uptempodemonplumsauce: "Was it on hippiebullshit.com?"

...asked Stella about a yogurt vs kefir article I was trying to remember.

Spoiler: I go topless again

September 20, Wednesday

It's another Camí de Cavalls Day! Stella and I ride the bus to the nearby town of Punta Prima so we can walk Section 19 & 20 bringing us back to Maó. As Stella and I wait to board our bus, I run to the bathroom on last time. As I'm unrolling handfuls of toilet paper to stick in my rucksack, I spy a toilet roll on the back of the toilet and steal it. I instantly doubt my value as a human being but I'm in a hurry and we've needed TP in the past and THE BUS IS LEAVING IN 60 SECONDS AND I STILL NEED TO WASH MY HANDS!

I decide I will return any unused portion of the toilet paper roll to the bus station or nearest public place, so it's not so much stealing as borrowing.

Stealing TP = bad karma

Using the bus system in a new city gives me anxiety. I just don't do it enough to feel comfortable, but it's really fucking easy and I feel like a jerk for building it up so much in my head. The ride to Punta Prima should be half an hour. We stop at a few small towns along the way, and I tick them off on my bus schedule just to make sure.

We get to a hotel and the bus driver calls out, "Punta Prima!" I check this stop off on my schedule, knowing our stop is next. I can't tell you what happens next because I've blacked everything until the point I look out the window and see the bus turn in the direction of the "Maó" sign- which means, we're headed back home.

We missed our stop. How?? BECAUSE BUSES ARE HARD... I didn't know you had to hit the STOP button if your stop was The Stop. Our bus is the PUNTA PRIMA BUS. GRRR! Sigh...

Nothing to do w this story, but these are my new avarkas!

Rather than ride all the way back home, we de-bus at the next small town. I'm embarrassed when the bus driver says to us in Spanish, "You have to press Stop to stop." Yeah, thank you.

Stella generously says nothing about walking up and down a very bland street in probably the only very bland town in Spain until our bus returns to take us back to Punta Prima. I, of course, blame myself for stealing a used roll of toilet paper and karmically ruining our morning.

Forty minutes later, we're back on the bus. We HIT THE STOP BUTTON to get to the Punta Prima beach.

Camí de Cavalls Section 19 and 20 is a combined 13 km and takes us from the coastline of the Southern most tip of Menorca to a gorgeous cove at Alcalfar, and then inland between country houses that line the path with olive trees until we find the highway to follow into Maó. It's lovely. The weather is partly cloudy so we never get too hot. My best friend and I talk about everything from public peeing to true crime to dried mango to nothing at all. There's actually a lot of quiet time.

View fm Section 19

When people get quiet, I always wonder if they're bored or mad at me - especially if I'm in charge of the plans, but not Stella. It's nice to be that comfortable with your friend.

Stella walks into Section 20

September 21, Thursday

BEACH DAY!!!!!!!!!!! The last couple days have found me tracking Thursday's weather, because dammit, I want a sunny day, because dammit! I want to go to the beach!

We take the bus to Ciutadella, the other major town on Menorca. It's reported to be prettier (I don't agree, I love Maó), and it's got beautiful beaches nearby. The bus from Maó to Ciutadella is about 45 minutes. Ten minutes from Ciutadella, I begin researching the nearby beaches.

"Nearby" happens to be a relative term. There is only one beach in walking distance. The most beautiful beaches all require another bus ride. I lightening-speed plan our next trip leg to Cala Turqueta, named "Turquoise" for the color of the clear water, as we pull into Ciutadella. We de-bus. The bus driver calls out something about "Next stop blahblah..." but now I'm hyper about getting off busses.

Still annoyed, beer notwithstanding

Too hyper. It takes me five minutes to figure out the bus we want to catch to the beach in fifteen minutes is in a plaza more than half a mile away.

The bus is gone by the time we find the plaza. We buy tickets for the next bus which leaves in an hour. I beat myself up for being a terrible planner and not knowing better Spanish. Stella's response: "We're in Spain!"

Indeed. We drink beer at an outdoor cafe for the next hour.

Cala Turqueta is perfection. The bus drops us at a parking lot and we walk a woodsy path for fifteen minutes until it opens to a clearing that reveals a beach cove of stunning blue water. The sand is fine white grain. The temperature is 75 and sunny. Perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect.

The water is so salty, I couldn't drown if I tried. I'm a fairly weak swimmer and I'm able to glide out to buoys with ease. It's not a nude beach, but this is Europe and when I see other boobs, mine want to come out. So I take my top off and swim.

Cala Turqueta

This isn't spontaneous. I've got to work up to it, and part of my process is informing Stella of my every move before I make it. "I'm going to swim topless!" I announce. She's used to this. It's really not a big deal, but I'm practicing doing things out of my comfort zone and sadly, being topless is one of those things. Used to be, anyway! 😊

Happy place

It's our last night in Menorca and Stella and I have the best dinner of our trip so far at a restaurant called Santa Rita's. This is our second night in a row here, because the food is spectacular. They serve modern tapas, all homemade, and more than a few dishes are Asian fusion. We order so many dishes, I'm actually embarrassed when I list them for our waiter. We clean every plate because we're good girls.

We fly to Madrid tomorrow! I love Menorca and I can't wait to return.