After the storm

The storm hit us again pretty hard after our hike along Camí de Cavalls, but nothing compared to what was to come. More on that later.

So after spending the day mostly inside the house packing for the move to France, we decided to go back to the windmill restaurant the following day as a little goodbye Menorca dinner. The paella they had was way too good to miss out on so we went again and it was every bit as great as the last time. This time they handed Noah the bill and he gladly “paid.” The staff at that restaurant really deserves a huge shout-out. They are amazing.

We also took a trip to Binibeca and what a cute little village that is! Very much worth a trip. Every single house is white. All white. Even the shingles on the roofs. On top of that the entire village is pretty much a maze with narrow paths and odd turns and corners. The kids had a blast running through them, what a cool place to experience, we will for sure come back.

And then the storm hit again.

We didn’t think too much of it as it has happened on and off the last couple of days. I have been in a lot of storms, heck, I’ve been through tornados in Chicago and more than my fair share of Hurricanes down in Florida, but this was some weird, very weird storm. The ocean was absolutely raving, I am talking there were warnings out for people not to get too close to the shore. However, and this is the weird part I was talking about, about one or two houses away from the beach there was bearly any wind. On top of that, we had blue skies over the ocean as well as over the island. Perfect sunshine, not a cloud in sight, warm weather. Until you turned towards the beach you would never have known that the waves were basically breaking the stone cliffs apart a couple of meters away from you. Weirdest thing I ever experienced.

Around 3pm Chris’ phone got a message from Balearia. Something among the lines of “due to current weather conditions your ferry tomorrow has been canceled. Please try again the following day”.

That would have been all fine and well had we had a place to stay. We were supposed to check out of our Airbnb the day the ferry left, but now we had to stay an extra day and our host informed us that sadly he couldn’t let us stay because he had new guests coming right after we’d left.

He was absolutely amazing though and helped us find options for hotels and even talked to other Airbnb hosts who rented out pet-free places and recommended our dogs so they would let them stay (huge thank you to our host, he really was incredible).

We ended up staying at a hotel only a couple of houses down the road as it had breakfast and dinner as well as a spa included. There are worse things in life than being stranded on a summer sun island in a spa hotel, let me tell you that. I wouldn’t have minded if the ferry had been pushed a couple of more days. We were kind of thinking it would because the receptionist who chatted with Chris told him her son had been trying to come home from the mainland to the island for the last 5(!) days and had finally decided to fly as the ferry kept getting pushed.

We had a great time at the hotel and even met some British people who had lived on the island for several years and gave us a lot of tips for our next stay. Apparently, September/October is the best time to come as all the kids from all the countries are back in school, but the ocean is still warm from the summer sun so it really is a win-win.

The waves looked a little better by morning and the ferry send a message that it was in fact going to leave the island headed for Barcelona, mainland. We figured the storm must have passed so we were all kind of fine with it. Also, it’s not like they give you a choice. You pay in advance so you either go or don’t go and pay double.

The ocean in the harbor was calm so we thought it was fine.

And then we left the harbor.

As soon as we were out in the open water it was a roller coaster ride, with the boat not only going up and down like a ping pong ball but also rolling left and right like some kind of tumbler toy.

About 5 minutes in the staff started walking around with what I can only call “puking bags” for the guest and let me tell you – they were in heavy demand.

This would have all been bad enough, but on top of that Jane has an absolute phobia of all things boat. Especially being on one. She was losing her mind and quick, not even able to get out of her panic attack at all. It was not a fun ride.

I wanna take this time to give a huge shout-out to a Balearia staff member. She took her time to help Jane as best as she could. She moved our entire family to the part of the boat that had the least movement, gave her blankets, kept checking on her every couple of minutes for the entire 9-hour ferry ride, and talked her through the whole thing. She explained to her why the boat was making certain movements and sounds, explained she had worked on boats for decades, and reassured her that – despite her belief – the ferry was not going to sink and she was not doing to drown.

After Chris had told her Jane was autistic, she came back again and explained more to her, apparently knowing very well that kids on the spectrum love facts and reassurance.

Jane was even able to fall asleep for a little bit.

Really, some people are great.

I was very busy just trying to calm her down as well. Other than that I was just sitting in my seat looking forward trying not to pay attention to the fact that I felt my stomach bounce up and down with every wave. Let’s just say that some of us got seasick while others played Sims 4 on laptops and enjoyed the “rollercoaster ride”. We’ll leave it at that.

I can probably go for the rest of my life without that kind of thrill ever again. Is there somewhere where I can request calm waters for boat trips?

Eventually, we made it to the mainland sometime after sunset and drove 30 minutes out of Barcelona to a cute little hotel to crash for the night. I kid you not if I tell you I was still walking like a drunken sailor walking to the hotel room and all I had was water. Apparently, I did not earn my sealegs yet.

The next day was a travel day until we arrived at our house in France. The last house for this travel round, sadly.

We are however really enjoying the hot tub, the peace and quite, and the fact that we are back to baguettes, cheese, and éclairs. We got a fireplace so I am learning to build and maintain a fire, Chris is busy making kindling with an axe outside and the kids are running around outside if they are not in the hot tub.

Today we visited a nice little farmers market and are basically just taking it slow until we have to go back to being home again. I dread the unpacking already.