...and suddenly Spring bursts in

 

Creu d'es Tres Termes.

In Menorca there are still some crosses that mark some fact or location and that are erected in old country roads. The oldest are from the middle ages and some of them are exhibited in local museums as they have been removed from the roads to prevent deterioration.

The cross in the photograph is not one of the oldest, but it is certainly more than a hundred years old. It is at the exact point that marks the divisions of the lands of the term of Mahon, Es Castell and Sant Lluis.

Wayside crosses are especially common in Roman Catholic regions. Most of them were erected in previous centuries by the local population as a sign of their faith. Several of them were put up at places where an accident or a crime took places. The custom of placing an "accident cross" at spots on the roadside where people have been killed has, meanwhile, spread worldwide. Many wayside crosses, however, simply act as waymarks to indicate difficult or dangerous spots or to mark intersections. On walking maps, wayside crosses and shrine are displayed in order to aid orientation. On many crosses there is an inscription which may indicate why the cross was erected and by whom.

Ses Aubertones

Ses Aubertones is the name of an old farmhouse which already appears named in some seventeen hundreds's maps.

Erodium reichardii is an endemism plant on the botanical family Geraniaceae that grows only in Mallorca and Menorca.

Epic Trail Menorca 360. 2018

A 185KM legend

The Trail Menorca Camí de Cavalls (TMCdC) is an ultra distance event consisting of flip Menorca for coastal path originally drawn by the British over 300 years ago and whose main purpose was to defend the island.

This is a race of 185 kilometers that has a positive slope of 2863 meters in which each rider will discover their limits and enjoy the idyllic scenery in this wonderful lost corner of the Mediterranean sea, full of dreamy beaches, impossible cliffs, magical views and local cusine with which to celebrate that life is a race in which you score goals and experiences.

To overcome the challenge, each rider has 40 hours to finish an adventure with taste of an adventure. Also the organization provide 15 aid stations on the route with water, sports drinks, fruits, nuts, energy bars, among others products, or foods with the same caloric intake.

The start was last Friday, May, 18th 2018, and definitely a part in the life of any runner who took part of one of the longest non-stop test and no doubt pretty trailrunning european landscape.

Sunset over Collingwood House

Picture by Jose Muñoz.

Hort d'en Biali

Still beautiful weather althought is already the end of October.

Hort d'en Biali farmhouse.

Stone carved alquerque board.

Alquerque is known to date back at least as far as 1400BC, since boards have been found cut into the roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt. A game called Quirkat is mentioned in an Arabic work of the 10th Century AD. 

The earliest set of rules is found in the 'Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas', a magnificently illuminated manuscript compiled between 1251 and 1282 by order of the King of Leon and Castile, Alfonso X. The game's Spanish name, derived from 'El quirkat', was alquerque.

This stone carved alquerque board is located in Toraixer prehistoric site, in Es Castell.

Dolphins in Calas Fons

Orchids blooming in the Spring.

Anacamptis pyramidalis is practically present on the whole island. At the beginning of summer, it often makes large colonies in meadows.

Its red-violet spike, conical at blooming, is quite distinctive. Flowers are numerous, close to each other showing a three-lobed lip and bearing some small lamellum-shaped excrescences at base. These lamellae are useful in guiding the proboscis of pollinating butterflies. 

According to the wikipedia this orchid is especially common on the Isle of Wight  and was designated the county plant in 2008. In Menorca is quite common too.

The dried and ground tuber gives a fine white powder, called salep. This is a very nutritious sweet starchlike substance. It is used in drinks, cereals and in making bread. It is also used medicinally in diets for children and convalescents.

Splendour time for Almond Trees

Hotel del Almirante, Nelson's Home?

A pencil drawing made in 1851 that shows the South shore of Mahon harbour and Collingwood House on the cliff. 

 

The original is in the Maritime Museum of Greenwich and erroneously the author, George Pechell Mends, naval officer, indicated that it was the house of Lord Nelson.

Genesis of a storm and some of our wonderful guests

With Summer gone and Autumn underway its traditionally a good time for 'End of Summer Storms' in the Mediterranean Region.

This year’s exceptionally high sea temperatures may have been a catalyst for storms like this one which was forming a few miles North of Mahon.

And not only storms. We have had a number of repeating guests visiting us this end of season too.

The Gang, in words of Mrs. Haggar, 

Left to right: Mr. Luff, Mrs. Crook, Mrs. Maycock, Mr. Crook, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Maycock, Mrs. Luff, Mr. Langley, Mrs. Buckman and Mrs. Haggar.

