Mahón (Part 2)

Cala Taulera   

When we woke on the morning of 4 August, Cala Taulera was beautifully still. Nicky and I enjoyed the early morning view until it was time for her to shatter the on board peace with her Friday 8am stint as the HF radio ‘MedNet Controller’. Check-ins complete, we launched the dinghy so that we could take a boat trip into Mahón.

The dinghy trip into town took about 15 minutes and the sights of the cala were every bit as enjoyable from the dinghy as they had been the previous evening from BV’s deck, if a fraction damper!

We left the dinghy close to the refuel area and climbed a set of steps into the upper town for a great view of harbour.

Old city gateway and wall    

We wound our way through residential roads until we popped out in the main town centre. The squares and streets in this area are very elegant and we enjoyed our meandering stroll through them. Close to the tourist information office we found the last remaining bit of the old city walls which were built in the 14^th century.

The lady in the tourist office pointed out some of the ‘must see’ sights (primarily churches and viewpoints) as well as directing us to the local Vodafone shop where we bought a Spanish data SIM card which will be usefulfor emails and weather checks.

(Bottom left) View across the harbour from above the cruise ship dock.
(Right) St Francis of Assisi parish church    

St Francis of Assisi parish church (recommended by the lady in the tourist office) is an attractive late Gothic-styled church [Ed: with a major damp problem, probably due to a leaking roof] close to another of the city’s viewing points. From here we enjoyed fine views up and down the harbour and we could clearly see the Golden Farm (now painted a terracotta colour) on the far side. Lord Nelson spent a few days at the Golden Farm when he was in temporary command of the Mediterranean Fleet and local tradition says that Lady Hamilton was a guest at the same time, although there is no evidence to back this up!

From the main town centre we took a steeply sloping alleyway back down to dock level and from there it was just a short walk past some of the many yachts moored in Mahón harbour to the cruise ship dock.

The Mahón gin distillery   

Why go to the cruise ship dock, particularly when there are no cruise ships in?  Why, to go to the Mahón gin distillery, which is located just opposite, of course! Just as when we visited in 2014, the distillery has its main ‘workings’ on display (behind plate glass windows) and several tasting tables where visitors can sample the distillery’s various offerings. We tried some of their more obscure concoctions but to our palates they all tasted rather like cough medicine, so we settled on buying just a bottle of their standard gin.

After a reviving stop in a café, we dinghied back to BV only to find Cala Taulera busier than ever.

Argyll    

Next to us was anchored Argyll, which belongs to Griff Rhys-Jones and which races in the same class as Skylark, the sailing yacht belonging to Sean’s boss. It’s just as well that I took the photo of her when I did as, when Nicky and I came back from food shopping in the early evening, she had gone.

That afternoon was incredibly hot and muggy, another day with very high humidity and little wind. It was so hot that we made the effort to put the boom tent on, both to give a bit more shade for relaxing in and to provide a slight wind-tunnel effect. Over the evening meal we plotted the next couple of days and, having decided that we had seen enough of Mahón, we agreed to move on the following day.

Cala Taulera, Mahón, Menorca, Spain