possible the largest red pepper I've ever seen, a few varieties of different potatoes, garlic cloves, huge aubergines and waxy skinned cucumber. Everything seemed so vibrant and colourful, there was a very refreshing fragrance wafting around the old stone archways of the original church building. Chorizo sausages hung from racks outside the butchers, nothing uniform about their appearance whatsoever, the 'perfect' look very much sacrificed for purely quality produce. We saw irregular grown plums of odd shades, giant deep red cherries that were almost the same size as kiwis, ensaimada's 18 inches in diameter freshly made that day and the pungent draw of Menorcan cheeses, sourced by the islands farmland cultured residents. Although the prices are very reasonable for a farmers market it is easy to get lured in and brainwashed by the luxuriance of what's on offer. Having spent around 15 euros, we came away with enough vegetables to feed a small army.  The makeover of the convent hasn't just brought a local food market, there is a school of music on the first floor along with an art collection and museum detailing the islands past.

The front entrance of Esglesia Del Carme and the convent to the left.

As this was our first venture outside Santo Tomas and it was lunch time, we planned to indulge ourselves with Spain's national dish, with a view! In the north western corner of the convent is a bar/restaurant called Cafe Sa Placa, with quaint views over the inner most harbour and the western portion of the town. The terrace outside was well shaded with umbrellas to keep us out of the midday sun and we were kindly aided with a new brolly as ours had broken. No matter where you are in the world, a great vista and a cold pint of lager is always one of life's little luxuries. It sure does help when it comes with a large pan baked, sizzling hot traditional Spanish chicken paella. We ate paella 4 times whilst in Menorca, once here, once in Ciutadella and twice in Santo Tomas but this one was definitely our favourite. It was the brightest of yellows, like a reflection of the Mediterranean sun, mixed with juicy chicken on the bone that melted on contact with our tongue, red and green peppers plus giant beans all of which made it a kaleidoscope of colour. The one thing that I love about southern Europe, whether it's Greece, Italy, Spain etc. is that the climate produces so much wondrous food that, in my opinion, can't be matched anywhere else on the planet.The paella was served piping hot in the pan at 9 Euros, a bargain for the quality and size of the meal. Once again, as I was starting to find with our Menorcan hosts, the customer service was quick and affable and Sa Placa's waiter had a great deal of repartee. It's always the icing on the cake to be served by restaurant staff who enjoy the customer interaction.

After paying up and taking a few photo's of the view we strolled back into Placa del Carme and across the square to the Xoriguer shop (8). For anyone unfamiliar with the islands famed alcohol, Xoriguer gin is the result of British moaning during their occupancy (Some say moaning is our national sport) so local wineries started to distill the spirit in the 1700's to satisfy the British. The name, taken from a family windmill, has been going strong every since, owned by generations of the Pons family. The shop is clearly visible, marked with its yellow and red sign on a black shop facade. Only small but packed with all different varieties of the named gin, the store also sold wine from everywhere in Spain, from Andalucia to Valladolid. Instead of option for the litre bottle of Xoriguer gin or the sweeter Pomada (Gin with lemon) we bought five small 40cl bottles. These were pomada as well as stronger spirits called Light Fruit Schnapps, Crema De Rosas, Crema De Cocao and Calent, all of which are products by the gin company. I am still very much perplexed as to how the calent is to be drunk. Despite its high alcohol content it claims on the bottom that it must be hot to drink it, yet the translation of Spanish to English online is sketchy at best. Do I drink it alone or mix it with something else, say coffee? If anyone has tried this before then please let me know as I am intrigued. I only have a small bottle so don't want to waste the opportunity to try it by doing the wrong technique.

At around 2:00pm the locals of Mao follow almost religiously the afternoon siesta. Although I can understand the idea behind an afternoon nap with the blazing hot sun it is rather frustrating if you are hoping to shop. On the other hand, it's the perfect time to walk about snapping photographs as the streets are a lot less crowded and you can get plenty of untainted shots without the throngs of tourists. However, for us, the day in Mahon had draw to an end. As we were in Spanish territory it was only fitting to jump on the bus back to base camp and delve into another of those regional customs and have a sleep.


Feel free to add any feedback or share stories, experiences or advice about Menorca's capital. Thanks for reading.


Rich
Twenty Toes