A Postcard from Menorca - The Under-the-Radar Island
A Postcard from MENORCA - THE BALEARIC’s Lesser-Known ISLAND Destination
ROOV Postcard 2
A postcard reveals a dynamic place we recently visited.
Menorca
Wild and yet calming, the most natural of Balearics feels like a future home. We’ve been four times since spring for business and pleasure; it’s definitely a place to write home about. Here’s our lead that will bring you there.
I live on one of the most beautiful islands in the world and I know I’ll move from it to build my future home here. Menorca has become my realistic rêve.
Swept away for Easter by my best friend in Palma, I wasn’t expecting much. We’d fly over for an extended weekend and I’d help setup and shoot new images for her fashion brand. We stayed at a friend’s family home in Binibeca and when not scouting or shooting, we spend time on the terrace sharing meals and painting with Emma - our friend’s three-year old.
It was that weather where you could wear a t-shirt and jeans in the sun or a sweater in the shade. We took it slow and used our legs to explore the white-washed fishing village where one feels like they are more in Greece than in Spain. Annika took us for a girl’s night out to Cova d'en Xoroi and we stopped along the way to take images in a field of wildflowers framed by Menorca rock walls and wavy wood gates. We commented how it felt more peaceful than home in Mallorca. That the landscape wasn’t as dramatic as Mallorca but that felt good.
I’ve since returned three times to scout villas for Le Collectionist. I’ve transected the island from north to south, east to west. I’ve opened private gates and driven down dirt roads to unparalleled properties. Touring around with Menorcan, French, Catalan owners and property teams who have been more generous with their time and sacred places than I could have ever expected.
The most recent visit had me in the Mahon port, parked behind a client’s two vintage Land Rover’s and walking into his 18th-century townhouse that opened up to five-stories like a clown-car. The previous visit allowed me to swim via a private access of a French Producer after being served lunch by his Parisien chef. And the time before that, the team of a successful French entrepreneur took me on a Jeep safari to his hidden properties that were like seeing an unrealized dream.
This island has something. Perhaps its it own rhythm or pace. A bit a magic dust or energy that completely captivates - evoking more “no fucking ways” from me than uttered elsewhere. Its understated and just plain good.
Franco osterized it, Menorcans preserved it and the French have practically colonised it. I can’t get enough of its special places - from museums, hotels, restaurants, dirt roads and crystal clear calas.
Menorca Recommendations
Hotel: Son Vell Son Blanc or Son Ermità all so good
Walk: Around the palace in Ciutadella and the Port de Mahón
Aperitif: At your rented villa or at Oysters Menorca, Cristobal y Gradinata or Sa Bodega in Mahon for a drink, tapas and people watching – there is usually live music during the summer
Dinner: With our friends at Nonna Bazaar
Night: Cova d'en Xoroi has to be seen
Lunch: Cantina on Illa del Rei & Torralbenc si claro
Beaches: There are countless beautiful beaches from small ones like Cala Macrelleta and Cala Mitjana to mid-size more developed beaches like Son Parc and Santo Thomas to very large ones like Son Bou.
Art & Culture: Hauser & Wirth + Galerie Cayon with its stunning Miro exhibition (predominantly sculpture)