ChilliCoco
New Member
Once upon a time in the year 2012 in a crazy town called Las Vegas, I met an English girl at a backpacker's hostel who told me all about this musical mecca called Ibiza. This is when the dream began. One year later I ventured forth from my home in Australia and had the most magical and musical time of my life. I travelled with my Belgian friend who I had met in New York the year before.
Like those who came here before me, I live for dance music of all shapes and forms. I don't discriminate against genres - if it moves me, I love it.
My friend was not particularly into dance before we came to Ibiza, but he was open-minded and up for some fun (of course, after Ibiza he is now a massive dance fan). I booked our hotel and almost all of our party tickets in advance via Spotlight, which I highly recommend as it made everything super easy. It also meant not having to worry about budgeting for clubbing nights while we were there.
Before I get into this virgin review, let me just say - if you love clubbing, love music, love life and have an open mind and open heart - go to Ibiza. I firmly believe that there is nothing even remotely like it anywhere else in the world.
Our Arrival on the Promised Land
It is four nights since I arrived in London from Australia. That glorious day I wake up at around 5.30am and travel by train to Belgium where I meet my friend who gives me a personal tour of the main sights of Brussels before our flight.
At about 8:00pm we arrive in Ibiza (surreal!) and the sun is still shining as we take a taxi to Hotel Puchet in San Antonio. We are starving so we walk to an awesome tapas restaurant that my friend had googled, which was located approximately in the middle of nowhere in a secluded part of San An.
Night One - Espuma (Foam Party!) - Amnesia
Upon our return to the hotel, we have a much needed disco nap (helped by the bottle of wine we downed at dinner time) and then drink San Miguel beer on the balcony of our room pretending to enjoy the not-so-beautiful view of other people's balconies. Then, with San Miguel in hand, we walk fifteen to twenty minutes to the bus station to find one of the famous disco busses. When we arrive at Amnesia it's around 2.30am to 3.00am and it's a breeze to get in with our tickets.
First off we find the Terrace where the 'La Troya' party is in full swing, so we get straight to the point and head right into the dance floor and get moving. The lasers are out of this world and there is so much happening all around with a sexy devil dancing up on stage and an evil-looking witch prancing around.
The music is high-energy, hard-hitting, tech-house. I love it and I can't wipe the smile off my face the whole time. The beats are so mad that we stay and dance our feet off before leaving to check out the main room.
The ice cannon in the main room shocks you the first time it blasts down over you with no warning. Those few seconds with the music pumping while the cold smoke wraps around you and blinds you are just blissful and it's impossible not to smile and laugh like a maniac.
Next minute, an electric violinist and an electric saxophone player appear on stage and start tearing the house down with their wicked playing. A moment later my friend is tapping me on the shoulder and turning me around, because the musicians are now standing right behind us! Somehow, I've ended up in the front row of a circle that has formed around them as they play along to the beat of the DJ, song after song! At that very moment I distinctly remember thinking to myself with glee - 'I'm in Ibiza! I'm really here!'. Just when I think things can't get any better, the ice cannon blasts down again and I scream like a kid. To add to the fun, a giant robot starts dancing around the dance floor, getting jiggly with random girls.
After non-stop dancing we go to rehydrate with an eleven euro teeny tiny bottle of water. It's almost 6:00am and I'm hanging out for the foam to start. We're already exhausted after a massive day and my friend wants to go, but there's no way in hell I'm leaving before the main event!
Luckily, five minutes later, the foam hype starts. At that stage we're situated on the step on the edge of the dance floor, looking out over the crowd. A row of bikini-clad girls parade onto the balcony above while "Hot Stuff" plays (it's time to embrace the cheesiness) and a Spanish dude in white pants with long hair starts to hype up the crowd. Instantly, my tiredness vanishes - I'm excited again! They play some cheesy favourites to wind us up like, "We will rock you", and the crowd does this Spanish chant that sounds like something you'd hear at a football game.
Finally, the countdown begins - Tres! Dos! Uno! Espumaaaaaaaaaa! The foam canons blast and so does….Gangnam style. Hey, like I said - embrace the cheesiness. We're here to have fun, not to be music snobs!
