Mahon/Mao

You can choose the name and the spelling but Mahon/Mao is the capital city of Menorca. In my opinion it's not as impressive as the old capital Cuitadella, but it still has a lot of charm.

Patriotic flags on a public building

A church tucked away in a corner

Many narrow streets...

...some busier than others.

The city is on many levels

The fish market (not for me)...

...alongside the Iglesia del Carmen...

...with its expressive horse sculpture.

Mo made a very interesting friend

Dave & Mo fascinated by the beer menu...

...and joined by Tine for apéritifs, Helen taking the photo of course.

Merry Christmas 2019

Taking a brief break from our Menorcan adventures to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and thank you for your support.

Our tree is well up to standard this year

I couldn't resist snapping this holly bush in Saltaire, way back in October

I'm sure you all want to play 'set the difference'!

Do you ever get that deflated feeling?

The Christmas lights in town are reliably impressive

Doubly good after all the rain we've had

A good effort has been made going down from U-Tile to our cheese shop and the PMU

Some say robins are departed loved ones coming back to visit us.  True or not,  Dad loved robins and Christmas

Our local 'vache', very festively dressed!

Christmas Eve celebrations at Matt & Cynthia's, enjoying a great evening with the Coutrets

Son Bou & Torralba d'en Salort

More exploring on the next day, firstly to Son Bou with its huge beach.

Not forgetting the turquoise sea 

Three of the Dynamic Four, cooling their feet in readiness for a dip later

Remains of the basilica dating from the 5th century

We clambered up the headland to the east of the beach...

...perching over to spot the caves in the cliffs.

These two photos are from a book back at the AirBnb...

...showing the basilica, and very little else!

In the afternoon, Mo, Tine & I visited the ancient site of Torralba d'en Salort 

The site dates back to 1000 BC but was occupied right up to medieval times 

The taula ('table' in Catalan) is one of the largest on the island...

...as can be seen with Tine standing behind it!

There was a small quarry here at one time

The entrance to a hypostyle room...

...which I now know means under pillars or columns.

Cales Coves

The only downside to our Airbnb was that, although in a residential area, there was nowhere nearby to walk to except for a 'Brits abroad' bistro. Despite that Tine & I walked quite a way one day to see the nearest part of the coast. We weren't disappointed!

These hand-made gates were typical of the island

Tine felt quite at home with all the bamboos on our walk down the track

It was well worth the effort...

...a little paradise to be explored.

Your faithful blogger perusing the old burial sites in cliff caves...

...the necropolis, as it is called.

Scrambling round the headland we spotted an idyllic setting for this yacht...

...and more evidence of troglodyte activity. 

This dwelling didn't seem to be lived in, and access must have been very difficult

Thankfully there were no earthquakes while we were there, to dislodge this huge chunk of rock