A tale of two halves

Jack87

Jack87

Member
This Ibiza trip was never really on the cards. The plan was, and still is, to go at the end of September with friends. That was until I went on a friend's stag do to Madrid in March, met a girl on the way there who I swapped numbers with and was texting for a while, who talked me into booking flights at the same time as her and her friends. I wasn't completely sure but after a LONG depressing winter working in Scotland from January until the start of April (it snowed nearly every day, right til the end) I was really feeling the need for some sunshine. She was staying in San An, not my thing, so I tried to talk friends into it, a few maybes but I wasn't getting any commitment. I then started a few weeks work at Birmingham airport. With holidays already on my mind, watching tens/hundreds of planes take off every day pushed me over the edge, and I came across flights for just under £100 for 5 nights and 6 days, going from Stanstead. That would do nicely. An hour or so browsing the usual sites and I found a room at the Poseidon apartments at Es Viver (the small area between PDB and Figuertas) for just £136 with a sea view. That would also do fine. I know the area after staying at the Jabeque in September, and I like it there. A 10-15 minute walk to PDB is actually quite a nice distance, if you go under and need a day off, you can in in relative peace. Figuertas is only a couple of minutes too, reasonable beach, shops, a few good restaurants, and the Aquabus and fast catamarans go from there. So, all booked, and only about 6 weeks until takeoff.

I've never gone on holiday solo before, I wouldn't even have considered it a year ago, but I thought why not. I've read about plenty of people doing it on here, and being a guy who's easy to get on with, and a lot of fun (in my own opinion), I didn't think I had much to worry about. A few chats with people on here, a few details swapped, half-plans to meet this Madrid girl, and the fact that my friend from Manchester was arriving on the Monday from Sonar festival, I felt happy enough with how it was going to pan out. As it went, the 6 day holiday was very much split down the middle, so I guess it needs two chapters:


First Half - Carnage

Saturday 15th June 2013

It's not hard to spot who's off to Ibiza in an airport departure lounge Wetherspoons, and there were a lot of big groups, but my 14:15 flight from Stanstead with Ryanair was uneventful. I landed at about 6pm local time, jumped in a cab to Es Viver and had unpacked by 7pm. I'd been disappointed to find out that I was actually in Poseidon II rather than I, which had a decent looking pool. My block was further down past the Jabeque, and a bit tired looking and run down. Into the apartment and the same could be said for inside, but it was so cheap and seemed well enough equipped, it would do for somewhere to crash for a few nights. I went out to the shop to buy a few big bottles of water, a load of alcohol, some crisps and some bananas. Just the sort of stuff you need lying around when you wake up in Ibiza. I dropped Rebecca G a text, picked up a bottle of Captain Morgans, pepsi, a couple of Rekorderlig, my mini portable rechargeable speakers and walked round to the apartment in Figuertas she was sharing with her friend Anna. She was there alone as Anna was out picking up some shoes she'd left at a friend's, so we sat on the balcony catching the last of the sun from a really nice day, and sat drinking and talking with some music on. It was cool, she's a nice intelligent girl, we sat and talked about all sorts, from world affairs, politics, religion, to travel, music, Ibiza.... I didn't find it at all awkward meeting a complete stranger. Good start. Anna turned up and we sat about drinking, and then a Californian guy called Stephen also joined us having been in contact through here a couple of weeks before. I was outnumbered 3 to 1 by the Americans, but they were all cool people and easy to talk to. I think we drank at the apartment until about 10, then made our way down to PDB for a couple of drinks and to meet a contact for some supplies. We went to New Garden for a couple, MiniMarc and Mrs MiniMarc also met us for a couple. We moved on to Bora Bora for a few more and a dance, and started tucking into the MDMA I'd picked up. Bora Bora was fairly busy and we were having a decent time drinking and dancing and meeting a few people around us. This is where the night starts to become a bit of a blur for a while. I'd picked up a ticket for Defected vs Carnival at Sankeys, Stephen was keen to come as well, but the girls were on a budget that night so decided to give it a miss. I guess it was about 2am by the time we made a move.

