Menorca Archives - life out the hive

The Real Menorca - Authentic Menorca Cheese, Wine and the Somni Menorca Menorca is becoming more and more popular as the years go on. The Somni Menorca and Menorca Cheese tours are great ways to get a feel of the true nature of Menorca and its traditional values. This quiet island is partnered with the likes of party central Ibiza and well-established Mallorca. Due to political and historical policies, Menorca has been an island less easy to commercialise hence the reason for its wonderful authenticity. The island still remains very traditional and a great place to relax, however in recent years more commercialisation has gone on so this may not last. Companies such as Thomson offer great packages for families in some great locations including Cala Galdana one of our favourite areas to stay. Flights to the capital Mahon are readily available with lots of choice on where to stay, villa rentals or hotels are in so many different areas of the island offering different sorts of holiday experiences. Menorca is still a popular island so you will see crowds in the summer holidays but if you go out of these times you will see a much quieter more authentic Menorca. Somni Menorca When we visited the Somni Menorca for the first time we decided to do a VIP tour which gave us access to the stables, food and drink and grandstand seats, although if you’re just interested in the show then this option is also available in the evenings. It’s certainly worth the extra to see how these horses are cared for and the wonderful open fields they gallop around in. I can imagine when watching the show without any sort of knowledge about the care and effort that goes into these animals, it’s easy to feel sorry for them parading around an arena. Each trainer has a close relationship with their horse and you can see they truly love these animals as friends. After the stables tour we got to watch a show and see them in action, it was simply amazing to see what these animals can do and I had great respect for the strength and skill of both trainer and horse. After the show we got to get up close with the horses and have some pictures taken, all in all, a great experience for anyone and especially families as the children seem to love it. Mahon Cheese and Wine Tour If you have read some of my other blog posts then you will probably know I enjoy my food. Cheese is something I’ve always loved having spent many summers in France with endless amounts of cheese and bread. Mahon is famous for a few things including one of the worlds deepest natural harbours, mayonnaise and of course gin. One item, however, is top of my list and it’s the wonderfully creamy taste of Mahon cheese. This Menorcan delight is protected and has specific rules when manufacturing it. It must first be made in the place of origin and manufactured in traditional ways. You can get these cheeses in a variety of maturity’s some of the longest being 9 months and the shortest creamier tasting being around 21 days. During our stay, we were able to go to the farm "Hort Sant Patrici" where these cheeses are manufactured and get an idea of how they are made and all the different tastes. There is also the opportunity to do some wine tasting as these go both hand in hand. The overall experience of an authentic Menorca cheese factory was really great, it was exciting to see something different and be able to eat some wonderful Mahon cheese. The farm is located around 1km from Ferreries and also has a hotel and restaurant. It is a stunning location and more than cheese will entice you to visit this beautiful location. Menorca is built on tradition and these two experiences really sum up what a wonderfully authentic place Menorca is. Its worth visiting whilst this authentic feel still exists or even go out of season to experience island life as its meant to be. There are lots of other sights to see all across the island including Mahon the capital and Ciutadella the once previous capital, click the links to read about our days out in these wonderful locations.