The craziest party in the world

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Trip Start May 23, 2008 Previous
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  Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain and Canary Islands
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

mood: exhausted but buzzing

We spent our Saturday morning in Valencia having a picnic breakfast in the beautiful parkland which used to be the old river bed. In the late 1950´s the city suffered terribly when the river overflowed and caused huge flooding, so they decided than rather risk the chance of it happening again they re-routed the river around the city and turned the riverbed into a really beautiful park with running and cycling tracks, sporting fields, playgrounds etc. We sat and ate and watched the people passing by, then wandered around. We only covered a small area of the park, but were very impressed by what we saw.
 
Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to collect our bags and caught the train to the airport. I didnt think to check in my hand luggage to see if i had anything that would be confiscated by security, and still had my tube of vegemite from our breakfast in my bag when we went through, which to my utter discust was taken away and thrown in the bin. But not before the guy waved it in my face to see if i wanted to eat it instead. Yeah right. I was so mad! The flight to Izaba was the quickest flight i have ever been on, half an hour. It felt like nothing. Although we were exhausted from lack of sleep, all 3 of us were pretty pumped! That was until we had to wait over an hour for the local bus to take us to our hotel. By the time we got there we quickly went to the supermarket before it closed, and then crashed out for a few hours of sleep.
 
We woke up at about 7pm and made some dinner.

church in Valencia

The hotel was a little way out of San Antonio, a series of apartment blocks with a couple of pools, a bar, gym and spa, and a tennis/soccer/basketball court. It wasnt 5 star but it was definately quite nice. We were in a triple room which had a fridge and hotplates, so we made some pasta for dinner, then tried to work out the bus systems to get us into San Antonio, and then to Ibiza town. We ended up giving up on the bus and caught a taxi into town instead, where we wandered around and checked out the nightlife. Prior to arriving in Ibiza we had decided which clubs we wanted to go to, and pre-purchased the tickets for that night at the hotel for 47 euro each, only to discover that some of the places in town were offering incredibly amazing prices and we could have saved ourselves all up around 50 euro! Lesson learned.
 
The clubs in Ibiza are incredibly expensive, and the charge usually only covers you for entry, so no drinks or anything is included. But although expensive, you are paying for a show more than anything, so its comparible to seeing a concert back home. The only thing is that you do it every night! And once inside you dont buy drinks, as a tiny bottle of water starts at about 8 euro each, so unless you have a bit of cash to throw around you tend to stay sober. The atmosphere however makes up for the lack of alcohol, it is absolutely crazy.
 
The club that we headed to Saturday night was called El Divino, and was in one of the nicest locations out of all the clubs in Ibiza, right on the waterfront at the port looking back over the old town.

Georgie on our rope mountain

Each night all the clubs have an event on, this particular night was Hedkandi, and it was awesome. There were girls on huge stilts walking and dancing through the crowd, gogo dancers, a guy playing electric drums and the most amazing girl playing the saxophone that i have ever seen. The crowd absolutely loved her. There was a terrace outside with another bar and vip area looking out over the port and the lights of the city, where everyone came out to get some fresh air and take in the amazing ambience.
 
Georgie ended up hurting her ankle so we headed home a little earlier than usual, getting into bed at 6.30am and sleeping till about 2 in the avo. This tended to be the pattern for each night, as everyone tends to turn nocturnal here, going to bed as the sun rises. Sunday we wanted to check out the beach, so we headed back to Ibiza town and lay on one of the local beaches there for a couple of hours, and before we knew it was time to head back and get ready for our second night out. After showers etc back at the hotel we went back into San Antonio and wandered along the port edge to the famous Café Del Mar, the inspiration behind the chillout albums of the same name. The area was magical, well known for its amazing sunsets and laidback culture, and as you walked along the strip the music was pumping and everyone was having drinks or dinner and lapping up the beautiful scenery. We just missed the actual sun setting but got to see the reminants with sky turn into the beautiful shades of red, orange and purple.

