Ciutadella 3

I'd decided to visit a beach to the north of Ciutadella for the last full day. I settled on Cala'n Forcat. As the city is between the bus stand and the north, the bus had to go around the city on the peripheral road. Cala'n Forcat is situated in a resort area called Cala Blanes. (Incidentally stupid Bing maps displayed Blanes in Catalunya when I searched for Cala Blanes.)

It's obvious from the shops and restaurants that Cala Blanes has a lot of British package tourists. There are "Irish pubs", restaurants serving British food, and so forth. Why do they try to recreate their homeland while on holiday so that except for the weather, it's like they never left home? Fear of the unfamiliar? To be fair, they are not the only nationality to do this. The Germans also have their enclaves in the Balearics.

The bus dropped me and a few other passengers outside a large package tourism hotel. The sky had become overcast and a strong wind was blowing in from the sea. I walked to the edge of the cliff to see the water being whipped up and crashed against the cliff. The spray thrown up was so strong that at first I thought it had started raining. Well, no use looking for the beach thereabouts.

It turned out that there was a footpath on the other side of the street leading down to the cove. At the bottom was a small beach with brown sand. Unfortunately the wild weather had also mingled leaf debris with the water so it was less than attractive. A couple of recliner chair renters on the beach were not getting any customers at all. In better weather this beach would be filled with guests from the ugly hotel.

The foul weather did demonstrate how coves in the Balearic islands protect beaches. You could see how wild the waves were around the bend at the mouth of the cove. Anybody or anything out there would have been dashed to bits against the rocks.

I spent some time exploring the arms of the cove and taking pictures of the wild water. When I got bored of that I thought I would walk back to Cala Blanes to look for lunch. I hoped that there would be something worthwhile after ignoring the British food (no the buffet Chinese restaurant didn't qualify), but nothing interested me so I decided to find lunch back in Ciutadella.

And what's wrong with Spanish bread anyway?

About this time I was soaked by a sudden shower while waiting for the bus and had to duck into a shop.

Back in Ciutadella I found a restaurant serving a menu del dia. I had steamed mussels with aioli followed by a couple of milanesa (veal in bread crumbs) with french fries. It was a bit expensive for the portion size. Then again, the amount was just about what I should be eating.

In the evening I joined the Menorcans for the evening paseo. This is a shop selling Menorcan specialities. Notice the hams on the wall.

Unfortunately the paella restaurant I had my eye on was not open for dinner, only for lunch. Another candidate was too popular; all the outside tables were taken, and the occupants were not leaving soon. I could have an inside table but it was too warm inside, perhaps due to the pizza oven. So at a nearby joint I had a Menorcan pizza which was sobrassada and cheese. There wasn't that much sobrassada on the pizza anyway. It was rather filling and the hour was late so I forewent the gelato and returned to the hotel.

Boy am I sleepy. Maybe I should have had water instead of beer with the pizza. I'll just nap a little...and...write...the...blog...afterwards...zzz...zzz.