My review….finally!!!!
Ok, I think I must have started a review about 10 times in the past few weeks, only to get to the 3rd sentence and then say “I'll finish it tomorrow!†Now that I've forgotten a lot of what happened, I'm sure the review won't be as long…. And I've probably left out a main night or something, but better late than never! some of this stuff happened over a month ago now!
I was looking through my camera and realised I took 4… yes 4 pictures the whole time I was there. Maybe this is a good thing? Luckily, other people around me sent a few, but I really don't have any photographic evidence of this trip. This might be a good thing!! I've thrown in some random YouTube videos… none of which are mine (maybe yours???) from a few of the nights!
It had been 3 years since my last trip to Ibiza. Last time I went was in 2008 and I had been wondering how much things had changed since then. This was the first time I'd also stayed more than 10 days! 2 weeks was a good amount of time and this year we had the most gorgeous weather right until the last day. When I was last there in 2008, I think it rained every single day! Not so this year… every day was fantastic! Not only that, it was one of my top trips out there…. Definitely better than 2007 and 2008!! (and I still had a fabulous time those years too!)
Tuesday, September 20th
Arrived in the late afternoon, picked up my rental car and went to Bon Sol apartments in PDB.
Now, when I stayed here in 2007, my friends and I were robbed on the last night of our holiday and the staff couldn't give a ****. However, travelling on my own, it is probably the cheapest place to stay and other places (like the Fiesta Hotels) have gotten soooo much more expensive, it was my only option in PDB. And, I thought the robbery was just a one-off. Luckily, this year there were no robberies…but I was extra diligent in hiding things when I left for the day or night. There were, however loads of loud holiday makers banging on doors at all hours. Couldn't believe how many times someone got the wrong door and always thought they were in my room!
After I check in I went over to Salinas for a couple of hours and then on to Mambo for a couple drinks and sunset. Now, I used to be pretty good at getting myself around the island. I've hired a car every year… but for some reason… I just forgot where Mambo's was… how could this be? I gave myself a good talking to and said never ever ever again can I give myself a 3 year break from Ibiza, because I'll start to forget where everything is!!
Then it was time for Carl Cox closing party!!! I always love Coxy, even though he does overdo it on the mic (but he is the only one I think can get away with it… anyone else… bleh!!) The floor was nicely packed and I had a few drinks on the “sunset terrace (I forget what they are called anymore!) then headed down to the disctoteca. Now, I don't think I mind crowding as much as most people… I like that sweaty vibe on a dance floor. I rarely dance on the main floor and spent most the night dancing up at the front to the left of the DJ booth.
I was looking forward to checking out DJ Sneak on the terrace… I love him… and tonight he was good…but not great! Maybe it's because I had high expectations, but I don't think he was on top form.
I know one complaint people often have of Ibiza clubs (myself included) is people pushing, being aggressive, but I found this not be the case at all. People moving out of the way to let me get by, people being aware of their space etc.
Unfortunately I bought some things earlier that made me feel quite sick. I started off OK, but then had to go to the toilets a few times to be sick. It was a great atmosphere, I could see a lot of people having fun, I loved, loved the music, but feeling really crappy, I decided to leave at 6:30. I think if the music had been bad, or the atmosphere had been bad, I would have been feeling a lot worse. I knew that I still had 14 nights ahead of me, so I didn't feel TOO bad about leaving at 6:30. I don't like leaving until the lights come on, but it had to be done.
Wednesday, September 21st
Got up feeling fine, nothing like the night before, thank goodness. In the afternoon, I made my way over to Es Vive where spotlight's very own DJ chewie was playing. Lovely beats all afternoon. Met up with some old friends and met some new ones as well. Great company!! Es vive certainly has some yummy food and drinks.. Think I had some strawberry mojitos and fish tacos… yum yum!
After the afternoon session, I had some more to eat and then went over to Bora Bora for about 10 minutes ( can we say boring boring??) and then we came back to Es Vive for more of Dj Chewie… yahoo!! Had a really fun night with loads of laughter and dancing! Heinekens (which I found out later were Rockstars), grumpy doormen and kangaroo-jumping Italians and catalogue kids made the night more interesting. Thank you for a great night Chewie! Afterwards we moved on to the beach outside and sat and had random conversations with more randoms.