Me up so high

 
Alter the sun went down we eyed off the fancy restaurants along the waterfront and then headed to a supermarket to get some supplies for a picnic dinner, which we ate on a bench by the port. It wasnt too impressive, the only bread they had was hot dog rolls, but we bought some pesto, tomatoes, cheese and ham, and feasted on sándwiches. We found a fantastic offer at one of the bars for the club that we wanted to go to, instead of 30euro for a ticket we could pay 15euro for a cocktail and get free entry before 1.30pm, which we had no hesitation in taking up. We spent a little bit of time wandering some of the streets of San An, where there were carnaval rides, markets, artists and bands playing. We also found the most crazy street i have ever been up in my life, full of bars and small clubs with people out the front throwing themselves at you trying to offer you cheap this and free that, asking you where your from or where your heading out to and wanting to sell you tickets to all the clubs. We got to the top of the street and found it so entertaining that we decided to run the gauntlet and walk it all again! I have never walked up a street so intense and crazy as that one. It was absolutely brilliant.
 
At about 12pm we headed to a place called Bar M which was where a free bus was supposed to leave to go to our club, but after waiting for quite a while it became apparent that it was running late and as we had to be there by a certain time. The difference with the club scene here compared to back home is that most clubs tend to be out of the towns, as they take up so much room.

View along park/creek bed

Which means that you rely on taxis or buses to get you out to them rather than just walking. We decided to not risk being late and decided to catch a taxi, and we split 2 between us and a group of scottish guys and girls that were also waiting, who were hillariously funny and entertaining.
 
The club that we went to that night was Amnesia and was a lot bigger than El Divino, located out in a paddock about 5 minutes drive from Ibiza town. That night was the foam party, which was absolute madness! The foam didnt start till about 5.30am, but the place was packed. They had an amazing guy on an electric violin who came out a few times and played on the balcony over the crowd, and they had girls and trannies dancing up a store.  When it came time for the foam, they shoot it out of huge cannons over the crowd, and luckily we happened to be in an area slightly to the back of the main pit, as if we would have been in the middle we would have drowned for sure, especially Georgie as she was tiny! We inhaled so much foam and detergent it was gross, and i dont think it could ever find anything the same at home as it would no doubt be illegal, as once it started there was no escape and you were fully covered in it, we had to close our eyes and cup our hands over our mouths so we could breathe - it was actually a little scary but so insanely fun at the same time. The foam went on for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, and even though we were up steps on a platform above the pit, the foam was up to our knees and when you looked down everyone was practically swimming in a sea of bubbles.

in El Divino

After this they turn on the sprinklers, which was heaps better than the foam and so by the time we walked out we were absolutely soaking wet but still buzzing from the atmosphere. It was wildly insane and the most fun i have had in ages. That was until they kicked us out at about 7am and we absolutely freezed! We hadnt thought to take towels or anything (iditos) and caught the bus back to San An dripping wet. The bus rides were always hilariously fun though, this particular one featured a group of Italian boys who were singing songs like surfing in the usa and dancing around (the bus was packed mind you so this was entertaining in itself) and they had us in absolute hysterics at some points. They were talking to us about Australia and making jokes and so that took our minds off the fact that we were cold, until we reached the bus station and realised that the next bus to our hotel wasnt for another hour and that no taxi driver was going to take us in the state that we were in.
 
So we started out standing outside, which was freezing. Inside the bus station they had the air con on so that was even worse, then we checked the toilets and found our saving grace, the hand dryers. We stood under these to warm up and try and dry our clothes - unsucessfully tried anyway, and waited forever till the bus finally came to take us to bed. We were exhausted and hungry, and eventually made it into bed at 8.30am.
 
Needless to say, we didnt wake up till about 4 on Monday afternoon. We had planned to try and get to one of the beaches on the far side of the island called Bora Bora, but couldnt be bothered with the effort that went into getting the 3 buses that we would need to catch there, plus then get back to get ready to head out, so we lazed around instead by the pool and then headed back into San Antonio to enjoy our last night, stroll around, find the best deal for tickets (there wasnt one, we ended up paying 50euro and got a free cd, that was it), and had some dodgy dinner in a restaurant.

outside terrace

We also had our last helados (icecream) of the trip together, though definately not as good as the gelati in Granada and well overpriced.
 
We decided to take the free bus to the club and luckily this one was not running too late, we met some very funny Manchester boys in the line who made fun of us and our accents and kept calling Sean ´skip´. The club that we went to is called Privilege, and it happens to be the biggest club in the whole world (guinness world record) - being able to hold 11 thousand people... crazy!!! At 50 euro a head, they would be making a killing. The club is huge, and even features a massive swimming pool in the middle! You arent allowed swim in it, though at times i was mighty tempted as the ventilation in the place was rediculously bad and we were sweating something chronic. The night was for the DJ Tiesto, and he was absolutely brilliant, everyone there was there purely to see this guy and when he came out the club went nuts. The lighting show was spectacular, we met a group of aussie guys and danced and messed around with them and the night absolutely flew, before we knew it was 7am and the sun was coming up!
 
