Monday, February 11, 2008

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating




One of those coincidences that seem to follow this blog around. There I was on Saturday mentioning sports tourism, and today in “Ultima Hora” up pops an article about plans to make the Lago Esperanza in Puerto Alcúdia a canoeing centre. This seems like a pretty good idea.

The lake, for those who don’t know it, is the big one in Alcúdia that stretches from Bellevue and The Mile to the boundary with Playa de Muro. The smaller lakes, Lago Menor and Lago Las Gaviotas, are linked to it. It occupies a sizeable chunk of space and, while it may look quite pleasant, for functional purposes it has had limited use. Some years back, there was an attempt to get jet-skiing going on the lake, and that failed primarily because of objections to the noise. Canoeing and rowing, on the other hand, are pretty benign sports, environmentally and in terms of noise pollution, unless one counts perhaps the shout of a coach through a megaphone.

One of the attractions of Esperanza is that it is one of the few salt-water lakes in Spain. This is an attraction for canoeists and rowers because of the enhanced flotation. The plan for the lake includes a general tidying-up and the installation of footbridges. Make it that bit more attractive and it could be an area where people would come just to relax, and to watch those not relaxing. Sitting, for instance, next to the wide Vltava river in Prague on a sunny afternoon and watching the hundreds of rowers is not an entirely disagreeable experience. And were the lake to attract the sort of numbers that the Czech capital does, one could well imagine it would create a neat bit of extra tourist activity.

Another little coincidence is that near to the lake is a new bar on the block. This is called Bailey’s, and here’s the lowdown:

Where: Carretera Arta, Puerto Alcúdia, next to Eroski Syp and near to the Ivory Playa, Platja D’Or and Condesa de la Bahía hotels. It was Michel’s and before that La Belle.

What: Irish café-bar with an at-present snack menu but with, for example, menu of the evening with a British and Irish flavour anticipated.

When: Every day in the season, but hours for the season to be set.

Who: Derek and Trish, and yes they are Irish, so the Irish café-bar tag is deserved (it isn’t always).

Why: Welcome hostelry in the “middle-lands” between The Mile and Playa de Muro, and so away from the bustle of the former. And also, I reckon, a good name. Strong association.

QUIZ
Yesterday – George Michael. Today’s title – part of the title of a 1997 album, the band’s best-known.

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