Island hopping

I felt sorry to be leaving Menorca. It was a mellow place. These feelings were engendered by an early morning walk to the fish market. But then I reflected, I'm a tourist, I live in a bubble created by my status, I can leave when I want, whenever it gets boring. The locals have to stay, they have to earn a living, they have to deal with problems, they can't just move on. Incidentally the fish market was closed and looked like it had been for a long time. Perhaps it had moved elsewhere, closer to where most people live and the building was awaiting repurposing.

This was the day I would be on all four major Balearic islands within a 6 hour period. Departing Menorca went without a hitch. The small jet landed me in Palma de Mallorca airport and I waited in the departure lounge while they refueled. As I suspected, the same jet then became the Mallorca to Eivissa service. We even left by the same gate. Where's Eivissa, you ask. It's the Catalan name of what most people know by its Spanish name Ibiza. I collected my backpack and caught the bus into town. It dropped me off metres from the ferries to Formentera, the smallest of the 4 major islands.

A couple of days before, the hotel in Formentera had sent me a coupon for 50% off a return ticket from 1st October. It was a campaign to woo more tourists. This was very fortunate for me and the counter clerk accepted a copy on my e-book reader, so I didn't have to print it.

The ferry was large, stable and comfortable. It was nowhere near capacity which is why they were eager for more passengers.

I watched as we left Eivissa harbour, then the ferry accelerated as soon as were out of the speed restricted zone. I settled in my chair. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, we were disembarking at La Savina, Formentera's port.

At this point my luck with smooth connections ran out. The timetable at the bus stop showed that new reduced schedules had commenced 1st October and the next bus to Es Pujols, where my hotel was, wasn't due for an hour. The timetable giveth and the timetable taketh. I didn't mind the wait so much, I took the opportunity to have a look at La Savina harbour and take some pictures, but I didn't like lugging a backpack all the time.

After freshening up I went down to the waterfront in the evening. Everybody was enjoying the evening paseo or having dinner in the restaurants. There seemed to be many Germans and Italians in Formentera. When I did my research, there were many guest reviews in Italian. Even some staff were Italian, I think. The waitress who took my pizza order spoke some Italian to customers.

There was a full moon over the water. The hotel had provided a free evening drink so I finished off with a glass of sangria in the lounge. There were heaps of shops in town to rent a bike or a moped from. I wondered how to choose one.