Meaningful Memories in Menorca, Spain (Part 1 of 2)

Warning: These will be long with lots of pics! I did a lot and had an amazing time here!!!

Hello again! For those of you who have been following, you may remember I met a wonderful friend in Lisbon, Marga! We had so much fun exploring the city together and have kept in touch since. She lives on the beautiful island of Menorca, the northern most of the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast of Spain, in the Mediterranean Sea, and she invited me to visit. Everything was perfect as the timing was good for her, I wanted to start heading east, and it was an easy flight from Lisbon.

I arrived on a Sunday afternoon just after the rain storms were coming to an end (yippee!!). Marga was waiting for me at the airport with a big, warm smile and a cozy hug! I was so excited for this adventure! We headed to her apartment where I got settled and we chatted for a bit, catching up on the past six weeks. Later, she took me on a walk through town where once again, I was greeted by a marching band! I don’t know how this keeps happening?? After the procession, we continued on to a couple of beautiful viewpoints overlooking the harbor before walking down to the boardwalk where she had booked the perfect table at an amazing seafood restaurant. Monkfish and shrimp skewers with grilled artichokes! It was a beautiful way to start the week!

The next morning we got up and drove to one of her favorite hiking spots on the northern part of the island. It included a portion of the Camí de Cavalls (Way of Horses), a 185km historic trail with a 3,500m elevation gain, that was used to defend the coastline, dating back to the 14th century. The trail is now open to the public to tour the perimeter of the island. The portion we did had a bit of inland and a bit of coastline, giving us a nice variety of scenery as well as sun and shade. Someone even left us a great chair on the beach for photos! We ended in the sweet little fishing village of Es Grau where all the houses are a beautiful, bright white.

After the hike, we went back to her place and made a delicious lunch before she headed off to work and I caught up on some blogging before making my way into town to explore. I just love all the little streets!

The next day, Marga suggested I take a day trip to Ciudadella on the west side of the island so I could spend a good amount of time without having to rush back for her to get to work. Another great plan! She gave me the bus schedule and I was off!

As I do, I arrived in town and started on a walk. I meandered through the town doing some people watching and a bit of window shopping. More cool little streets, amazing old churches and castles, stores inside of caves, and even a one-of-a-kind cat cactus! What??;-)

I finally wandered out of town and found the marina which led me to the coastline, leading me to some awesome old ruins, and then a little beach….I told Marga I was leery when I walked out in my dress, but she said, “you’ll be fine, you’ll be in a city”. I replied, “yes, but every time I wear a dress, I end up hiking or climbing…” Well, what do you know? Luckily I was the only one climbing around the rocks! Haha!

Finally, I made it back into town for a really late lunch and then found the cemetery we had passed on the way in. It looked interesting and they tell a lot about the culture, so I wanted to check it out. Beautiful! I found it interesting most of the headstones didn’t list the year of birth, but only the age and date at death. It was very well taken care of and seemed that many who had passed long ago are still visited frequently. A sign of strong family ties!

After a bit of solitude with the past, I hopped on the bus and headed back to make a beautiful dinner with Marga and get some rest so we could hike again!!! Woohoo!

For our next hike, she chose another section of the Camí de Cavalls on the southern coast with stunning views, magical turquoise waters, white sand beaches, a swim in the Mediterranean and lots of rocky fun! We even met a set of Norwegian twins who were kayaking around the island. They were a hoot to talk to after I used their kayaks for a couple of pics! Notice the wooden gate in one of the pictures below too. It is a typical Menorcan gate which you see many of along the trails and at entrances to properties!

After the hike, we ended at an amazing restaurant on the beach and had a well deserved lunch. Can you believe Marga tried to poison me with squid ink?? Or so I thought! I really didn’t think you could eat it, but it’s very popular here. Check out the squid ink croquettes…I ate them, enjoyed them, and even lived to tell about it :-)!

For the afternoon, Marga headed to work (what a trooper!) and I walked through town to the marina for a bit before the sun went down! I even had the pleasure of watching the local kids practice rowing and sailing in the harbor! Another amazing day in the books!

Thanks for following and putting up with my long windedness! I can’t believe I was going to try and fit this whole visit into one post! See you again soon!

Hugs and Love, Michelle