Anyway, I'd been looking forward to this night, especially after seeing the announcement that Defected had moved into the LAB after Bomba was delayed. I've been to a couple of Defected nights, and was a bit surprised that they'd booked Derrick Carter and Eats Everything. They're both guys I've seen before and was looking forward to, but I never saw them as really having that 'Defected sound'. Because of that, I was interested, I thought they may play different kind of sets to normal, more sort of melodic and bouncey house music. For me, they both just did what they're good at. It was my first trip into the LAB, and I think it's a cool little space. The problems they had that night have been rightly well documented, but we had a great time anyway. I enjoyed both sets, it was ridiculously hot with the broken air con, but to be fair to Sankeys, they gave out free water. I can think of other clubs that wouldn't have bothered. The situation made the place a lot less busy than it would've been, but those that stayed were the hardcore and bang up for it, it was a lot of good sweaty fun. All the MDMA went, several fresh air breaks and bottles of water to stay alive, and we stuck it out til the bitter end, finishing up in the basement at 6:50am. I couldn't even tell you who the last set was there as we only caught the last few minutes, and there must have only been about 30 people left in the building. All in all, a great first night. Sweaty, messy, met some cool people, had a good rave, and walked back along to my apartment feeling like it was a good night's work.

The only photo I took that night was of the sunrise over Eivissa from my balcony when I got back:




More soon...


 
Sounds like a great first night, getting me right in the mood. We fly out in tues :)
Looking forward to your next instalment
 
Sunday 16th June

So, I just had to check through my phone to jog my memory on what happened on Sunday during the day! I'd got fairly mashed at Sankeys the previous night, woke up at 11am and couldn't sleep. It was a beautiful day so I put on my swim shorts, grabbed the 3 cans of Rekorderlig from the fridge, suncream, headphones, and headed down to Figuertas. I'd packed light in order to get by with just hand luggage, so bought a beach towel on the way down to the beach and picked a good spot. As I said, it was a beautiful day and I was more than happy sat on the beach listening to some music and drinking the cans I had before they got too warm. The alcohol obviously did the trick, and I crashed out for an hour in the sun. I woke up, went for a quick swim, and chilled on the beach until about 4pm.

I'd arranged to go and meet the girls at their apartment at 5pm, so headed back for a shower and to grab some more alcohol before going round to sit on their balcony again. I already had an internet ticket for We Love, and they'd picked up some €30 tickets which they had to be in by 11pm with. I can't remember whether Stephen joined us at the apartment or whether we got him on the way to PDB, either way we made the walk along there sometime around 6-7pm. The plan was to head to Bora Bora for a warm up which we did. It was quieter than the night before, but we had a few cervezas before wandering along to Space just before 11pm. I'd been really looking forward to We Love as I've always had a good night there. The lineup was decent, and a lot of the talk had been about what to expect from Disclosure Live in the Discoteca. I like Disclosure, they're talented guys and it's a pretty cool sound, but it's never something I'd expect to see in the Discoteca. It was something of a conflict of interest for me. I was keen to see them play, but sort of had the feeling that they didn't belong there. I remember wondering if they'd also feel that way and try something different due to the fact they were playing somewhere like Space. We went to check out the Terraza, Sunset Terrace and el Salon, but I can't really remember who was on where. Was fairly drunk after a good day session, and had done half a tablet as a little tickler. At some point just before Diclosure were due to start (2am?), we made our way up the left side of the room past the bar, and onto the dance floor. They played what I guess is a standard live performance set, which I did enjoy, as did the rest of the crowd judging by the atmosphere in there. For me though, something didn't feel right about the whole night. I don't know if that it was down to the hype of Disclosure, maybe down to the fact that a lot of people were just there to see them, but I just couldn't get into it that night. We were in the Terraza for a while afterwards, but wasn't really enjoying it like I'd hoped. We called it a night fairly early for a We Love night, and headed back along to the girls' apartment, still well before sunrise. We sat and had some drinks, before I suggested we head down to the beach to sit and watch the sunrise. Becca was tired so crashed out, the rest of us grabbed some booze, a bag of ice and my speakers, and headed down to Figuertas. We clambered across the rocks, put the music on and poured some drinks, sat there and talked sh*t for ages while watching a really nice sunrise.






*edit - had put a couple of good photos of the 3 of us sat there on the rocks but I guess I should get that cleared with them before posting...



The sun was up and it was feeling warmer, and I don't remember who suggested it but we all stripped down to our underwear and went swimming for a while. That morning is a really good memory from this trip, it was a really still morning and beautiful outside. People say that Ibiza has got a certain magic about it, and for me it's moments like this that make me feel like that.

The girls were checking out and flying back to Madrid that afternoon/evening, so the plan was to go back to their apartment, get Becca up, let them pack, then all head back to my apartment to carry on for a bit before crashing out. I guess it was midday by the time we got some well needed sleep. It was really cool to meet Becca and Anna and a shame that they were leaving, but I thoroughly enjoyed 2 days of partying with them and I'm sure we'll keep in touch. So we were down to 2, but no time to sit about after they left, myself and Stephen had to get our game faces on for Circo Loco, which would be my favourite night of the trip...
 
