You’d have thought that with all the plodding around I might have slimmed down a bit, but as there’s no setting out foot without gastro attached and with Spanish temptations tickling an ever-ready appetite, we ate fabulously, well and mediocrely; never badly : with some judicious shopping and despite the facilities even eating in was pretty good – and filling.
We brought back (and therein lie a few tales):
- gin for the gent
- a quarter ham (need a bigger wallet and suitcase for a whole one)
- queso semi-curado
- sobrassada
- wild fennel
- yema tostada turrón – already nearly all gone!
- no tacky touristy belt but avarcas – traditional, practical leather sandals with soles made from used tyres – worn by the locals and totally eco-fab, baby.
A few things we learned:
- Hispanic ham & Iberian eggs are always good
- Gin is not always good
- mayonnaise comes from Mahón
- prickly heat strikes suddenly
- Menorca is a blissful Balearic alternative to party-hearty Ibiza – hardly a teenage tourist in sight
- Menorca is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve – wild flowers and plants get to do their own thing, birdies are protected, developments restricted and it’s all the better for all that
- Menorca has 216 km of coastline and 14 000 km of dry stone walls
- if you know a bit of French or Italian, you’ll get by in Menorquí (or use Spanish!)
- earplugs and a compact umbrella are travel essentials
We sniffed out the quietest piglets on earth the other side of one of those dry stone walls and perched on tip-toe to say hello every time we plodded by en route to the DISKONT supermarket or Ciutadella. This is one of their mothers. I waited for her to stop tinkling before taking a snap but she just didn’t; good for her.
I only wish I’d known Mahón (that’s Maó in Català) airport has a jamón bar next to Departure Gate 16 before I purchased my (admittedly fairly delish thanks to the piquillo peppers and olives) tuna mediterraneo baguette: a platter of Ibérico ham plus a couple of glasses of Rioja would have made a preferable adiós, amigos, but the silent T had already joined the queue at Burger King for his bacon-double-cheese fix so I perused the shopping selection and sighed. Well, at least it wasn’t McD’s.
There’s plenty more to tell but I must gather my thoughts, edit my pics and do my laundry. Give me a day or two; until then, hasta la vista…
Gastroplod 