The security guy though… talk about a downer. Blabbing on about how great DC10 was 4 years ago and that people now “just don't get it “ I love how people like that assume that he knows, but no one else does or we couldn't possibly know anything about DC10 ( and 4 years ago?!?!…. come on!!) Why still come to Ibiza to work if you're going to be so miserable about it?!?
Also met some other girls who were talking about the night before and how coxy's night was just horrible and everyone there was a zombie and Carl wasn't on true form and people were just dancing and not talking to them. I said how much I enjoyed it and thought it was a fantastic night. It's interesting to see how different people can view the same night. I think they said they only stayed until 1 or so, so maybe that's why.
Thursday, September 22nd
I got up fairly early and was so excited, because I was headed up to my favourite beach..cala d'en serra!!
Yeah. Not my favourite beach anymore.
I had been swimming for about 3 minutes when I felt this massive pain across my left leg. It was a jellyfish, but this had to have been some jellyfish. I got out and saw 4 massive blisters starting to appear on my leg, all about 8 or more inches long. It was soooo painful and I know I was supposed to pee on myself or something, but I didn't think about it at the time. I decided to leave and I really should have got some ice because the welts grew on my leg. Anyway, I still have massive scars on my leg today, so I hope they fade at some point!!
(Seriously, ask anyone here who saw… it was bad!)
I was going to stop at Agua Blanca, but wasn't in the mood, so I called a couple of friends in PDB and went down to Salinas. I met them in PDB, they had never been there before, so it was nice to show them around. I always like to keep walking past Sa Trinxa to the smaller, more private beaches in the rocky part.
People started to leave and we were the only ones left on the little beach. A man came over and only 10 feet away started to do some handiwork right there next to us. He didn't last very long.. I think he needed to get some more scenery. When he left, we gave him a big smile and wave goodbye, but he didn't wave back.
The sun was beginning to set and we walked back towards Sa Trinxa and I could hear Micah the violin guy. I've seen him at amnesia before and to be honest, while I think he is amazing, I think it just kills the atmosphere at a club, because people just stop dancing and stand around and watch. I went to Salinas a few more times on this trip and he was there each time, so I guess it must be a regular thing?
Here are a couple of videos I found (not mine!) from the day I was there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPa5jqAXjJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93o1BbBgBB4
Such a great atmosphere!
Friday, September 23rd
Lunch today was at El Bigote (thank for organising Morbyd!) at Cala Mastella beach. I'd been to the beach before, not the restaurant, but again, like with café Mambos, I became directionally-challenged. Luckily I wasn't that late. I highly recommend this place. You have to book in advance, all tables were full and the food was DELICIOUS!!! Everyone eats the same fish stew and you can finish it off with a very delicious coffee.
In the late afternoon, evening it was time to head to Carl Cox at Sands.
Wow! Just wow!
Carl sure knows how to get a party going… funky funky funky old tunes, great classics… an all-round AMAZING time.
I realised I did take ONE video, but the quality is not very good and it's essentially just me walking into the crowd and then walking out again… (starts to pick up about the 1minute mark) and not at its funkiest moment… I was usually too busy dancing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjqFZlQmQYA
It`s too bad I couldn`t capture this moment, but it was the music, the people.. Everything was absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!! Love it loved it loved it!!
A far as beach bars go, Sands and La Plage are where it`s at. Bora Bora has had its day, in my opinion, but each time I was at Sands and La Plage it was rocking!!
Saturday, September 24th
I think this was the only day where it might have gotten a little cloudy for a bit. I did some exploring around the north of the island (not to cala d'en serra! Grr) and went to Benirras for a lovely drink and snack. Again, being directionally challenged, I made my way to a family fun restaurant near San Lorenzo and had a chicken and lamb stew… greasy, filling but very good!
In the evening it was on to Ushuaia!
I had never been here, and had really only heard negative reports. I'd heard it was pretentious, full of posers, angry security…
Not so! The music was good with some cheese thrown in there, but generally just a lot of people having a good time. When I walked in the security asked to look in the bag, but before I could even open it, he just waved me on through. Great company as well!