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Monday 17th June

So after maybe an hour or 2 sleep, we were up again and drinking on the balcony until the girls left for the airport. I got showered and changed before heading out at about 7, and going to meet Stephen at the Mare Nostrum before walking down to PDB. I realised I hadn't really eaten for a couple of days, but we were in a hurry to get to DC10 so just grabbed a Burger King on the way to the taxi rank. Neither of us were feeling on top form after a fairly crazy couple of days, but I was really looking forward to the night ahead. We got there about 8pm, later than I'd hoped, but it hadn't been easy to get moving that day. We grabbed a couple of beers before heading into the main room so that Stephen could have a look around. Tania Vulcano was on, and I would've been happy enough to stay if I hadn't looked through the doors into the terrace. It was going off in there so we fought our way in, with Kerri Chandler was absolutely smashing it. For me it felt way too early to be going that crazy, but it was our own fault for being 4 hours late, and I was a bit disappointed to have missed the build up. The party was definitely in full flow, the terrace rammed and everyone having fun. I got a text from a friend who had just got to Ibiza from Sonar that afternoon, so I went outside to meet him and catch up. He was looking exhausted but buzzing, as he had another 6 days ahead in Ibiza. We hadn't got round to picking up any supplies before heading to DC10, but managed to buy a few of those heart shaped red pills in there. They're not the best, similar to the yellow smilies from last year, but they do the job. I really like what they've done outside at DC10 over the winter. The decking there is so much better than the gravel and beanbags, it's freed up quite a bit more room. It'll be a good area for daytime raving for the parties that they decide to set up outside. I look forward to attending one of them at some point.




A couple more beers and we headed back into the main room to catch most of Ellen Allien's set. I haven't seen her before and enjoyed it, and wanted to spend a bit of time in the main room as I was planning to be in the terrace for most of the night. We moved into the terrace for the last half an hour or so of Maceo Plex, and that's pretty much what we'd be doing for the next 4 hours. The ecstasy was kicking in nicely, and we were about halfway down the right hand side of the room near the wall, it's absolutely deafening down there. I'd forgotton how good DC10's sound system is, it's ace! I kept forgetting that everywhere we were going through the week was a new experience for Stephen, and he just looked blown away by the whole experience, and the drugs. Jamie Jones was on next. I'd been really disappointed with his night Paradise in September, the overcrowding was ridiculous and although I didn't really see much of his set, a few people said it wasn't really up to much. JJ has been hit and miss for me, I saw him play a couple of really good sets in Croatia but I've also seen a couple of sets that were just a bit boring. I thought he got it spot on this time. The terrace was still rammed and to follow on from Kerri Chandler and Maceo Plex, there wasn't space for anything dull or boring. We went out for a cig and some air, which really hit me. I picked a spot to sit against the wall between the terrace entrance and the main entrance/exit to sit and have a cig and a bit of a gurn, and got talking to a group of girls from Watford. They were hilarious and we sat about chatting sh*t for a while before all heading in for Seth Troxler. Another pill down and even though the place was starting to get less busy, I was having more and more fun. The last hour or so we moved right down towards the front as there was plenty of room now, which was nice after it being busy all night. I say busy, it was fine, you could still get about where you needed to but it was nice to be able to have loads of room to go a bit wild. I wish I could ID the last few tracks Seth played, some good vocal stuff that a lot of people seemed familiar with, I was mashed and couldn't remember what was what the next day though, and it hasn't come to me. I guess I'll try to find the set from somewhere. 3am came and it was time for a taxi to Sankeys.

It had always been the plan to move on after DC10, and for money and convenience I picked Troupe at Sankeys rather than Cocoon. A lot of people have been talking about Finnebassen recently so I was up for seeing him play, and MK was on from 4. I think. Maybe 5. I was completely off my tits and a bit lucky to get in I think. The stairs were causing me all sorts of problems. I got in and met up with my friend, and then propped myself up against the bar to the right of the DJ as you look to the front of the room. I pretty much stayed there for a couple of hours, as I had very little left in me to dance, but I was enjoying the music anyway. A couple of trips to the smoking area for fresh air, and not so fresh air, back down to see an hour or so of MK before I had to take myself home to bed.

