At La Mola, the immense fortress that guarded the entrance to the strategic port of Mahon, or Mao in modern rendering, on Menorca, it is easy to feel echoes of the past. 

As the temperate island wind buzzes over the solitude of fields of flowers, this stone edifice reminds one that Menorca was strategic in the battle for domination of the Mediterranean between France and Spain on one side, and England on the other. The island, its deep inlet harbor at Port Mahon, and its impregnable fortifications were handed over to Spain in 1783 by the British in the Treaty of Paris.

It’s easy to image Captain Aubrey and his essential friend Maturin looking down from the heights on the HMS Surprise in harbor at Port Mahon, as in Master and Commander, the first book in the inimitable naval series by Patrick O’Brian, not knowing this would soon be enemy territory.

Of course, it is possible to forget about history, and just fool around, as in the “selfie” below.