Island life

One of the reason why I came here is that I was attracted by the idea of living in a little community and precisely on a island. Partly because I was fascinated by the idea of living near the sea (I've always lived in northern Italy, in big cities, surrounded by mountains), partly because I believe that the reality of islands is very different from the mainland one. And since I've been here I'm noticing some differences and curious (for me) things, indeed.

One of the things that first changes, living in a so little island, is your perception of distance.

From end to end of the island (Ciutadella - Mahon) it takes 45 minuts by car, more or less like going from Torino to Chivasso. But here looks so far, you know, it's at the other end of the island!

If in Torino was normal to me walk twenty minutes to reach any point in the centre of the city, here walking more than five minutes to go somewhere sounds crazy. Everything is so ridiculously close that paradoxically, reaching by foot any place that isn't right around the corner looks impossible.

On the island there aren't trains. And it makes sense, actually, because for so short distances a railway is not really necessary, but it's weird to me thinking that there is not even one, anyway.

Another thing pretty rare in Menorca are the trafficlights. Due to an admirable ecologic choice of energy saving, roundabouts have been prefered to traffic lights. So at each road cross there is a roundabout. It's full with roundabouts!

Here the influence of natural elements is higher than on the mainland. For exemple if there are storm and rough sea that effect the navigation, the ships with importation supplies can't dock and supermarkets remain short with products.

The winds that constantlly blow on the island effect the sea as well and it's good to learn to know them. For exemple the wind from the south brings jellyfishes to the south coasts, so if you want to bath in those days, it's better to go in the northen beaches. And viceversa, if Tramontana is blowing is better to go to the south ones. 

As I have already mentioned, the island is rather flat, has no mountain reliefs, and that's the reason why it's so exposed to the winds. The highest peak, which is not even a mountain but a hill (358 m), is Monte Toro, located right in the center of the island and visible almost from every point of the island. From there you can see the whole island profile as well and, in the very clear days, Mallorca too.

On the island there aren't many freshwater springs and so the tap water is not potable. To have to buy water is pretty crazy for me. I'm not used to it and I constantly run out of water.

I thought it would be easy to learn Spanish by living here. But actually it is pretty difficult to have the occasion to heard and speak Castillan. I mean, everyone knows it, but they mostly speak Catalan, or more precisely Menorcan (menorquí), which is a little different. Every island has its own dialect  (menorquí, mallorquí, eivissenc, formenterer), and it's quite a mess. 

A funny word that Menorcan people use a lot is idò that came from the English I do, and they use it as an emphatic affermative expression. Menorca used to be a British colony, so English language affects somehow the island dialect.

Mahon port