Thursday 4^th September – Mahón, Menorca (Ciutadella)

39:53.543N 4:16.329E

Today we were up early to visit Ciutadella (Puerto de Ciudadela), the main town on the west coast.  This used to be the capital of the island until 1722 when the British transferred the administration to Mahón as it offered a better harbour.

We decided to take the bus there for the day rather than take Pyxis round the island, particularly given the strong SW winds we are having at the moment.  We hiked up the hill through Mahón to the bus station and were soon on the express bus heading out of town.  It was nice to see the middle of the island as we went along – the island is much flatter than Mallorca.

We really liked the centre of Ciutadella – full of old buildings which were genuinely old (rather than old but now mostly modern concrete where they’ve been renovated like a lot we have seen on our travels) and we enjoyed walking around the very narrow streets.  When you look down one of these narrow streets, it looks like a dead end but when you get to the end you find it is a T-junction with another tiny street at the end.  Apparently the streets were built this way to confuse the invading pirates over the centuries.

We visited the sites: the 14^th century cathedral, the market, the arches (Ses Voltes) which is famous for its street cafes, but there is really only one, but we stopped for a coffee anyway. 

Later we walked along the harbour where the yacht club is and looked at the berthing options there; we were pleased that we had visited by bus as there were no apparent anchoring options and the SW swell was working its way up into the cala to the visitors quay and the small cala opposite.  We carried on up to the harbour entrance and stood by the old stone tower at the end (Torre de San Nicolás) watching a solitary yacht battle its way out of the harbour through the swell.

On the way back we visited the Club Náutico for a drink before returning to the town and the bus station.  We then caught the slow bus back to Mahón – this stopped at the main towns across the island en route – extending our tour!  During the afternoon it gradually clouded over and on the way back on the bus there was even a little rain (!), fortunately it had stopped by the time we arrived in Mahón.

Tired after a long day we retired to Pyxis for a rest.

Crossing Menorca

Ciutadella

© Pyxis 2008