Karissa's European Adventure: Menorca

Hey everyone,

Menorca well what can I say...I have never been so relaxed during the past five months of travelling as I was here on this island and here is a little insight into what Paige and I got up to while we were there.

Minorca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Island located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca.

We boarded our flight with no expectations of this island as I hadn´t heard all that much about it. The flight from Valencia to Menorca was a quick one only lasting about 1 hour but with a screaming baby behind us we couldn´t wait to get off the plane and into a taxi.

We flew into Mahon Airport and caught a taxi (for 52kms!!) into Cala'n Bosch on the south west coast of Menorca which was were we were staying for the next four days. We were lucky to get a middle aged taxi driver who spoke English and told us lots about to island and the beaches along the way. When we arrived at our accommodation we were more than surprised as it looked like a luxury resort full of white Spanish style apartments. I had booked it on hostelworld which always has great deals and we thought we would be staying with another three people but we ended up being very lucky and having the apartment to ourselves the whole time!!We were able to spread out our belonging and leave our toiletries in the bathroom which was a luxury especially after backpacking in hostels for so long. We also had our own tv, bathroom, kitchen and outdoor area and were extremely close to a beautiful marina which was surrounded by loads of restaurants, supermarkets and shops which added to the overall experience in Menorca.

Everyone including Paige and I were so relaxed in Menorca and the atmosphere was amazing. We spent most of our time relaxing by the beach/pool, eating and drinking cocktails at restaurants and hanging around in our apartment. We couldn´t stop saying how relaxed we were the whole time and we loved that there wasn´t much to do besides head to the beach especially after such a full on time in Valencia and at La Tomatina.

We were about a five minute walk from the beautiful Cala'n Bosch beach which had beautiful white sand and crystal blue water. Paige and I loved relaxing amongst loads of holiday goers from England and Spain as we worked on our tans and relaxed. We loved our apartments pool which has lots of white deck chairs surrounding it for us to lay on and enjoy the warm weather.

Paige and I ate at lots of restaurants during the time we were in Menorca because we were so close to the marina and they were all quite cheap. There were so many to choose from and we enjoyed having a wide variety of foods options for dinner each night as it made dinner more exciting. One night I ate olives, chicken korma and naan bread at a restaurant called Fiesta. The next night we had tapas and Paige and I shared dishes of, meatballs in Menorcan cheese sauce, chicken croquettes, garlic prawns and tumpet which is a Menorcan speciality of eggplant, potatoes and capsicum which were all delicious!We also ate pastas (spagetti bolognese and fettuccine alfredo) for lunch when we were hungover one day and ate Chinese dishes of sizzling beef, chicken and almonds, chicken satay skewers and sweet chicken and corn soup for dinner the same night. One morning we ate a very cheap breakfast of baked beans, sausages, toast and eggs for 1.90 euro which was soooo cheap!! One day Paige even made me up a salad of capsicum, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and chorizo which was sooo yummy after eating very unhealthily over the time we were here. We also ate lots of snacks and enjoyed a mixed platter we made up of Camembert cheese, crackers, salami and cheese and chives dip one afternoon after we got back from the pool. We also enjoyed lots of strawberry daiquiris cocktails and bottles of white wine by the marina while we enjoyed our mini holiday in Menorca.

We also enjoyed sleeping in at our apartment in Menorca and loved not having to wake up to the sound of other travellers like we had done previously in Valencia and other hostels. One morning we even slept in until 1pm after listening to the sound of rain and thunder all morning. Our apartment also had air conditioning which we used up to it´s full potential in the days we were here and I wasn't looking forward to going back to hostel rooms which can sometimes become like a sweat box.

We enjoyed a night out clubbing in another small town/beach called Son Xoriguer. Space Nightclub, Menorca had only just opened up in July 2012 and we were keen to check it out as we had already had some quite nights of the island and thought we better also see what the nightlife was like. We got ready and straightened our hair after having a sneaky little two hour sleep to recharge our batteries and head out. Paige and I both thought it would be a little weird pre-drinking with just the two of us but after enjoying a few bottles of white wine, many cigarettes and listening to R&B music while we chatted we were ready to catch the bus and head out. When we got to the club we used our discount coupons and paid 12 euro before heading over to the bar to collect our free vodka redbull drinks. The club was very relaxed and everyone seemed to be coupled up and chilled out as we sat on white lounges and sipped on our vodka redbull and cosmopolitan cocktails. We soon got pretty chirpy and giggly as in Spain they don´t use shot glasses to measure out your alcohol they just free pour your drinks at the bar. The club downstairs had really good house music and even though there weren´t many people in the club we still danced and had a good time. At one stage it felt like everyone was staring at us because we were the only tourists in the club and as we both had blonde hair we stuck out like a sore thumb!We eventually thought it was time to go home but not before being lead into an R&B club which was just next door by a club promoter luring us in with a free drink.

The club was pumping and playing lots of music we liked, Paige and got up on a stripper pole and showed the club what she was made of which was so funny. After a big night out partying with the Spanish we walked to the taxi rank and caught a cab whilst speaking the only Spanish words we knew and showing the cab driver a screen grab photo of where we were staying. We were really drunk and almost fell asleep in the taxi on the way home as it took around 20 minutes to get back to where we were staying. Paige left her mark on the reception concrete and we witnessed the evidence the next day on our walk down to the marina lol Needless to say she wasn´t feeling very well the following day and slept a lot in our apartment room.

Paige and I had only just begun backpacking together in Valencia and I loved getting to know her better during our time in Menorca. We had lots of time to chat and laugh as there wasn´t all that much to do in Menorca and we had no other backpackers to keep us company. We spent many dinners like we were on dates and had to make conversation to avoid it becoming awkward which helped me get to know more about Paige as a person and what she had been up to in her travels of Greece and Croatia. She is very easy going and so easy to travel with which makes all the difference when you are with someone 24 hours a day. I could already tell in Menorca we were going to have some fun times travelling together over the next month.

Love The Tanning Backpacker
xx