Alaior, Menorca, Spain
Espresso
Here, it’s okay to sweeten it with sugar. 🤑
Bar-Cafeteria 17 de Gener, Ciutadella
Today was Ciutadella day. This is the “Spanish” side of the island, and formerly the capital until the 18th century when he British moved the capital to Mahón. The city reminded us of Palma, but much smaller and completely empty of people. We know that the tourist season is fast approaching, but seriously: where is everyone?!
Menorca is famous for its cheese made from cows milk. There are many factories on the island and we picked Sant Patrice, since it was on our way to Ciutadella. The visit was quick - a mesmerizing video on how the cheese is made and a tasting at the gift shop. It reminded us of Point Reyes - or what Point Reyes wants to be, with nondescript dairy farms all over the island and a nice stream of agrotourism.
We had a mind to get lunch from another place recommended by the NYT, especially since we’ve had a string of no-hitters, due to weird opening hours. We are so freaking determined to get in! Well, LOL - the restaurant was closed for “summer hours.” Bryan was about two heartbeats away from #touristrage, when he remembered that we could look for the city’s mercado - just like we did yesterday!
The Mercat des Peix de Ciutadella only had fish and seafood. But, there were ample advertisements from nearby restaurants (we’re talking 2 yards from the market) that said they would cook whatever you bought. DONE. We bought 1/4 kilo of scrimps and trotted over to Ulisses and gave them to our server.
Maybe because we’re high on angst from not getting into our original lunchspots or because we’re hungry for our first meal for the day. We blitz-order: octopus, tuna, artichokes, tiny little fried fish (their name escapes us), AND pomadas. Here, they had a “slush puppy” machine and served pomada in these precious little glasses, garnished with mint. It was what we need to calm the f*ck down and carry on. You might remember that we’ve had a string of mediocre to meh meals these past few weeks, and this one just hit it out of the park. 🙏
After lunch, we went to go see some really old shit - like, Neolithic old shit. Menorca is peppered with these archeological sites, mostly of ambiguous purpose (i.e. structures arranged in some pattern that people can only guess were used for “religious” rites). We went to Son Catlar, the only Talaiotic settlement with a cyclopean wall - or walls built of giant rocks with no mortar. There are a couple completely intact doorways that we went through and it gave us goosebumps remembering that these structures were older than Jesus. We are halfway through Game of Thrones, y’all - so it has been super fitting to get into this weird “Old Gods” mode. 🤘
After we wandered around the site (we were one of two groups of people there, naturally), we went to the beach! Cala Macarella is one of the more famous beaches on the island and we understood why. You arrive there after a windy, narrow drive to a cove that is carved into the coastal mountains. The water is turquoise and shallow and perfect. The day was overcast and no one was in the water, but Bryan and I had to perform our “due diligence.” We jumped right in. Cala Macarelleta is a neighboring beach that requires a little hike up and down the mountain. We saw kids with innertubes scaling the hiking path, so we knew we could do it. 😍😍😍 Cala Macarelleta is one of most favorite beaches we’ve ever been to. We swam in the water and basked like turtles. 💯
We went back to Ciutadella for drinks and dinner. Though we are getting that hang of having dinner later, we still have this weird limbo time between beach and eating that we only know how to fill with happy hour. We stumbled upon Meloussa Lounge Bar - the sister bar and restaurant to Ulisses, where we had lunch. We took two seats outside, facing the foot traffic (this is an OG move we learned in Morocco) and sipped on G&Ts (made with Xoriguer Gin, of course). We watched the Golden Hour glisten over the tops of 15th century buildings. You can’t make this shit up. 😎
Dinner was at S’Moix a Bryan Find. Again, such a great meal! We had marinated mussels, sardines, and a daily white fish, served with kohlrabi. Kohlrabi?! Who the hell cooks with kohlrabi. Dessert included a precious “strudel” and a Tarta Imposible con crema inglesa, which was described to us as a “flan with crust.” We gently washed everything down with a white tea from Sans i Sans - 👌.
After a frustrating bout with bad Google directions, we finally made it back to our Airbnb. But really, what’s there to complain about - best beach, best eats. Oh, and the Warriors are going to the Finals. 🏀💙💛
Pomada “Slush Puppy”
Xoriguer Gin, Lemon Slushy
Ulisses, Pl. de la Llibertat, 22, Ciudadela