We were in bed by 7.30 and got a couple of hours sleep before we had to get up and check out. As i was flying back to Madrid at 3pm i had to catch a bus to the airport, and had to say a really really sad farewell to Sean and Georgie, who were leaving later that night to go to Barcelona. I cannot believe how much fun we had, all up i spent 13 days with them and it will definately be a highlight of my trip.

some of the dancers

We had the craziest time with Juan roadtripping through the south, seeing the sights, and then going nuts in Ibiza. This has to be my absolute favourite thing about travelling, you honestly never know what to expect out of the day, the night that i met them in Seville i couldnt have imagined that i would be spending the next 2 weeks travelling with them and having a ball. It was so much fun and we did so much in such a short time that i am still amazed when i flick back through my photos. Australians are seriously the best people in the world.
 
My flight back to Madrid was resonably boring, i slept almost the whole way! I found the airport in Ibiza entertaining as most people were sleeping, more people then usual at least - i think almost everyone there had been partying as hard as us and now they were wrecked! I managed to get a seat on the plane 4 rows from the front... score. Though i then had to wait for ages at the baggage carousel, it took them at least 30 minutes to get our bags off the plane and all i wanted to do was get to my hostel and sit down! Its odd to be back in Madrid, i have done so much since i left here about a month and a half ago, and now i feel like the end of my spanish adventure is in sight and it makes me kinda sad! Though hopefully i will be back in the not to distant future.
 
 
Random bits and pieces.
 
It was nice to have some time away from the crazyness of sightseeing, as there is little to see in Ibiza apart from the beaches (which arent even that impressive), the inside of the clubs and the back of your eyelids.

the awesome sax player

It feels like you should be ashamed of wasting so much of the day by being asleep, but i wouldnt have had it any other way.
 
You arent allowed to take cameras into the clubs, although we smuggled ours in every night. Some of the clubs are ruthless though, searching though bags and patting down guys especially. At Privilege they were the worst, Georgie got her camera found, but i tucked mine between my boobs and got it in.
 
Ibiza is FULL of people from the UK, to the extent where we didnt meet many aussies at all. Sean made a brilliant observation/generalisation as to the method of spotting them out of the crowd, as they were always the sunburnt ones! It actually got really annoying hearing the accents after a while, i was almost ready to hear spanish again! Saying that though, we had some great times with a heap of them, and i guess i understand why people get sick of all the aussies that have taken over europe haha.
 
It was funny travelling with a brother and sister as it reminded me of all the stupid fights and rivalry that goes on with my sister back home. It actually made me miss it!
 
For a party island, i was supprised by the ammount of families and older people who were in Ibiza. Although there were some older people in the clubs, there wasnt much else to do on the island and i would have thought that they would go somewhere like Majorca or one of the other Balearic islands. Maybe we were too busy partying to notice anything else...
 
Ibiza had the most unbelievable vibe. Everyone was happy, everyone was having a great time and no-one wanted to leave. There were some people who were staying for a week or more and i would have too if i could have. But it does take a HUGE chunk out of your wallet. Be warned. But sometimes you just have to live it up, take a chance and just do it.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

me and my cool sunnies that i stole off some guy	Sean and the hedkandi sign	beach in Ibiza town	beach in Ibiza town
sunset from our apartment balcony	roaming the streets of San Antonio	beautiful sunset over the Mediterranean	Cafe Del Mar
posing with the sign	Cafe Del Mar	looking back down the strip	walking along the waterfront
crazy street that we braved not once... but twice!	foam party at Amnesia	us soaking wet	hanging out in the foam
blowing bubbles	my feet looked like i was wearing fluffy ugg boots	entrance to Amnesia... afterwards	Georgie utilising the bus terminal facilities
sunrise from the bus station	our last dinner - San Antonio	our last Gelati together :(	pub in backstreets of San An
Georgie and me on the bus to Privilege	me and the cool lights in Privilege	amazing light show	amazing light show
go team	Georgie and me and some random Maltese guy	crowd in Privilege	dry ice and Tiesto!!!
we were searching for the sunrise	amazing light show	pool inside Privilege	me and one of the aussie guys... ahhh so much fun!
amazing light show	amazing light show	the team plus Natasha	random group
farewelling Tiesto and Ibiza

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