That was an absolutely insane 3 days of partying. I danced the soles off my shoes, saw some immense sets, met loads of cool people, drank and took loads, barely ate or slept, and had loads of fun. That (somehow) was my first taste of Circo Loco and I loved every minute. Great vibe, cool people, some brilliant music. I remember walking back along the beach to my apartment with a smile on my face, maybe amused and a bit confused about how I just survived those 3 days but mainly just buzzing about being in Ibiza and having so much fun.
 
Nice one Jack, really enjoying this review. Im sure this is getting many people in the mood for their up and coming trips to the island!! I cant bloody wait now!

"The stairs were causing me all sorts of problems" !!

Classic!
 
Great review and pics too - so did you get to see Finnebassen at Sankeys or were you too mashed to remember ? hehe x
 
Second half - illness, beaches, good food, Formentera

Tuesday 18th June


I woke up up at about 11am, feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Headache, body aching, sore throat. I stumbled into the bathroom, then to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, some painkillers, then dragged my sorry arse back to bed. It was overcast outside anyway so I wasn't too miserable about missing a day. I slept most of the day, getting up at about 7pm. I walked to the shop just down the road and bought some stuff to cook up in my apartment. Pasta with bacon, tomato & chilli sauce was about as much effort as I could be bothered to make. I slept another couple of hours before waking up feeling a bit better. I noticed a message from Stephen so went to meet him and walk down to PDB, where we also met Martyn (murraymints on here). We sat in New Garden for a couple of beers, then along to Top21 bar for some 2-4-1 deals on beers. Stephen was keen to go to the Together opening party at Amnesia, as it'd be his only chance to check out the club. I wasn't up for it, it'd be a €50 ticket, taxis plus drinks for a night I wasn't bothered about going to. I like Chase & Status and Pendulum but seen them loads, not a fan of Skrillex and didn't know anything about the other acts on that night. That, and the weather was due to be good the next day and I wanted some beach time. I walked back to my apartment about 2:30am, while Stephen and Marytn headed off to Amnesia.

A much needed quiet day and night after my first 3 days.


Wednesday 19th June

I woke up early and feeling much better. Still a headache and sore throat but that wasn't going to stop me doing anything. I got a message from the lads saying that they'd been at Amnesia until it closed and were now on the beach at PDB, so I got ready and walked down there about 10am. It was a beautiful hot sunny day so I was happy to be feeling rested and up early. I met them on the beach outside Delano and we just sat and chilled. We got a load of hassle from ticket sellers etc, and thought we were just about to get targeted again when this guy came over. Turned out he was the owner of Delano, and offered us one of the big white 4 poster beds for nothing, with no minimum spend as long as we didn't take the piss. Drinks prices are reasonable enough there so we went for it. It's good PR by him, he filled all the beds up and you could easily notice how much more business it brought in, the place had been completely dead with people just walking by before then. A DJ was on playing some decent enough house and deep house, I had a fair few beers in the sun between crashing out on the bed.



I think it was around 4pm when we all went separate ways, the lads hadn't slept and I could feel that I was starting to catch the sun so we all went to head back to our apartments. I got along to where the Formentera ferry is and realised I was hungry, so stopped at Casa Manolo as Rebecca G had recommended it for amazing seafood. I wasn't at all disappointed, it was amazing. A pint of beer, fresh bread & alioli, then mussels 'fisherman's style' as a starter, which was immense. Huge mussels really well cooked in a rich garlic sauce, amazing. I then went for a mixed grill of fish & shellfish which was sooo good. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a place I've walked past 20 times but never would've thought to stop there. It doesn't stand out at all from the other places along the beach there, and they don't do much to sell it, I guess they rely on word of mouth. It was pretty busy when I was there despite it being early in the evening. I didn't really enjoy the experience of eating alone at a place like that, but I had to try it while I was there. Thanks Becca! I paid up the €41 bill with a decent tip, and headed back to the apartment for a shower.

Now, against my better judgement, I'd bought a ticket online for Departures opening after getting talked into by the girl I'd planned on meeting out in Ibiza, as she was going with all her friends who have questionable (in my opinion) taste in music. Stephen had sent me an email at about 7pm saying he was heading down there too, so I decided to go. The problem we'd been having is that Stephen's US phone couldn't send or receive calls or text in Europe, so the only way we had of contacting each other was email, when he had wifi. Also, I hadn't had a reply from the girl I was supposed to be meeting. I decided on going anyway, just to check it out and see if I could miraculously bump into either of them. I went in, discovered it was as sh*t as I knew it would be, and that trying to find Stephen was, erm, like trying to find a small Asian-American man in a nightclub. Impossible. I stayed for maybe 20 minutes, did a lap of the place, and f*cked off back to the apartment, annoyed at myself for 1. getting talked into buying a ticket for a night I wasn't interested in, and 2. even bothering to go at all. Never mind. I headed back to the apartment via a shop for a few beers, and sat on my balcony talking to my neighbours before getting an early night. Pre midnight sleeping in Ibiza - completely unheard of and I felt a bit dirty for doing it! At least I'd be fresh for my last day.