As the cannons erupt a hurricane of foam sprays out over the crowd. It's bubbly chaos. I'm absolutely buzzing now and so is every single person around me! I take a video of the foam shower on my phone for five seconds, then I tuck it away safely and say to my friend, "Shall we go in?!", and we get amongst it. Everyone is already so slimy so we easily slither through the packed crowd into the middle.
We can barely see a thing and start to instantly choke on the foam as it gets all in our eyes and mouth. But damn this is fun! Since we can't see and it's difficult to breathe, what do we do? We join in with everyone and start jumping up and down to the music and have the time of our lives!
It soon becomes apparent that the foam is actually lethal to eye balls - it stings like crazy. I wipe and wipe at my eyes but each time I wipe the foam away a new glob lands on me. After dancing blindly for a while, I decide to open my eyes to take a look around at the mayhem. What I see is hilarious - every single person around me, including the shirtless, gorgeous muscle hunks, are also relentlessly wiping away at their stinging eyes. Such a random sight!
After a few minutes the foam is already up to my waist - it's now a gigantic pool of bubbles. We retreat to the edge of the dance floor and find a spot where we can continue to dance in the foam without getting it in our eyes. As I dance on like a crazy woman, a man on the balcony gets my attention and offers me a pair of big goggles and throws them down to me - a very happy moment!
The music tonight was mainly bubblegum-poptastic tunes. I was psyched when they played 'Internet Friends' by Knife Party because I do love me some crazy dub step. The foam eventually subsides, but the music keeps pumping and those left on the dance floor (which is much less crowded now) are still dancing on - my kind of people. Soon afterwards, a dude on the balcony hoses the crowd off while everyone raises their hands begging to be sprayed, so we join in the fun!
I was still going strong, not even close to slowing down, but when it was nearly 7:00am, my friend couldn't make it any longer, so we left. In his defence though, when there is great music pumping loudly I pretty much have limitless energy and happiness! I'm yet to meet my match! When we get outside the sun is shining brightly and it is well and truly day time. It was a brand new day and we were no longer Ibiza virgins!
My friend decided to do business with one of the, shall we say, 'unofficial', taxi drivers. Bad idea! After agreeing to a fifteen euro trip we walk to his bomb of a car and hop in. Then he confirms - "Fifty. Five, zero. Right?". And we're outta there! Instead, we walk over the overpass to the bus stop and freeze our butts off in our wet clothes, not knowing which bus to take and trying but failing to communicate with the Spanish people at the bus stop. Eventually, we head back across the road and just take a regular taxi.
It's 8:00am and we're back at the hotel. We've already had the time of our lives and this is only the beginning! We have no idea how the rest of the week could possibly top this absolutely amazing experience. But we were but innocent little Ibiza virgins until that point, remember. Little did we know!
Day One - Getting familiar with San Antonio
After a few hours of sleep we are awoken by a million irritating loud noises - doors slamming, furniture scraping, suitcases rolling - shut uuuuup! Nevertheless, we don't retreat from our hotel room cave until around 2:00pm when we stroll under the hot Ibizan sun into the bustling San An Centre.
Along the boulevard we are bombarded by drug dealers - those black dudes carrying trays of fake Ray Ban sunglasses. "You want sunglasses?", they ask. We refuse politely. Then, unperturbed by our rejection, they ask, "You need some?"…"You want some weed?"…."How about some Charlie boy?"…etc. Being the Ibiza virgins that we are, it took us a while to realise the sunglasses were only ever a diversion!
By the way, I don't do drugs. I don't care if you do it, or your neighbour does it, or your dog does it. I don't judge and I say live and let live. Even though the dance world is also the drug world, for me personally it's all about the music. I feel that the good thing about Ibiza is that no one really cares if you're on on it or you're not. We're all just here to have fun and let loose, however we may choose to do it!
Anyway, after a massive burger and chips, washed down with Sangria, we meander back to the hotel because we need another disco nap. I had bought the cheaper early tickets to Ushuaia for 'Used and Abused' and we originally had to be there by 4:00pm. That was a massive rookie error - we never ever would have made it there on time, so we were lucky that the tickets we bought had automatically changed a few weeks beforehand to entry anytime for the same price. Before the trip I emailed Ibiza Spotlight when I noticed the change to the party start time and they happily and promptly confirmed that our tickets had become valid for anytime entry.
