The Caledonian Star arrived at Menorca, the second largest of the Balearic Islands, just as Robyn was finishing her lecture on "Pirates of the Mediterranean". The 3-mile long, half-mile wide fortified passage into Mahon makes this the second largest natural harbor in the world. It was a favorite haunt of the pirates in Antiquity and fought over by the Spanish and British during the Napoleonic Wars. The harbor and fortifications, so vital and alive on the pages of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester, are now deserted, the guns litter the lawn of the yacht club while pristine flower-covered villas of the "Rich and Famous" now flank the waterway.
After a delightful deck lunch overlooking this picturesque harbor, we journeyed by coach to Fornells; a newer village filled with whitewashed tile-roofed villas and quayside fish restaurants. The yacht harbor, which attracts the Spanish Royal Family in the summer, was filled with smaller sailboats and colorful wind-surfers taking advantage of the brisk afternoon winds in this sheltered bay.
The buses climbed the steep switch-backs to the top of Monte Toro (1,171 ft.), the highest point of the island. Once there, we visited the Santuario de Nuestra Senora El Toro, a small convent, and the dramatic war memorial while enjoying the panoramic view of the whole island. The nuns now run a small gift shop and bar, the proceeds of which enable them to keep up the grounds.
Returning once again to the rolling fields of the flatlands, we proceeded to Torralba d'en Salord, a major Talayotic settlement from the Bronze Age to see the taula, an open-air temple with an immense rectangular stone surmounted by a flat pillar stone standing 15 ft. high. Dating from 1500 B.C., this structure is unique to Menorca although researchers feel the Talyotic culture is closely related to the Nuraghic culture we experienced yesterday in Sardinia. Both cultures built large limestone defensive or watch towers, one of, which was close by the taula.
We returned to Mahon via a different route and enjoyed a new perspective of this spectacular harbor. Dinner was served alongside so that the ship could sail out past the floodlit forts enroute to southern Spain.
