Minorca Babymoon!

This past Spring we planned a trip to Minorca for early September, hoping that it would be a "babymoon" vacation and our last Europe trip during our time in NY. And it worked out perfectly! Meg was in the middle of her 2nd trimester, the perfect time to travel (and fly for 8+ hours!). Minorca is a small island off the eastern coast of Spain in the Mediterranean. It's part of the Balearic Islands which include the better-known Ibiza and Mallorca. Minorca has remained relatively undeveloped and has a quieter way of life than the neighboring islands with an emphasis on it's natural beauty. The Balearic Islands are part of Spain's recently controversial Catalonia region and the island has a unique "Minorqueno" dialect, a mix of Catalán and Spanish. 

"You're going where?"

We headed to JFK for the overnight flight to Madrid before getting on a much smaller plane for the quick flight to Minorca.

One looooong terminal. From orange pillars....

....all the way to blue, where our gate was

Flying in to Máhon, the capital city of Minorca

We got to the hotel, Meliã Cala Galdana, in the afternoon and Meg wasted no time in changing into a suit and enjoying the warmth of the sun and the sounds of the ocean on the balcony. The hotel had multiple restaurants to choose from and that night we enjoyed an outdoor dinner at the Italian spot.

We awoke to a gorgeous day the next morning and were amazed by the stunning water! The hotel had an activities schedule for people who wanted to exercise outside of the gym with an instructor so we picked a few classes we wanted to do over the course of the week. 

Gregg's favorite yoga pose

After yoga, we wanted to hike to a beach about a mile west of the hotel that we had heard great things about from our airport driver and the concierge. Interesting fact about Minorca's history, as a way to protect the island from invaders over the centuries, the locals built a trail, the Camí de Cavalls (Horse Road) along the coast of the entire island so they could raise a defense force quickly. The trail remains protected today and is used for leisure or access to remote coves and beaches. 

Cala Macarelleta, our destination, in the background

Took the incredible view as an opportunity to announce: "We're having a girl!!"

Can't tell you how many times we said to each other: "Look at that WATER!!"

Hiking back in to Cala Galdana (our hotel is the giant white building) after a long day at the beach and went straight to the pool to relax with a cool refreshing drink

Went for a walk through the adjacent neighborhood in Cala Galdana and loved the traditional style of the homes, especially the terra cotta tile gutters

Another day, we took a spin class (Gregg's first time!) and enjoyed getting our butts kicked! After breakfast, we decided to hike east to another cove and beach, Cala Mitjana.  That night we had another wonderful dinner at the Level Restaurant which had traditional Mediterranean cuisine with Spanish flavor.

Small aviary on the hotel grounds

A group of daredevils lined up to cliff dive while we joined the "judges" treading water

Midway through the week was Gregg's 29th birthday so we celebrated that evening by going on a boat cruise along the coast! Our guide was a local biologist who knew every cave and cove for miles. The coastline was absolutely breathtaking and we got to do some snorkeling at a couple of the stops. So much fun!

Gregg got a local beer and the "Minorca pizza", made with 2 well-known local products: Mahon cheese and Minorcan sobrassada, their equivalent of sopressata.

There's a goat in that cave! We couldn't see how it possibly could've got there from the sheer cliff but our guide said it's actually a very common sight. 

The last day we wanted to go back to Cala Macarelleta again because we loved it so much the first time. Later we lounged at the pool cabana then enjoyed one more breath-taking sunset on the balcony before another delicious dinner.

Awesome Euro-style haircut :)

It was a fantastic, relaxing week! Exactly what we were hoping for for our babymoon. Now we get to focus on getting our apartment ready for the new roommate! :P