August 22, Ciutadella, Menorca
Yesterday we left Porto Colom in Mallorca at about 9.00 AM and headed up to the northern point of the east coast and then across the Strait of Menorca to Ciutadella (also spelt Ciudedala) on the western end of the island of Menorca. We were beating into a fairly big swell, which was rather uncomfortable for a while, but eventually the wind changed direction sufficiently to allow us to hoist both the main and the headsail, so then we were able to drive through the water more easily.
We arrived off the entrance to Ciutadella at about 3.30 PM and if it wasn't for the lighthouse at each side of the entrance you would never notice the break in the low cliffs. The maximum width of this natural inlet is 500 metres at the mouth of the port, but this narrows considerably heading inland to the town at the other end. The marina is mainly along the southern bank of the inlet, although smaller boats and fishing craft also have access to new pontoons on the other side. We are lucky to be longer because it means we are furthest out along the marina and therefore have more breeze, quite helpful during the heat of the day.
Menorca is a smaller island than Mallorca and has a much smaller population (only about 100,000.00 in total). It's only about 60 km from the western city of Ciutedella to the capital at the eastern end, the city of Maó (called Mahon by the English, and yes, mayonnaise was first made here by a chef). UNESCO declared the whole island a Biosphere Reserve in 1993, in recognition of its prehistoric heritage, the large number of plants and animals unique to the island and its largely unspoilt rural tradition. This was mainly done to minimise the effect of mass tourism, particularly on its pristine beaches. It's these calas that we are most interested in going to this coming week, hoping to be able to anchor in them overnight if the prevailing winds allow.
Ciutadella is an attractive port, because of its location on the inlet and also because of the many historic sandstone mansions surrounding the main plazas and the plethora of narrow, winding and cobbled streets.
Many of the restaurants line the banks of the inlet so last night we could just walk along to check them out for dinner. We chose Restaurante S'Amarador, mainly because it was past the main tourist group of restaurants and bars and the list of fresh seafood on the menu for 'today's catch' seemed impressive. We were very happy with the entree of grilled local muscles, the main course of John Dory served with vegetables and the dessert of caramelised figs with ice cream. We also liked a local rosé from the Binifendat winery.
We were amazed at the throngs of people who poured down the stairs from the main area of town at a higher level than the port. There is obviously a baby boom happening as half of the couples were wheeling pushers and prams! Masses lined up waiting for a table at our restaurant and the one next door and the line-up of locals was still quite long when we left our table at 10.00 PM. Of course we had eaten quite early by Spanish standards but were pleased we had done that as we did not want a late night after our day's voyage.