All Aboard - Next Stop - Menorca!

 Monday morning, I said good bye to Sitges - and another wonderful sunrise - and headed to the port in Barcelona to start the next stage of my trip - an Azamara cruise on the Journey.  This is my fifth cruise with them but the first on this ship.  What is very convenient is that all of the four ships are basically the same so even when you board a different one, you already know where everything is.  Once again, I am on Deck 7 - my favourite deck - about mid-ship.  It is very convenient to everything and between passenger decks so you don't hear the cabaret, bars, etc.  I got to the port about 12:15 and, in less than 35 minutes, I'd checked in and was sipping some bubbly at a bar on the pool deck.  I'm sure it took slower later in the afternoon when more people were in line but being early was perfect.

Most of the passengers on board are Americans, Brits, Aussies and Kiwis plus a quite large contingent of Canadians - apparently there are 97 of us aboard.  Not bad for a ship that holds 700 passengers.  Everyone has been friendly and I've already met some lovely people.  And, of course, the crew from officers to the servers in restaurants and bars to the cabin attendants all embody the friendliness and quality service that is a mark of the Azamara brand.  They can never do enough for you - or, in my case, pour me enough champagne!

Our first port of call was Mahón, Menorca where we arrived this morning around 8 am.  The scenery as we sailed down the narrow channel was beautiful – as were the houses lining the shore. Apparently, Mahón has one of the largest natural harbours in the world. 

Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands.  Named after Mago Barca, brother of Hannibal, it passed through Carthaginian, Roman, Moorish and British hands before becoming a key naval base contested by Spain, Britain and France.  Its architecture reflects this blend of influences, and it’s famously linked to the origin of mayonnaise.  It is also renowned for its local gin.  Menorca also has a long history of shoemaking and the island is famous for its sandals – which explains why I saw so many sandal fridge magnets in souvenir shops.  

I’d booked through Viator called Guided Walking Tour with History and Tastings.  There were 9 of us in the group – all Americans except me.  We started at the old gate to the city and then stopped at the Iglesia de Santa Maria, an 18^th century neogothic landmark, famed for its 19^th century grand 3,000-pipe organ.  The church sits on central Plaça de la Constitució. Next to the church, the city hall has a Renaissance facade and a clock donated by the island’s first British governor.  

We walked along one of the main shopping streets and stopped at a pastry shop for a spiral pastry called ensaimada that is famous here.  It was quite yummy.  We also passed lots of shoe stores.  We then visited the other main church in the city, Iglesia Del Carmen.  It wasn’t particularly ornate inside but was specifically constructed to have good acoustics.  The courtyard of the church’s cloister is used for concerts and surrounding the courtyard is a market.  We stopped at one store to taste some of the cheeses made here. 

From there, we walked over to the cliff that looks over the harbour with the intent of taking the elevator down to sea level.  However, it was broken so we had to walk down the stairs.  Our next and last stop was at a gin distillery where we had the opportunity to taste several kinds of gin – not for me although I did try a gin/honey/vanilla liqueur which was quite nice.

The walking tour had been about 2 1/2 hours and, while I considered doing a harbour boat tour, I decided I'd had enough - well, maybe not me but certainly my back! - so I headed back to the ship.  It was lovely to sit on my veranda and relax.  I am realizing I need to pace myself as just about every day on this cruise, save on, has activities involved.  Overnight, we head to Mallorca, our last Spanish port on this cruise.