Should I stay ? or should I go ?: A lazy week in the sunshine of Menorca

After a busy year it was nice to spend a lazy week in Cal En Porter, Menorca with friends. We hired a villa through Villa Plus.

We flew with Thomas Cook from Gatwick. I must add that the whole airport experience at Gatwick was one of the best we have had at any airport. From check in, to reasonable priced breakfasts (with fizz) and passport control & speedy bag collection on our return made for a seamless journey through the airport.

We landed into Mahon, Menorca in a very bad storm but the clouds soon passed and the sunshine came out. We collected our hire car and after dropping our cases at the villa, we headed to the local "Lidl" just outside Mahon to get stocked up on the essentials bread, milk etc, not forgetting the cheap wine, gin and jagermeister. On the way we stopped at the lovely little village of Sant Climent for lunch.

We found a lovely little restaurant in the square called Cafe' des Plu

https://en-gb.facebook.com/cafedesplasancliment/

We got a table on the outdoor terrace and toasted the start of our holiday

We were been watched over by a funny looking character in the window above the restaurant

We all enjoyed our meal and after stocking up at Lidl we headed back to the villa to enjoy an afternoon of sunshine by the pool.

We had a bit of a "flamingo" theme going on

We enjoyed a lovely lazy afternoon and a meal at the villa on the evening. The views from the terrace were lovely.

The line of parked cars on the photo above were for the famous caves

https://www.covadenxoroi.com/index.php?lng=uk

They offer beautiful sea views from the bar area but at 10 to 14 euros per person to get in we didn't feel it was worth it.

On our first full day we had a lazy pool day before heading our for "a night on the town"

We found Club Menorca a 5 min walk from our villa which had a fantastic rooftop bar area overlooking the sea and the sandy cove below (free entry). We got a round of drinks for 4 people for 13 euros !

http://www.clubmenorca.com/rooftopbar.php

We sat and watched the sun go down and it was beautiful

Then we headed into town to find somewhere to eat. It was about a 15 min walk with fantastic views down into the harbour.

Our friends had been recommended El Pulpo - it was busy but they found us a table.

We sat on the lovely outdoor terrace and enjoyed nice food and big jugs of sangria.

The restaurant had a lovely atmosphere

We all really enjoyed our meals.

After our meal we headed down to one of the local bars and enjoyed some cocktails and some live motown music (the guy was a great singer) My friend and I got up to have a boogie and lots more people followed and we had a great night.

The forecast was not good for Wednesday and it was very overcast so we decided to jump in the car and head off to the capital Mahon. It was only a short 20 mins drive away.

It was raining when we arrived so jumped on the local tourist train/bus to keep out of the rain and have a look round the city.

It was really warm and the rain soon eased off so we hopped off and headed down onto the harbour for a drink.

There were some lovely boats along the harbour.

It started to rain again so we decided to go and have a drink (any excuse)

We sat and watched the world go by and ended up having a few drinks and some tapas.

Once the rain had eased we then headed off to find the local gin distillery

https://www.xoriguer.co.uk/

We soon found the distillery and even though you can't do a tour it is basically a shop full of gin and "free" tasters. We got stuck in and tried lots of free gin.

You can just help yourself and then purchase the ones you like if desired.

After we had tasted rather a few different gins we headed off back into the city. Some beautiful buildings and little winding streets.

They all seem to take great pride in their front doors and shiny brass.

We had a lovely stroll around and enjoyed a very tasty ice cream.

We decided to head back to the villa so the guys could go and try out their new fishing rods as the weather had cleared up.

Off to catch fish for our evening meal ???

We stayed by the pool and had a pamper !

The fishing trip was cut short as a huge thunderstorm came in and the rain and lightening were really bad. We cooked a meal in the villa and watched the storm outside.

The sunshine was back out the next day so we headed down to the beach

The guys went fishing and we just relaxed and read our books and had a swim in the sea.

We had a lovely day on the beach and a yummy pizza from one of the local restaurants

On the evening we enjoyed a nice meal at

https://en-gb.facebook.com/brasseriebardospablos/

I enjoyed walking to the local supermarket on a few mornings, for fresh bread it was a lovely little stroll.

Love the name of this villa I passed on the way.

The next day we decided to head out in the car to Na Macaret a local fishing village, off the beaten track. It was about a 25 min drive. Love getting off the tourist trail and finding a little hidden gem.

We practically had the beach to ourselves it was perfect.

The guys checked out the best spot for fishing and then headed off to the end of the pier

We enjoyed sunbathing and swimming in the sea.

and a sneaky tipple of wine

After a few hours of relaxing we all got a bit peckish so headed to the local restaurant just behind the beach called Biosphera

We all had a nice lazy lunch

Before heading off to Fornells, up the coast for an ice cream and walk around the harbour

The harbour was really pretty and there was a lovely ice cream parlour right near where we parked.

We had a great day out before heading back to the villa and a few more drinks @ Club Menorca.

On Saturday evening after "another lazy day" (this is the life). We headed up to the old capital of Ciutadella about a 40 min drive to the North of the island. After a lovely sunny day it started raining as we arrived but it soon cleared up.

There were some lovely little streets and cobbled squares.

There was a wedding in the local cathedral too

We had a nice stroll around

This bar looked lovely but it was just getting ready to open

It was a very pretty place

Again they all seemed to take great pride in their front doors and shiny brass

We then decided to head down to the harbour for a drink. (Thirsty work this sightseeing)

We passed some pretty allotments on the way down.

and some nice shops and a restaurants

We soon arrived down on the harbour

Lots of restaurants and some huge fish swimming around. The guys wished they had taken their fishing rods !!

We stopped for drink to people watch for a while.

The sun started setting and it was great just relaxing watching the world go by.

We enjoyed our walk around taking in the sights

Then we headed back to our resort for another meal at El Pulpo.

For our last day we just decided to relax by the pool and top up the tan before flying home on the Monday.

We had a great time relaxing, sunbathing, drinking and eating lots of lovely food. We had a bar b q on our last night at the villa, and few games of pool and table tennis.