Thursday 20th June

So again I was up early, feeling fresh, and glad to find it was another hot sunny day. Stephen was flying home early that morning so we were back down to 2, and we'd made plans to get a boat over to Formentera. Not going was my biggest regret of September's trip, we didn't have the weather for it on a day that we were free enough. No such problems on Thursday, it was a scorcher. I got down to Figuertas just in time to get on the last Ulises Cat, which cost €22. Martyn was running late so got the Aqua Ferry from PDB, and would meet me over there. I was about an hour ahead so sat in a cafe in the marina and got some breakfast, bacon y queso sandwich with a couple of beers. Pretty good. Martyn arrived and we decided to hire mountain bikes for €10 each plus €10 deposit, and cycle up to Playa De Les Illetas on the north side of the island. It's not far to go, I'd guess less than 3 miles, and absolutely stunning. There's not a lot of point me talking about it, I just wish I'd had a decent camera to do the place justice rather than having to settle for my iphone camera:

















It was great day. I enjoyed the ride up the island, the views, swimming in that beautiful water, chilling on the beach. I was a tiny bit burnt from the previous day so didn't want to risk being in the sun for too long, but we made a decent day of it. Next time I'll definitely take some snorkeling gear, and go much earlier to make a whole day of it, and eat at one of the restaurants there. The food looked amazing at one place just up from the beach where we stopped for a drink. We cycled back to La Savina about 4pm, returned the bikes, then got the boats back across. I had to wait about for Martyn for a while as his boat left after mine and is slower, so I grabbed a drink at Albatros before we walked down to PDB for a meal. I remembered seeing Walkers mentioned on a couple of reviews on here, so I suggested we try that. I was impressed. Had another seafood mixed grill and it was spot on apart from the Mussels which were really small and overcooked. I don't normally take pictures of food, it annoys the hell out of me on FB, but I was so impressed with the presentation I thought I'd take one for here:





So that was that. We ate and paid, then headed off and my Ibiza trip was all but over. I had a 1.45am flight back to Stanstead, so went back to the apartment to chill for a bit before showering, packing and checking out, then a taxi back to the airport and a miserable night flight home. The only positive I could take out of it was that I'd been sensible and not gone to Loco Dice at Ushuaia with my friend from home. You see some sorry states at the airport at that time of night, and there were definitely some people that been on it all day. I'm not sure I'd chose to go solo again, but I had a great trip this time and met some really cool people, and I feel comfortable knowing that that kind of last minute solo holiday is always an option if I feel like it. If you're open minded and willing to go with the flow, you can't fail to at least get by in Ibiza.
 
Bettty said:
Great review and pics too - so did you get to see Finnebassen at Sankeys or were you too mashed to remember ? hehe x
Click to expand...

Sorry, yeah, I saw the last 45 mins or so of Finnebassen. I like his style and sounds, I reckon he'll have an even bigger year next year.
 
Dates you were there: 15/6 - 21/6


Where you stayed (resort/hotel): Poseidon Apartments II, PDB/Figuertas


Club nights visited: Defected vs Carnival @ Sankeys, We Love, Circo Loco, Troupe @ Sankeys, Departures @ Ushuaia


Best night: Circo Loco


Worst night: Departures


Best bar: Bora Bora I guess, didn't hit too many bars


Best place to eat: Casa Manolo - by the Formentera ferry at the Figuertas end of PDB


Money spent: Erm... +-€800-900


Biggest regret: Not going to Sankeys on Wednesday - friends said it was ace.


Going back?: Always. End of September.


Top tip: Pick a sunny day and go to Formentera, that's last year's biggest regret put right.
 
Jack87 said:
Sorry, yeah, I saw the last 45 mins or so of Finnebassen. I like his style and sounds, I reckon he'll have an even bigger year next year.
Click to expand...

Yeah for sure, nice review Jack. I'm hoping to get to Formentera when I go next month, it's looks so nice!! Is it best to hire some variety of wheels to get about?
 
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