Menorca 2024 - Day 6

 Wednesday 

The weather app has forecast rain for today all week and it wasn't wrong!

It was very wet at breakfast but beyond that the outlook was showery all day.

We decided to stay local and walk the harbour of Mahon-6km long! One of the deepest and longest natural harbours in the world. 

The walk started at the steps right in front of our hotel and around Figuero Creek  aka as Englishman's Creek as the Royal Navy used to moor and get fresh water here. Straight away we were off the tourist trail and soon we were heading up some steps through front gardens to the scrubby hilltop until we passed through another residential area and sheltered under some trees from a sharp shower.


For a while the walk didn't look too promising along a minor road, passed the military museum until we got to the delightful  Cala Estive- St Stephens Cove. Here we joined the Cami de Cavalls which apparently incorporated a Roman Rd. This opened out into more scrubby land and some disused towers which in times past protected Mahon from invaders.  Another shower here but that was the last of the days rain.

We were soon at the mouth of the harbour and the open water looked decidedly choppy today.

The walk detoured around an ancient donkey track and spacious farm buildings where we saw a beautiful tortoise (or land turtle as described on an information board we saw earlier this week).


 This track eventually brought us back to Cala Estive and we retraced our steps for quite a while.  We followed the road through a suburban housing estate and descended to sea level at the surprising and delightful Cala Santa Ana. Sheltered from the wind this made a delightful spot for an impromptu beer and tapas lunch.  A beautiful spot to while away an hour. 

Another mile or so back to the hotel and unfortunately back up those 100 steps.

A spot recuperation,  a snooze for Colin on the bed and a few rays of sun on the day bed by the pool for Viv.  Time for a shower and into town for dinner. 

It is still early in the tourist season and many of the restaurants are still closed along the waterfront so we ate at a Tapas bar in the centre of the city before heading to our favourite bar Birra O'clock (thank goodness we found this on the first night of our stay).

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