Best Activities in Menorca

Hello there, I hope you're all enjoying this late summer as best as you can. It's a difficult year but we should never lose our hope and stay positive that better times are coming. To me personally, one of the hardest part of this year was not being able to travel. As you know I live on an island in the Mediterranean called Mallorca and I love living here cause my life feels like I'm constantly on vacation. However, every now and then it's nice to get away for a bit. One of my biggest passions is traveling, exploring new countries and their landscapes, cities, cultures and food. So this year was a bit tough for me in this regard. I spent a week in the Maldives at the beginning of the year and it was an amazing trip but that was about it for this year. So my boyfriend and I took two short island escapes this year to our neighbor island Menorca which I love so dearly. Menorca to me is like a vacation from Mallorca. It's more quiet, laid-back and more virgin. And even though it's a small and relaxed island there are thousands of things to do! I picked a few of my favorites for this post, so here we go.

Best Brunch in Menorca

My boyfriend and I started our second two-day trip to Menorca this year with an amazing brunch at Quitapenas Menorca. Our friend picked us up from the ferry in the morning and we went straight to Biniali, where this unusual restaurant is located. They call themselves a 'chiringuito de campo' which is an open-air restaurant in the countryside. I found this place on Instagram and because their food looked so good we decided to give it a try. And let me tell you, we were amazed by the place! Quitapenas really does what its name promises: It takes away your stress and pain. The restaurant is such a beautiful, laid-back place with so many details and cool retro vibes. You really do feel carefree when eating here. And their food, seriously, I haven't eaten such a delicious brunch in a long time! At Quitapenas you can expect healthy, colorful, tasty and surprising food. I kicked off my meal with a yummy matcha smoothie followed by an avocado and carrot hummus toast, both delicious! The boys tried toast with salmon, avocado and popcorn and benedict eggs with beetroot salsa. Omg, it was all so yummy! We ended up sharing our plates and I loved each and every one. For the sweet touch we ordered a French toast that came with vanilla cream and bacon, ugh I wanted to lick the plate. Never has a restaurant surprised me so much. Thank you for an amazing brunch, Quitapenas Menorca, we will surely come back! 

Next Stop Binibeca

When visiting Menorca I always love coming to Binibeca. It was one of the first places I visited on this island (see the post here) and I fell in love with it back then. Binibeca is such a charming little town with its whitewashed houses and narrow, winding alleys. It's just a five-minute drive from Quitapenas and other beautiful little towns like Binisafuller. You can spend an hour here or two, depending on how many photos you take, haha. You can also go for a coffee here or just chill and wander this magical, white little town. It's up to you!

Cova d'en Xoroi, a truly magical Experience

We spent a relaxed afternoon at our friend's home and decided to go for a sunset drink at the Cova d'en Xoroi. Now I have to be honest, you better plan your visit of this 'cave club' in advance (you can even buy tickets online) because otherwise you may have to wait in line for over an hour like we did that day. We caught the last sunrays just in time before the sun eventually set because we really had to wait that long before they would let us in. Once inside though, you will not be disappointed. The Cova d'en Xoroi is an impressive club located in a natural cliff with several tunnels and terraces on which you can enjoy spectacular sea views day and night. It really is a unique place in Menorca (and mabye the world) that you should definitely visit when coming to this island. We were lucky because that day they had a live concert with an amazing duo that made the setting feel even more magical. Sipping rosé and listening to 'Your Song' by Elton John in a cave right next to the open sea, is there anything more romantic really?

S’Albufera des Grau Natural Reserve

On our second day of this trip it was a bit grey and cloudy so decided not to head to the beach directly but go for a relaxing walk in the natural reserve of S’Albufera des Grau which covers more than 5,000 hectares in which a large variety of animals and plants live. We have a similar natural reserve in Mallorca, just ten minutes from where we live, and we love going there for walks in nature. It just helps you disconnect from daily life, which can be stressful at times, and reconnect with Mother Nature. Miguel and I went for a two-hour walk with a picnic stop in between and we saw only three persons in the entire park. It was beautiful to have this calm, soothing place all for ourselves... and some turtles and birds. 

Paella in Sa Mesquida

We ended our trip with a relaxing break at the beautiful beach of Sa Mesquida which our friend had recommended. The beach was absolutely amazing. Almost empty, surrounded by lush dunes, with golden sand and crystal clear water, what else could we have asked for? We spent a quiet hour here and swam a bit before meeting our friend for lunch at the nearby Cap Roig Restaurant. We ordered their seafood paella for lunch which was heavenly! The restaurant offers stunning views of the Sa Mesquida bay and surrounding cliffs. All in all, it was a short but very sweet trip to Menorca. We have discovered many new places, tried new restaurants and were beyond happy with all of them. A perfect island escape <3

Vietnam Diary - Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay

Happy Monday, my friends! I hope you all had a good start of the week. What have you been up to this weekend? I've pretty much stayed at home because we're currently doing some renovation on our terrace that needed to be prepared. Furthermore, my dad is here in Mallorca so I'm spending some time with my family. Enough said, here's a new post about our trip to Vietnam.

