April 5 – Mahon, Minorca, Spain. Mahón (Maó in Catalan, pronounced 'mayo' as in mayonnaise, which was first made here) on the island of Minorca (Menorca in Catalan). The island is part of Catalonia, a province of Spain. They speak both Catalan and Spanish, but are proud to be Catalan and prefer to use it. The weather is warm and sunny. Citudella was the original capital of Minorca until the British moved it from there to Mahón in the 1700s. It's on the extreme west end of the island. Mahón, the current capital, is at the extreme east end.
I got up early, ate breakfast and enjoyed the sail in. The harbor is set deep in an inlet that's shaped somewhat like a fjord. The difference is that the land bordering the inlet is not steep craggy and mountainous, but gently rising hills with some cliffs. On the way in you pass defensive relics from many centuries. The earliest recorded visitors to establish a presence here were the Carthaginians in the 3rd century BC. They replaced the Talayotic community that was here at the time. Unfortunately the Talayotics did not leave a written record of any kind and very little is known about them although research is ongoing. We're visiting the remains of one of their communities on our tour so we'll talk about them in more detail then.
The British controlled the island starting in 1713 and the remains of one of their circular watchtowers still stands at the entrance to the inlet. While the British occupied the area they built a gin distillery so they would have ready access to their favorite liquor. The problem was that juniper berries would not grow here so they had to import them from Spain. When the Spanish expelled the British they kept the distillery going and it is still producing gin. Our guide says it cannot be exported because the locals drink all they can produce. Apparently the Minorcans developed a taste for it and the local custom is to have some with breakfast. She assures us that the bus drivers do not participate in this practice. In 1850 Spain established the Fortress of Isabel II whose ruins still guard the entrance to the inlet. It was built to defend against the British. There's evidence of WWI and II bunkers, artillery emplacements and fortifications as well.
The inlet is narrow and after the initial historical military presence both sides are lined with homes large and small. Everything from apartment/condos to large elaborate villas can be seen on the banks. When we reached the pier we were docking directly behind a large ferry that was loading trucks filled with goods.
We joined a ship's tour to Binibeca, Taula de Torralba, Monte Toro and Fornells, a small fishing village on the northeast coast of Minorca. Binibeca looks like an old whitewashed fishing village but it's really a modern resort on the coast. It has some shops and restaurants but most of the village is small apartments that are mainly used as second homes. With the economy the way it is, many of them have become summer rentals as a way for the owners to help pay for them. There are a few people who live here year round. None of the shops or restaurants are open now. Workers are busy painting them to prepare for the coming tourist season that starts in May.
To say the place is white would be an understatement. Even the common curved red Spanish tile roofs are painted white. Only the wood accents, railings, gates and fences are brown. The developer of the next resort down the beach responded by building in all natural stone, absolutely no white at all. It's quite a contrast and I have to say I prefer the look of the natural stone to the stark white.
We continued along the south coast of the island passing a few of the island's very small beaches. Most can't be seen from the road and are not marked so you have to know where they are. Actually if you see a space for a few cars to park with a path leading down the slope that's probably the way to a beach.
Shortly we arrived at our next stop, Taula de Torralba, the somewhat mysterious settlements found in several places on the island. They are all that is known to remain of the Talayotic culture. We're visiting the one in Torralba because it's the best-preserved one, although only the second largest. The Taula is a large stone balanced atop another even larger stone to for the shape of a T. It's believed they had a religious use and date from about 900BC.
The culture gets its name from the circular, dry-stone towers they constructed, a tayalot. They are always built on high ground to have a clear view of the surrounding area and were probably watchtowers. The second structure found in a Tayalotic village is the taula. The taula is housed in a building that the historians refer to as a sanctuary because they believe the taula had religious uses. They seem to be apsical structures with concave sides. In side, in the center would stand the T shaped taula. A series of digs in the 1970s found artifacts that seem to support the theory of religious use. There's evidence of a large fire that was kept burning for long periods of time in the sanctuary. They also found remains of young animals, apparently killed at the site as well as a large number of wine amphorae that appear to have been deliberately broken. The remains appear to be from the 1st through the 3rd centuries BC.
Unlike Stonehenge and other prehistorically structures of that type, taulas are not all oriented in any particular direction so they don't appear to have had any astronomical or temporal significance.
Scattered around the taula and the tayalot are small homes and storage structures. The villages also appear to have been walled for defensive purposes. Much of this settlement's wall is still intact. It was a fairly large area.
After a drive away from the south shoreline and into the center of the island we began the climb up the narrow roads to the top of Monte Toro. Monte Toro is 1,181 feet high and has a small chapel on top dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Fable has it that some nuns were going up Monte Toro to pray and found their way blocked by a large boulder. A huge bull came down the hill and pushed the boulder aside allowing them to go up to pray, hence the name Monte Toro. While they were praying the Virgin Mary came to them and asked them to build a chapel to her on the top of the mountain, so they did. Inside the chapel there's a rock behind an iron grate that is said to be where they were praying when they got the vision.
An interesting aspect of the chapel is how they have done the Stations of the Cross. (One of my more esoteric hobbies is collecting pictures of the Stations of the Cross from the churches we visit.) They appear to be tapestries, but are in fact painted cloth. I have never seen the Stations of the Cross done this way anywhere else we've been. They are very elaborate, not just showing the station, but also various Saints, decorations and other events in Christ's life. The Station of the Scourging of Christ also shows Him in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, some cherubs between the two main pictures and some unidentified saints along the sides. Very beautiful.
There are also thematic 'tapestries' here. There's one with stories of Mary's life, events at the end of Christ's life and events of His youth. The guide says that they were once actual tapestries but a fire destroyed them and it would have been too expensive to replace them so they substituted the painted cloth hangings we see today. I have to say that it takes a close examination to see that they are not painted scenes.
Outside the church there's a large observation area with great views out over the island. We could see our next stop, Fornells, in the distance.
Fornells has the deepest natural harbor in the world after Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and a very small natural inlet. The town is very picturesque; it's another of the mostly white villages. We sat in a café and had some of the local cheese and some coffee. The local cheese, Mahon, is fairly firm with a slightly nutty taste. A lot like an Emmenthaler Swiss again but not as firm. I seem to be stuck on that flavor as a comparison.
Then it was back to Mahon. Diana returned to the ship and I climbed the 187 steps to the city proper. Everything in town was closed except the cafes, bodegas and some small ceramic stores. I walked around and took pictures of the buildings and streets. Typical of medieval towns, Mahon has very narrow streets that are all one-way for cars. I found a really good deal on some balsamic vinegar, €1.60 for a nice sized bottle of the locally made stuff. So, purchase in hand it was back down the 187 steps to the ship.
Marty Brill was on again tonight. He's a very funny man. One time I went back to see the late show and, sure enough, it was not the same as the early one. The guy just gets up there and talks. It's great!
Tomorrow a day at sea to get ready for four more ports in a row.
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