Like those who came here before me, I live for dance music of all shapes and forms. I don't discriminate against genres - if it moves me, I love it.
My friend was not particularly into dance before we came to Ibiza, but he was open-minded and up for some fun (of course, after Ibiza he is now a massive dance fan). I booked our hotel and almost all of our party tickets in advance via Spotlight, which I highly recommend as it made everything super easy. It also meant not having to worry about budgeting for clubbing nights while we were there.
Before I get into this virgin review, let me just say - if you love clubbing, love music, love life and have an open mind and open heart - go to Ibiza. I firmly believe that there is nothing even remotely like it anywhere else in the world.
Our Arrival on the Promised Land
It is four nights since I arrived in London from Australia. That glorious day I wake up at around 5.30am and travel by train to Belgium where I meet my friend who gives me a personal tour of the main sights of Brussels before our flight.
At about 8:00pm we arrive in Ibiza (surreal!) and the sun is still shining as we take a taxi to Hotel Puchet in San Antonio. We are starving so we walk to an awesome tapas restaurant that my friend had googled, which was located approximately in the middle of nowhere in a secluded part of San An.
Night One - Espuma (Foam Party!) - Amnesia
Upon our return to the hotel, we have a much needed disco nap (helped by the bottle of wine we downed at dinner time) and then drink San Miguel beer on the balcony of our room pretending to enjoy the not-so-beautiful view of other people's balconies. Then, with San Miguel in hand, we walk fifteen to twenty minutes to the bus station to find one of the famous disco busses. When we arrive at Amnesia it's around 2.30am to 3.00am and it's a breeze to get in with our tickets.
First off we find the Terrace where the 'La Troya' party is in full swing, so we get straight to the point and head right into the dance floor and get moving. The lasers are out of this world and there is so much happening all around with a sexy devil dancing up on stage and an evil-looking witch prancing around.
The music is high-energy, hard-hitting, tech-house. I love it and I can't wipe the smile off my face the whole time. The beats are so mad that we stay and dance our feet off before leaving to check out the main room.
The ice cannon in the main room shocks you the first time it blasts down over you with no warning. Those few seconds with the music pumping while the cold smoke wraps around you and blinds you are just blissful and it's impossible not to smile and laugh like a maniac.
Next minute, an electric violinist and an electric saxophone player appear on stage and start tearing the house down with their wicked playing. A moment later my friend is tapping me on the shoulder and turning me around, because the musicians are now standing right behind us! Somehow, I've ended up in the front row of a circle that has formed around them as they play along to the beat of the DJ, song after song! At that very moment I distinctly remember thinking to myself with glee - 'I'm in Ibiza! I'm really here!'. Just when I think things can't get any better, the ice cannon blasts down again and I scream like a kid. To add to the fun, a giant robot starts dancing around the dance floor, getting jiggly with random girls.
After non-stop dancing we go to rehydrate with an eleven euro teeny tiny bottle of water. It's almost 6:00am and I'm hanging out for the foam to start. We're already exhausted after a massive day and my friend wants to go, but there's no way in hell I'm leaving before the main event!
Luckily, five minutes later, the foam hype starts. At that stage we're situated on the step on the edge of the dance floor, looking out over the crowd. A row of bikini-clad girls parade onto the balcony above while "Hot Stuff" plays (it's time to embrace the cheesiness) and a Spanish dude in white pants with long hair starts to hype up the crowd. Instantly, my tiredness vanishes - I'm excited again! They play some cheesy favourites to wind us up like, "We will rock you", and the crowd does this Spanish chant that sounds like something you'd hear at a football game.
Finally, the countdown begins - Tres! Dos! Uno! Espumaaaaaaaaaa! The foam canons blast and so does….Gangnam style. Hey, like I said - embrace the cheesiness. We're here to have fun, not to be music snobs!
As the cannons erupt a hurricane of foam sprays out over the crowd. It's bubbly chaos. I'm absolutely buzzing now and so is every single person around me! I take a video of the foam shower on my phone for five seconds, then I tuck it away safely and say to my friend, "Shall we go in?!", and we get amongst it. Everyone is already so slimy so we easily slither through the packed crowd into the middle.
