A Day Off and a Road Trip Across the Island

I managed to convince Alex and Maggie (Margret) to be co-conspirators on a trip around the island. I figured since I might never make it back here again, I should at least be able to say that in three weeks I saw something of the island apart from the city of Ciutadella.

Alex, Maggie, and I rented a Ford Ka, which is like a little toy car, but consistent with all of the other cars on the island. It’s almost impossible to find a big car (probably cause the roads are so narrow and gas is so expensive). We set out to see what we could of the island and its 1500 archaeological sites. We left from Ciutadella and headed towards Mahon, which is on the other side of the island and about 35 miles away (it’s 46km). On the way we hit up Naveta des Tudons.

The Naveta des Tudons is a very well preserved megalithic construction, considered to be one of the most emblematic archeological remains on Menorca, and possibly the best known one in the whole of the Balearics. The construction is 3000 years old and was used as a collective funeral monument. Two Euros get you admission to walk down a dusty road and take a look at the burial structure. It’s pretty neat, but not really worth the money to see up close as they’ve made it so you can’t enter and you can pretty much see the exterior just as well from the road.

We attempted to detour to another site on our way to Mahon, but realized that they all cost money and are for the most part small monuments that we really didn’t feel like spending $5 on to see for 30 seconds. We decided instead to just pick a few of the more well known sites and see those.

We made it to Mahon a little before noon and parked in the town center. There was a flea market/artist market going on in the park that we walked around a bit in and bought some souvenirs. From there we headed down the cobblestone streets and looked at the architecture, while taking in the atmosphere with its heavy tourists clogged center.

Mahon is like Ciutadella, but two or three times the size. The streets are narrow and contain cobblestoned paths lined by cafes and retail shops selling their wares. Mingled throughout are the gelaterias and pastry shops that call me like a siren. We stopped and had lunch at a small café and meandered till we came across an old judicial building that had been turned into a type of indoor marketplace. There were all of these small shops on the top level (some selling meat, some cheese, some fruits and veggies, etc…) and an actual grocery store on the bottom level.

By the time we had emerged from the marketplace, the city had settled comfortably into its siesta and most everything was closed down. We decided to walk along the waterfront a bit before ambling back to our car and hitting the road again. From Mahon we headed to El Toro, which is the highest peak (357 meters) on the entire island. El Toro is just outside the city of Es Mercadal, which is approximately in the center of Menorca. At the top of the hill is the Sanctuary for the Toro Virgin, a monastery.

The origin of the sanctuary is from the XIII century. According to popular tradition, the statue of the Virgin was found in the mountain by a group of religious merchants who reached the summit accompanied by a bull that opened the way for them. But the reason for Toro (Spanish for bull) as the name of the hill really originates from the pre-Roman root "tor", which is the same as the Catalan word "turó," both meaning hill. The present church was built in 1670 on the remains of the previous gothic church and is administered by a community of Franciscans of Pity.

From the views of El Toro to the subterranean remains of an old sandstone quarry we drove. Lithica, Pedreres de s’Hostal is a series of rock quarries that have been taken over by an eco-conservation group and turned into a weird assortment of gardens and monuments. In one part of the site there is a labyrinth that was created from left over quarried stone blocks. There are also various types of botanic gardens, a few mini animal preserves (for example a gold fish pond and habitat for snakes and frogs). The best part though is the medieval secret garden that looks completely out of place in stark white walls of the quarry, but down a slightly shaded pathway and through a crack between two stones and you emerge into this green oasis. It was a beautiful surprise that we decided to rest in for a bit to escape the heat of the day.

Our last stop for the day was a beach. There are so many wonderful beaches on the island that present crystal clear waters and intriguing vistas. We decided to head for one of these at random by following the brown signs that denote the beaches of the island. We arrived when most of the rest of the world was packing up and leaving as the tide was rolling in and the water turning a muddy color as the waves churned the seafloor. A quick dip in the ocean, a little bit of time enjoying the lazy evening and it was time to return to the residence. All in all, it was a great day and a very cool way to end my time in Menorca.

Sidenote/Story:

Most of the food at the residence tends to be meat and so a lot of times I’m on the prowl for edible food in town. There are two kebab places (gyros) that tend to fit the bill because they’re just so good and don’t tend to be all bread. Maggie and I have taken to the kebab place down near the water front. We went there the other night and asked for a spicy kebab. Here spicy is a joke and usually means that they put the barest hint of spice on anything you order thinking that you really don’t mean it when you ask for it. This happened to be the case this night as well, but since we were eating in the restaurant, we asked for extra. Our server gave us a small tray with hot chili sauce (it was like a saricha) and told us to be careful cause it was extremely potent. We nodded thanks and then took a giant spoonful and dumped it on. The look on the server’s face was priceless. Especially when we then proceeded to asked for another bowl of it and used it as ketchup on our French fries. The server told us that he was Pakistani and that he thought we were crazy cause we liked it as hot as he did and that was unusual. We went back the next night too to the server’s amusement.