Fine dining

We discovered a fantastic high-class restaurant Pan y Vino. Many of our Menorca friends talked about this place, which is run by a French chef. Now out of season, it was easy to get a table and we were served delicious food! Local produce cooked with the French finesse! A real treat!

Enclosed you'll find an overview of our most favourite places on the island.

Taking country walks at Easter

We finally did it! After 7 years in Menorca we finally fulfilled our promise to take some country-side walks. Usually when we get to Torret in summer, it is too hot to go hiking but the Easter holiday was perfect! We took advantage of a booklet left by Lieven and Nancy (THANK YOU!) with suggested walking tours using mainly the Cami de Cavalls, the old routes for horses. These routes are spread across the island, so walking opportunities are quite endless going from easy walking to challenging climbs.

The best walk we did led us from Cala en Turqueta to Cala Macarella en Cala Macaralleta. It was a walk of appr. 9 km. The hike brought us alongside cliffs and into the woods. It was quite adventurous but feasible for less fit people (like us ;-) ). The beaches were completely deserted and really beautiful! We also did a more inland hike along farms and typical scenery with lots of wild flowers this time of year.

Menorca in November

How quiet and lovely it was this November to visit Cala Torret! All bars and restaurants closed apart from the occasional local place, empty streets in Binibeca Vell, Es Castells,...and a lovely winter sun with 18-20 Celsius!

It was nice to spend a couple of days away from the madness of the end of the year in the company of my mum. Two ladies with a mission to test out our new bathroom ;-) It looked great and the rain shower is heavenly. Can't wait till our summer holidays now!

Enclosed some views of autumn / winter in Menorca AND the new bathroom

Summer 2011

Snorkeling

What a wonderful holiday we had again in Menorca. The biggest new thing this holiday was our discovery of snorkeling! We can recommend S'Algar diving school for organized snorkeling but lots of beaches in Menorca are fit for snorkeling.

In fact our local Binibeca beach is where we saw the most of fishes. I guess they come for leftover food from the beach bar.  Lucca and I were very lucky to spot some rays when we went for an early evening dive when the weather was not so good! We were so excited, two Cousteaus in the making!!

More wining and dining
The original owners of our local restaurant El Faro are back! We spent quite a few evenings there. Lucca loves the parrot (not to eat, of course), the food is fresh (and they prepare warm veggies too!) and the sea view is really nice.
Also we loved Sa Cova, an Argentinian steak house just around our corner. Unfortunatly the manager will move from this location at the end of the season so we will have to track him down the next time we are over.
A discovery from our Easter holiday was Villa Madrid with true Italian pizzas (Lucca's favourite!)
And we finally tried out Bar Paupa for food and it was good, simple dishes but nice. And how much closer can you get to the shore!

Friends
It was great to see some old and new friends in Menorca. Our social life was quite busy this year! We met some new friends through Lucca who found a football pal in Max. We had some great evenings with the families of Scotland and Ireland! And we met up with old friends, Rosa and Toni, at their lovely new home in the country site.

Things to do

Swimming...
At the beach...

Lucca loves the swimming pool as well. We found a really nice bar/pool in Salgar, a 5-minute drive from our place. It's a shared pool for the surrounding hotels but if you have lunch there you can also use the pool even if you are not a guest.

For the English...if you fancy a game of cricket. There is a Menorca Cricket Club very near to our appartment. You can join them for a game on Wednesday and Saturday morning at 10 am. (http://www.menorcacricketclub.com/)

This summer, we took a tour from Mao with a glass-bottom boat. It's an afternoon trip with a stop-over at one of the beaches for a swim. We really enjoyed it. We took the Don Joan Catamaran. 

Of course there is plenty more to do in Menorca. It's a great place for hiking, cycling and horse-riding. But as we have a seven-year old "seal" we are a bit water-bound at the moment!

Wining and dining

Of course, you all know that wining and dining lies near to our hearts! I’m sure there is plenty more to discover for us in Menorca but we do have a couple of all time favourites!

We'll start with La Rosa. It's a restaurant literally around the corner from our apartment.  The place has a beach-house look and feel to it.  And especially during the later evening, it has a great vibe. You go to La Rosa for a selection of the best wines, cheese and hams Menorca and the Mediterranean has to offer. What more could you want! Heaven for us!!

In the same area as La Rosa there are four / five other restaurants most of which have a great sea view but they are quite touristy and the food average. One exception is Pedro’s. It’s an English-inspired restaurant with some traditional dishes like the Sunday roast. But what we love at Pedro’s (especially our little carnivore, Lucca) is the entrecote. It’s from a league of its own!

Last year, we discovered between the other touristy places a really, really good restaurant. The thing that gave it away was the fact that the tiny restaurant was usually filled with Spanish locals in the late evening! The food was absolutely divine. Spanish with some Eastern influences. The chef and waiter live in Barcelona during the year and in the summer months they open this tiny restaurant. The place is called “Taberna del Corso” and you definitely need to reserve!

Another place you can see from our terrace is called “Bar Paupa”. It’s a diving / sailing club with a very popular bar. It’s vibrant during the evening. We have only had some drinks there but friends who stayed in our place said the food was good too.

At “our” beach you will find “Los Bucaneros”, great beach bar. It serves good snacks, salads and tapas. It’s great for an afternoon lunch at the beach or an early evening drink before walking back home!

And then lastly…worth a trip into San Lluis…the best ice-cream (yes, it’s an Italian family in Menorca)...in Cana Loca! My favourite: mint chocolate, Victor’s: blueberry yoghurt and Lucca’s…of course: the nutella ;-) You can also take out and stack some in our freezer ;-)

The new look

Okay...it took me a tiny bit longer to get back here and post all that promised information.
Let's first start with the new look of our little apartment. We've chosen for bright colours and lots of pictures to give it a personal and homely feel.

The living room

Our favourite holiday pictures

The main bedroom

The eating area

Our newly-painted kitchen with new cooker and oven