We can barely see a thing and start to instantly choke on the foam as it gets all in our eyes and mouth. But damn this is fun! Since we can't see and it's difficult to breathe, what do we do? We join in with everyone and start jumping up and down to the music and have the time of our lives!
It soon becomes apparent that the foam is actually lethal to eye balls - it stings like crazy. I wipe and wipe at my eyes but each time I wipe the foam away a new glob lands on me. After dancing blindly for a while, I decide to open my eyes to take a look around at the mayhem. What I see is hilarious - every single person around me, including the shirtless, gorgeous muscle hunks, are also relentlessly wiping away at their stinging eyes. Such a random sight!
After a few minutes the foam is already up to my waist - it's now a gigantic pool of bubbles. We retreat to the edge of the dance floor and find a spot where we can continue to dance in the foam without getting it in our eyes. As I dance on like a crazy woman, a man on the balcony gets my attention and offers me a pair of big goggles and throws them down to me - a very happy moment!
The music tonight was mainly bubblegum-poptastic tunes. I was psyched when they played 'Internet Friends' by Knife Party because I do love me some crazy dub step. The foam eventually subsides, but the music keeps pumping and those left on the dance floor (which is much less crowded now) are still dancing on - my kind of people. Soon afterwards, a dude on the balcony hoses the crowd off while everyone raises their hands begging to be sprayed, so we join in the fun!
I was still going strong, not even close to slowing down, but when it was nearly 7:00am, my friend couldn't make it any longer, so we left. In his defence though, when there is great music pumping loudly I pretty much have limitless energy and happiness! I'm yet to meet my match! When we get outside the sun is shining brightly and it is well and truly day time. It was a brand new day and we were no longer Ibiza virgins!
My friend decided to do business with one of the, shall we say, 'unofficial', taxi drivers. Bad idea! After agreeing to a fifteen euro trip we walk to his bomb of a car and hop in. Then he confirms - "Fifty. Five, zero. Right?". And we're outta there! Instead, we walk over the overpass to the bus stop and freeze our butts off in our wet clothes, not knowing which bus to take and trying but failing to communicate with the Spanish people at the bus stop. Eventually, we head back across the road and just take a regular taxi.
It's 8:00am and we're back at the hotel. We've already had the time of our lives and this is only the beginning! We have no idea how the rest of the week could possibly top this absolutely amazing experience. But we were but innocent little Ibiza virgins until that point, remember. Little did we know!
Day One - Getting familiar with San Antonio
After a few hours of sleep we are awoken by a million irritating loud noises - doors slamming, furniture scraping, suitcases rolling - shut uuuuup! Nevertheless, we don't retreat from our hotel room cave until around 2:00pm when we stroll under the hot Ibizan sun into the bustling San An Centre.
Along the boulevard we are bombarded by drug dealers - those black dudes carrying trays of fake Ray Ban sunglasses. "You want sunglasses?", they ask. We refuse politely. Then, unperturbed by our rejection, they ask, "You need some?"…"You want some weed?"…."How about some Charlie boy?"…etc. Being the Ibiza virgins that we are, it took us a while to realise the sunglasses were only ever a diversion!
By the way, I don't do drugs. I don't care if you do it, or your neighbour does it, or your dog does it. I don't judge and I say live and let live. Even though the dance world is also the drug world, for me personally it's all about the music. I feel that the good thing about Ibiza is that no one really cares if you're on on it or you're not. We're all just here to have fun and let loose, however we may choose to do it!
Anyway, after a massive burger and chips, washed down with Sangria, we meander back to the hotel because we need another disco nap. I had bought the cheaper early tickets to Ushuaia for 'Used and Abused' and we originally had to be there by 4:00pm. That was a massive rookie error - we never ever would have made it there on time, so we were lucky that the tickets we bought had automatically changed a few weeks beforehand to entry anytime for the same price. Before the trip I emailed Ibiza Spotlight when I noticed the change to the party start time and they happily and promptly confirmed that our tickets had become valid for anytime entry.