Alaior, Menorca, Spain
Espresso
No confusion, here. Everyone knows what an “espresso” is.
Maruja Pastelería y Panandería, Alaior
First, mad props to Bryan for climbing that learning curve! He is comfortable up-shifting and down-shifting, and night-driving isn’t nearly as terrifying as when we first got to the island. 😊
With beaches and talaiot in abundance, it was a no-brainer how we’d spend our day today. But first, we had to get our hands on an ensaimada, a rolled pastry we’ve been seeing everywhere. Ensaimada come in regular size and huge, pizza size. We saw them at the airport giftshops leaving Majorca and in every giftshop on this island. We found them at the local bakery in the town we’re staying in and ordered a plain one with no filling and one cabello de ángel, which is a filling of candied pumpkin pulp. This was not the kind of bakery you line up for, so we think that a tasty ensaidmada would be earth-shattering. Next time!
We then decided to go to some more really old archeological sites, this time to Torre d’en Galmés. There, we saw the remains of a Talaiotic settlement, including homes, stables, a rain catchment system, and a collective burial site. It was absolutely mind-blowing to see how clever and well-built these prehistoric ancestors of ours were. Unlike the other settlement we saw yesterday, this one had been recently excavated and yielded artefacts that proved that these Menorcans were in contact and trade with Romans, Carthaginians, and Egyptians. Archeologists found a small idol of Imhotep, which they believe was adopted as a god by those inhabiting this settlement.
The weather was quite hot today, so our normal beach time was pushed back by a few hours. We decided to go to the Xoriguer Gin Distillery to pass the time. There, we found 4 active stills producing pure gin and a free tasting bar, #hellyeah. The storekeep was in a chipper mood and took us on a gustatory tour of most of the gins and liqueurs they produced. The alcohol content for the gin they produce for Menorca is 38%, not 40% - the proof American are used to. This explained why - despite the regular pours we’ve been getting on the island, it hasn’t gotten us schwasty so quickly. 😎
After our impromptu boozefest, we wandered over to Can Vermut, a quiet tapas bar - just outside where we parked our car. We decided to go here after perusing the many, many menus of tourist trap restaurants and saw that this place had a simple, straightforward menu and many Spaniards sipping cañas and smoking cigarettes - a surefire endorsement. We had a mix of tapas: ensalada rusa, olives, and toast with sobresada, a local cured meat with drizzled honey (it works, really!). The weather begged for a pomada, which we easily gave into. We took in the view of the port and kicked back.
Beach today was Cala Mitjana - not too far away from the beach we visited yesterday. To access it, we drove into a residential part of the island, parked our car on the street, and walked about 15-20 minutes down a path to the beach. The walk makes it much more worthwhile, like we worked to get the breathtaking view and crisp water. Hours turned into minutes and before we knew it, it was almost 8PM. We had moved our towels a few times to catch the sun, which should’ve told us what time it was!
We went to Ciutadella for dinner, to Ca’s Ferrer de sa Font - the restaurant that was recommended by the NYT and was closed the first time we tried to dine there. We are persistent tourists, so we had to try one last time to get in. Dinner was not nearly as impressive as our meal at S’Moix, but we had a nice menu of tuna confit, shrimp carpaccio, and scorpion fish. This was a perfect end to our trip to Menorca and Spain. We’re going to miss it!
Pomada
Xoriguer Gin, Lemonade, Crushed Ice, Mint Garnish
Can Vermut, Moll de llevant, 176, Mahón
