Ibiza
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2008
1
13
39
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Ibiza,
Balearic Islands,
Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, July 25, 2008
Getting ready
. I met up with Jo at our hotel room in San Antonio. It was great to see a familiar face, and we've been having lots of fun. Everyone here seems to either bright red or deeply tanned and be from England, mainly from the North. I rarely hear Spanish being spoken. All the promoters and workers at the clubs were English. Spain is very brown. It seems so dry and desolate when flying overhead. Dryer than Australia. I think a lot of people in Europe think Australia is a desert.
We've had no time to sleep over the weekend - we have packed a lot of things into 2 nights. On Friday, we spent the afternoon watching the sun set at Café del Mar (to a large round of applause by hundreds of onlookers), and drinking cheap, delicious sangria (1 euro for a carton). Then we walked around while promoters tried to get us to come to their clubs and bars by offering us free cocktails, free transport there and back, cheap or free entry.
We managed to get into Amnesia for Manumission, the most popular party on a Friday, for about 35 euros instead of the 60 we expected. The clubs are very expensive but they are worth it for the experience. The music in Amnesia was definitely not fantastic, really boring, repetitive, minimal house. I felt like the same song was on all night. Drinks were ridiculous - a tiny bottle of water was 8 euros ($12). They don't serve tap water at the bar. The show made the night though. There was always something to look at - naked dancers, gymnasts and theatre
Messy room
. They hung off the rafters or on elevated stages. Some were pulling razor blades from various orifices. The staff were selling "happy gas", where they filled up balloons with air and sold them to people for 5 euros (approx $8). In doing so, they were able to scam lots of clubbers due to the placebo effect, and at the same time provide an effective way to push drugs (inside the balloons). We stayed there until about 6am, and then took a bus home to try to fit in a few hours of sleep. Ibiza is very hot in summer, not soft like Paris or England. Our hotel has no air-conditioning, and an extremely noisy, useless fan. We can't have it on while we sleep due to the noise, it woke me up as it was penetrating my dreams, sounding like the music at Amnesia. I didn't get much sleep because I needed to open the window, so the room was hot and full of light. I hope our place in Barcelona will be sleep friendly.
Due to eating unhealthily the previous day, we had a feast the next day for lunch. We had seafood paella, prawn cocktail salad and gelato by the beach in Ibiza town. this part of Ibiza reminded me of the touristy south of Thailand, around the Krabi province. Thailand is much, much cheaper, though they donīt have the superclubs. Next, we went to Bora Bora, a beach party near Ibiza Town. It was full of extremely attractive, tanned people dancing around, wearing very little clothing. It seemed to be where models like to come to party. I lay on the beach while Jo did some hooping nearby
9
. Two women were dancing around in g strings and licking each others nipples, a small crowd of men cheering and taking photographs surrounding them. They were obviously having a great time! Why not, itīs Ibiza. We got a table at Cafe Del Mar, and we were able to see the sunset with music from Cafe Del Mar playing in the background. It was bigger and better than the day before, and we sat back and watched with a Mojito and chatted to some South Africans and Australians (Perth), who were very nice. Australians donīt usually seem interested in meeting other Australians while travelling, but these girls were very friendly and entertaining. We had dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant, and had patatas bravas and garlic prawns. So fresh and delicious. Iīm loving spanish food. Iīm going to have a spanish night when I get back, with Paella, Tapas and Sangria.On our last night in Ibiza, we were incredibly tired but decided to push on and make the best of our time there. I forced myself to go to see hedkandi at El Devino. At first I just wanted to be in bed, and was so tired that I could barely stand up. The club was completely packed, with people pushing and shoving everywhere, and barely any space to stand, let alone sit down. I think it is very important for clubs to have a chillout room, and enough space for people to sit down and chill out and talk. This was the clubīs major flaw. The music was fun though, and soon my feelings of intense displeasure left me and I danced until around 6 when we headed home
Beach by Cafe Del Mar
. We discovered that the tap water in Ibiza is salt water, from the sea. Weīd been drinking it all night and didnīt notice! So if you want to go to a club, you have to buy them for 8 euros ($12) each, and keep buying more. They are tiny bottles, and you can down one in 2 gulps. We met some guys from Manchester, who sounded like Ian from Shameless. Theyīd been in Ibiza for 3 months, their lives a continual party. I donīt think my brain cells could handle that. We spent the next morning shopping and packing. Packing is getting harder every time, as my shoe collection has increased from 3 pairs to 8 in just a few weeks. I am banned from buying any more! I also bought a shiny gold bikini (not the g string version, which seems to be preferred here).Our flight home was a mish. Never fly Vueling airlines. This was the airline I was complaining about in the last post. It was expensive, but still sold water on board. Too bad if you donīt have any money and are just about to pass out from their lack of airconditioning. The plane was like a sauna, and after 3 days of no sleep I was feeling very spaced out. Not only that, we had to queue up to get on their stupid plane about 6 times and they didnīt give us a gate number. They were delayed by an hour and a half, so we had to wait in the overpowering afternoon heat, wanting sleep, food and aircon desperately.
Next stop, Barcelona! Photos coming for this post soon, canīt find a computer to upload to yet.
Comments
Ibiza
Sounds like you had an action packed time in Ibiza - Your flight sounded like torture - might be worthwhile looking at catching a fast train in future - they say it is quicker from Paris to London (140 mins) than flying when you add in all the waiting around and security checks!
so fun!@
So jealous! and I am definately coming to your Spanish Party- mmmm Sangria!!
music
Yeah the music in Ibiza has changed a lot. More minimal/techno sound lately.