Saturday 6^th September – Mahón, Menorca (Festes de Gracia 2008)

39:53.543N 4:16.329E

Having gone to bed at a reasonable time we were soon awakened at 1am by the wind returning - whilst not a problem it did mean a disturbed night of sleep.

The current weather forecast means we are probably going to be here a few more days.  However, the good news is that from this evening there is the annual fiesta, Festes de Gracia, here in Mahon lasting three days so there should be plenty to see and do.

This afternoon we decided to go to the supermarket and stock up as a lot of shops will be closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  We saw a Eroski on the way back from Ciutadella on the outskirts of Mahon and went for a trek.  Unfortunately, due to a wrong turn (we had left the map on Pyxis) it felt like we had walked there via Ciutadella by the time we arrived, an hour later! 

We did find some interesting back streets and residential areas on the way, where the roads had already been closed to traffic in readiness for the fiesta – indeed it looked like a street party was already starting and some children were already playing on a couple of bouncy castles in the middle of the street.

We stocked up a bit too much in Eroski.  Trolley was well loaded and we were carrying bags too.  On the way back (much shorter taking the direct route) trolley blew a tyre and by the time we were back at the dinghy both wheels were struggling.

Anyway, back on Pyxis, we put everything away, had a quick bite to eat and headed back to shore for the opening of the fiesta at 8.30pm.  We were a little late arriving at the town hall, around 8.40pm and discovered we’d missed the start – not very Spanish we thought!  The whole evening went precisely to schedule – the opening procession arrived back at the town hall on time, the speeches and the baritone singer started and finished on time ready for the final procession at 10pm – we wonder if it was because of the TV cameras – not the manana approach we’ve come to expect elsewhere.

We have now arrived back at Pyxis and we will try to get some sleep tonight as we don’t think we’ll be able to get much over the next three day as the itinerary shows some activities starting at midnight over the next three days!

Festes de Gracia:  Getting ready for street party

Festes de Gracia:  The start

© Pyxis 2008