What to do on Cat Ba Island

Today's post is about Cat Ba Island, our last stop before Hanoi where we would end our trip. We chose to stay on Cat Ba Island because we wanted to see the famous Ha Long Bay and the island seemed to be a good option to spend a few days in the area without having to book an expensive bay cruise. Although the weather wasn't too good we were very happy with our choice. Cat Ba Island is quite small but there are lots of things to do. You can choose between various boat cruises, go hiking, visit a natural reserve and try yummy food at loooads of different restaurants. As many other places in Vietnam we had visited before, Cat Ba Island was 'under construction'. Many hotels and restaurants are currently being built there so we were lucky to catch the island in a 'still bit more virgin' state. 

On our first day we just walked around a bit to check out the area, had some heavenly dinner and booked a boat cruise for the next day. One place you should definitely check out for breakfast is Casa Bonita which you can see in the first two pics. It's a lovely multilevel café that serves delicious bowls, all kinds of avocado toast and other healthy breakfast options. We also tried their tea because it sounded so good on the menu and we were surely not disappointed. It's made with fresh ingredients like lychee, jasmine flowers and nectarine, sooo delicious!

Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay Boat Cruise

Our second day was all about exploring Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay by boat. We booked a tour with Cat Ba Eco Tourist the night before. A day cruise from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm cost us only about 14€ per person and we were super happy with our organizer because they held all their promises. We got picked up at our hotel around 8 am and were then brought to a ship waiting for us in a small harbour. We were lucky with our group of about 30 people, it was a nice mix of fun and relaxed tourists of all ages and from different countries. The tour mainly consisted of cruising around different areas of the two famous bays, visiting floating villages, stopping here and there for swimming and snorkelling, a surprisingly very tasty and elaborated lunch, a kayak tour and a visit to Monkey Island. I mostly enjoyed the kayak tour because we had the chance to get around by ourselves and explore. Also, the water was super calm that day so it was easy for us to paddle around the huge rocks that disappeared in the mist, a truly magical setting. 

I've read thousands of things about Halong Bay before (about rip-offs, horrible cruise experiences, tourist masses etc.) and have to say, I was very happily surprised that our cruise didn't come close to what I had expected. There were only very few other tourist boats, so no annoying noises or crowds, the food on our boat was excellent, the staff was nice and the little excursions we did were fun and exciting! In addition, the whole tour was topped off with breathtaking natural surroundings, what more can you ask for? All in all the thirty of us spent a fantastic day on our cruise ship, and we even went for dinner with a French couple we met on the boat. Thank you, Vietnam, for another magical experience!

Vietnam Diary - Bai Dinh Temple and Trang An Boat Tour

Hi there, everyone. I hope you all had a great start of the week with little stress and more fun and relaxation. I just got back from a short trip to Germany and finally have a new post for you about our second day in the beautiful Ninh Binh.

Bai Dinh Temple

We started our second day in Ninh Binh quite late since we were a bit exhausted from the night before that we spent on the train. We left our hotel around 11am or so to go explore the Bai Dinh Temple that our hotel had recommended. Since we hadn't seen any bigger temple in Vietnam until then we decided to give it a try. We passed loads of green fields, watched a few locals while they were working and some peaceful water buffalos grazing on that misty morning. After a 20-minute scooter ride we finally reached the entrance of the temple complex where we had to park our vehicle to walk the rest. The moment we reached the site I was totally amazed by its size and peacefulness. 

The Bai Dinh site is a multilevel complex of Buddhist temples on Bai Dinh Mountain and offers a wonderful cultural but also spiritual experience. You can admire large well-maintained gardens, a tall pagoda, a bell tower and various temples there. The latter are home to numerous impressive, beautifully carved Buddha statues that are visited and worshipped by spiritual tourists who bring offerings of all kinds. I was also astonished at the number of golden Buddha figures adorning the endless staircases that led up to the temples. My boyfriend and I spent several hours at the temple complex because it was so huge and I wanted to see every little corner of it. Visiting Bai Dinh was by far our most beautiful spiritual experience in Vietnam. I felt so connected to the people visiting the temples as well as to their religion and felt so peaceful and grounded simply looking at the Buddhas' happy faces. I recommend this site to any Vietnam visitor, just the sizes of the complex and the Buddha statues are already worth a visit!

Trang An Boat Tour

After exploring the Bai Dinh temple complex for a few hours we headed to the area of Trang An to take a boat tour there. We chose this tour because the boat excursions in Tam Coc seemed to be much more touristy and more crowded. We opted for a three-hour boat tour that would take us through various caves and stunning nature. And we were not disappointed. For less than 10 Euros per person we had a fantastic time with our Vietnamese captain and another Slowenian visitor who shared the boat with us. The landscapes of the Trang An area are simply breathtaking and have an even more magical feel when it's misty outside. Huge mountains arise from the river, covered with plants and trees. The sky seems to touch the water while the fog creates an absolute silence. The caves you pass are long and dark but totally safe and well equipped with several lights so you can admire the rock formations. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our boat excursion in Trang An (despite some other noisy tourists occasionally passing by our boat) and it left us so tired that we only had a yummy Banh Mi sandwich that night and went off to bed...