'Cel rogent, pluja o vent'

Hotel del Almirante. 5.22 AM

'Cel rogent, pluja o vent' is a Catalan proverb alluding to dawn with reddish sky presage rain or wind.

After several weeks of invariably blue skies, at little more than the five o'clock in the morning this was the color of the sky.

Clouds. Breezy South winds and some rain drops have fulfilled this portent once again. It is the popular wisdom.

Abdellah and the blooming of Wild Orchids

Miguel Hernandez was one of the most important intellectuals who lived in Spain in the first half of the twentieth century. Poet and playwright committed to the republic, was tried and sentenced to death by the government of General Franco, although he commuted his death sentence by thirty years of prison which he did not had to suffer because he died of tuberculosis in prison in 1942.

His work often revolves around the drama of death and misfortune and his poem Elegy, dedicated to a great friend, has been set to music by Joan Manuel Serrat in an example of heartfelt sorrow for the lack of a friend.

Abdellah died Tuesday of last week after having worked at the Hotel Almirante for almost forty years. We will miss him so much ...

As a posthumous tribute, Menorca's wild orchids are blooming everywhere in these recent days.

 Ophrys tenthredinifera

  Ophrys lutea

Himantoglossum robertianum

Neotinea conica

 Barlia robertiana

Tramontana

In an extremely windy day in which a power failure has left most of the village of Es Castell without electricity, it well worth going out to get some fresh air ...

The Tramontana is a katabatic wind, which is a wind that blows off a mountain system due to the cool denser air at altitude in the mountains sinking, and funnelling off into the coast. Tramontana winds rush down the Pyrenees and crosses the Mediterranean and so, the Balearics. Menorca is particullarly exposed to that wind.

Although these winds are mainly in winter, sometimes they occur in spring and even summer. For those who we like them it is a real spectacle, approaching to the coast to perceive their strength. 

Sa Mesquida

Cala Tirant

 Brave surfers cant resist the call of the waves.

Cap de Cavallería, on the Horizon.

Almond trees

Encouraged by the temperate Mediterranean climate, the first variety of the island's more than 7,000,000 almond trees timidly begin to bud in late January, a foretaste of the exquisite fields blanketed by white, delicate flowers that burst into bloom between late January and mid-February. Be it in a lone specimen or a riot of flowers, this surprising and omnipresent forerunner of spring is a special treat for visitors.

A closer look at this man-made display of nature reveals in detail the colours of these flowers, which range from the purest white to pink. A unique and guaranteed opportunity for photography lovers to take an unforgettable memory back home with them.

The almond tree is highly revered in some cultures. The tree originated in the Middle East, and is mentioned numerous times in the  Bible.

Althought it is known there were almond trees in Menorca during the muslim period, 900 years ago, the cultivation of almond trees was introduced en masse after phylloxera devastated the Islands' vineyards in the late eighteenth century. Their fruit can be sampled as is, toasted or as part of the island' typical dishes, especially pastries.

The worst storm in the last 33 years.

According to the local papers this has been the worst storm in the last 33 years. There were 460 lightning recorded in Es Castell 

between 12 noon and 3PM.

Calas Fons became a river.

Bowles Tournament Hotel del Almirante 2015. Provisional Results.

The competition has just started two days ago but...

...the Ladies are three games ahead!

 

Early morning at Mahon harbour

Pictures taken from the fields surrouding the Hotel in this splendid Summer morning.

Grow, bloom, die: The curious case of Agave Americana

Not so long ago,  I was talking to one of our regular guests, Mrs. Moores about a particular species of cactus and the long stamen that was growing from the center of the plant. I told Mrs. Moores I would take some pictures of it in case when they come again in august the flowering season have already finished.

 

June 3rd.

 

June 27th.

 

July 12th.

July 22nd. 

 Agave Americana in bloom

Originally from Mexico, the agave now grows across the world in similar growth conditions: a sunny and dry climate, and well-drained soil. There are a few of them at the entrance of the Hotel.

Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread of about 6–10 ft (1.8–3.0 m) with gray-green leaves of 3–5 ft (0.9–1.5 m) long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce to the bone. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms, that may reach a total height of up to 25–30 ft (8–9 m) tall.

In the wild, agave plants flower at the age of between 10 and 25 years. After that, the parent plant will die, but not before leaving behind some genetically identical 'pups'.

In Mexico drinks are made by cutting off the flower head and collecting the rising sap - as much as 1000 litres per plant! The sap is then fermented into a drink called pulque, and can then be distilled to make the spirit mescal (a related plant, the blue agave, is used to produce tequila).

Agave Americana at the NHM of London.