Mahon
ALKIRA
Charles & Maggie Bevis
Wed 9 Jul 2014 18:18
After saying in our previous post that we wouldn't be using our bikes, the weather cleared sufficiently for us to change our minds. Once we'd pushed the bikes up the very steep hill to the top, we had great views over virtually the whole of the inner harbour, from various viewpoints.
The old town itself is really delightful, lots of people wandering the pretty streets and enjoying themselves. Almost all the buildings are old and there's a good selection of nice quality and affordable small shops, ice cream parlours and of course, the obligatory street cafes. Thoughtful planting of trees provide shelter in the streets for when it's hot and sunny. Some of the streets are even cobbled, which isn't so comfortable on a bike!
The influence of bygone years, in particular when the Brits were here, is now clear to see and there are indeed many European style sash windows in many of the buildings, some sadly the worse for wear. The streets are quite narrow and wander in many different directions. The one way system which operates throughout the town is a bit of a mystery, so much so, that we ended up pushing our bikes rather than riding them along alternate streets, as all too frequently realised we were going in 'the wrong direction' - but no harm done.
Rain clouds threatened to soak us a couple of times, but fortunately we remained dry. After ice creams and a little bit of retail therapy for Maggie, we finished off at one of the supermarkets to replenish the larder again and then, with bikes heavily loaded, we free-wheeled back down the hill to the boat.
It's much cooler today, hopefully it won't stay like that for too long. Charlie is presently enjoying a rum punch and I'm having my G&T tipple. Supper will follow in about 30 mins.
In the morning, once the water tank has been filled, garbage offloaded and the usual tidy-up session has been done, (Charlie's such a messy boy), we plan to go and find an anchorage, away from the frequent promenaders and daytime road noise, (which in honesty isn't that bad), but we're craving real peace and quiet. Then it's just a case of sitting it out and waiting for the seas to calm and the winds to turn in our favour, the latter being the least optimistic of the two options. Looks like a Saturday departure at present...