You will need to enlarge this photo to see what I'm talking about.
The tiny island of Formentera used to be one of my favourite holiday destinations. Very few people knew it existed, and it wasn't easy to reach. If I was looking for peace and quiet in a spectacular location; it was where I went.
Everyone knows of Majorca, Minorca, and Ibiza, but the tiny island of Formentera, to the south of Ibiza, remained a semi-secret.
In the days when I visited, the small bay (above) of Cala Sahona was almost deserted, and the restaurant on the right (with red roof) was no more than a shaded shack with a simple barbecue. Even in the height of summer there were rarely more than a dozen people on the beach.
Now I notice that the beach is littered with parasols, there's hardly room to move, and the small hostel where I used to stay, has since become a large fancy hotel.
The King of Spain used to moor his yacht in the bay, and swim in the crystal clear waters. But these days I expect the smell of Ambre Solaire is overwhelming, and no doubt Pedalos make swimming hazardous.
It's rather saddening to see how much it's changed and become just another package holiday destination; it used to be quite special.
On one of my trips I built quite a large tumulus (or Cairn) on the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea to the right of the picture. It took me two weeks of hard graft to build it; I wonder if it's still there?
Sadly this is what happens when a place is discovered.
ReplyDeleteStill, I had some great times there when it was still quiet.
DeleteMemories can be truly a gift!
DeleteDon't you just hate that? The loss of quiet space to the masses, it's just another (unasked for) reminder that we're getting older. A lovely beach still, does it have a down season when we could visit?
ReplyDeleteI haven't been back for a few years, but no doubt September would be good.
DeleteWhat a beautiful place, a little crowded (now), but the sea looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
It always was one of the most beautiful Mediterranean islands. Simple, peaceful, crystal clear waters, hardly any vehicles, and only one way in and out. Lovely.
DeleteA beautiful location, I can see why you enjoyed it so much. White sands and sparkling water are always a winner with me.
ReplyDeleteWe spent four years out in Dubai, way back in the early 1980's. You couldn't pay me enough money to visit there now; the beaches and quiet places we loved have been swallowed up by hotel chains and tourists, and so it goes.
An old college chum of mine was responsible for designing some of those huge hotels. Not my cup of tea.
DeleteI like empty beaches, with nothing on them except what nature provides. My best holidays with the children were spend on such beaches.....I used to pitch a small tent up in the middle of the beach which we used as shelter from the wind, because these hols were on the beaches of Wales where the wind doth howl.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter regularly visits a small island off the Queensland coast. I'm always amazed to see how deserted the beaches are. They have the place almost to themselves.
DeleteBeautiful place. I just asked myself if i shall ever visit again some of the places that i used to like so much.
ReplyDeleteI like to think I will, but not for a while.
DeleteYour cairn might well still be there....but not as you built it.... it will have grown! There is a very strong tradition of adding stones to cairns 'for luck'!
ReplyDeleteIt was in fact a way of making sure that the cairn, usually a waymarker or sighting point, never was lost. There's many a cairn that I have added to!
Yours may well now have a story 'attached'.....
I did wonder that. It's almost imperative to add stones. I built it quite well, it must have been about 8 ft high.
DeleteEspecially as Formentera is/was a fishing island.... your cairn is now the burial site of a C17th fisherking!
DeleteI'll place flowers, when I'm next there.
DeleteTwo weeks spent building a cairn. Were you travelling alone?
ReplyDeleteYes. I went to relax.
DeleteWe went to Amalfi in 2009 and the little town next to it, Atrani, was as it had been for hundreds of years, unspoilt and beautiful with a tatty little bar on the beach ..... now, it's all been touristified and has lost all of it's charm. Such a shame but most of these places rely on tourism so it's understandable I guess. I went to Tenerife when I was 17 and there was nothing there ..... it's now covered in hotels, and places that sell English breakfasts, fish and chips and pizzas !!!!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteI remember flying into Palma airport in about 1960; the buildings were just corrugated iron shacks. Very different now!
DeleteSounds like so many places here. I agree with Donna. You must definitely visit slightly out of season..and hope there aren't piles of rubbish.
ReplyDeleteI used to visit Kos in the summer.... I wouldn't now, but for different reasons.
DeleteNothing stays the same, especially in these times.
ReplyDeleteWe just have to look harder.
DeleteAbout 40 years ago I had a lovely week in Ibiza. There was police van with a flat tyre gathering dust outside the police station. It never moved, or showed any signs of wanting to. There was no trouble or any sign of any. I only saw one drunk. A pie eater clad in a football shirt and shorts on his way to his bed, singing and arguing with God and the world. A Brit, naturally.
ReplyDeleteThe only one of the islands that I haven't visited is Menorca. The other three I've always managed to find quiet spots, even if it meant riding around on a moped. Some of the mountain villages on Majorca are totally without tourists, and are wonderful.
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