After this a few of us went on to a villa party… think it was near Jesus. We were going to stop at Pacha for defected, but the queue was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long and couldn't find anywhere to park so went on to the villa. It was very well organised, music was great and we stayed until about 10 am. The music stopped for a bit and I think they were trying to get the rif raf (me, I guess?) out of there and then I heard they started up again. I didn't get much sleep, maybe an hour so because it was already Sunday..
Sunday, September 25
After only getting an hour or so of sleep (if that!!) I got up, went to Passions for something to eat and realised I didn't want to waste a nice hot sunny day sleeping. Went off to Salinas again for some sun. Violin man was back again.
Time to get ready for We love. I spent most of the time on the Terrace. Heard some good sets. Am not really into 2 many DJs and Fatboy Slim, but they got the crowd going, the crowd went nuts, so I enjoyed it.
Set of the night… and one of the sets of my holiday had to be Joris Voorn! Everything from start to finish had me jumping up and down and waving my hands in the air!! Fantastic!!! He finished if off with “Music sounds better with you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L4XX8wKdsI
Such a good mix of music and a perfect way to end the night!
Monday September 26, Tuesday September 27
After space, we had some drinks, didn't get any sleep at all. We went to DC10 around 7 pm. There was one point in the night I overdid it I think and for part of the night was a bit (or a lot|) out of it. Around 2 we left in a taxi and went straight to Cocoon. I love Cocoon… I love the music, I love the energy…but when we got there it was SOOOOOO HOT!! I was sweating buckets. A bit of aggression here too… I got pushed down the stairs by a worker there, I actually had someone shove me in the face. I think that this sort of thing must bother me less than others, but it was still annoying at times.
Still though I stayed on until noon, when it finally shut. I was planning on going right on to the Cocoon closing after party at La Plage, but I had to go home and take a few hours rest before. When I woke up I felt awful. No surprise really… I'd had an hour of sleep on Sunday afternoon, so I'd been up since Saturday morning and now it was Tuesday. I went for a couple of hours to the Cocoon after and was wishing that I'd had some sleep on Sunday and Monday, because I really wanted to enjoy the cocoon after. It was a great atmosphere though, but I left and went back to my apartment to crash.
Wednesday, Thursday Friday September 28, 29, 30
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Serves me right for going too hard the days before. I'm not a whippersnapper these days I guess. Although a 2 week holiday is great I've realised something.
“I can't say no!â€
I just keep going and going until I get sick, which is what I did and ended up missing Kehakuma, another Ushuaia night and hanging out with friends! I knew that my Amnesia / DC10 closing was coming up and I NEEDED to be rested up for that. No way was I going to miss that!
Even though I didn't get in any club nights for these nights, I still managed to have some chilled, peaceful days around the island. Went to Cala Jondal, blue Marlin, Cala d'hort and various other beaches around the island. I just couldn't go out at night… at least I wasn't as bad as one year where I was crawling around my apartment on my knees trying to find the shower.
Saturday October 1 to Sunday October 2
Amnesia closing!! I bought my tickets off spotlight, so this meant I had to be in by 6:30 am. I had been to some of the closings before, but never the Amnesia closing so I was looking forward to see if it lived up to its hype!
I rested a bit, set my alarm for 5:45 and got a taxi over to Amnesia. Other people were going to join me later, but I was looking forward to catching the end of the Matinee party. (Last time I went to Matinee was when it was on Saturday mornings at Space….but I don't want to think about that right now....sigh, those were the days!!)
Anyway, I arrived at Amnesia at about 6:15 and got right through at about 6:18. No problems at all. In fact, I would recommend getting here at this time. It's really amazing to see how the crowd changes from the night time Matinee crowd to the amnesia closing crowd.
Huge difference!
I spent a lot of time moving around, mainly on the terrace, but on to the discoteca for a bit as well. Around 9 or 10 am, I found a good spot to dance on the stairs at the very back of the terrace. It was packed, but I'd found my little space to dance. Around noon I moved up to the front, right in front of the DJ booth, met up with my friends and stayed there until it finally finished at 5:30 pm!!
What can I say! I can't really say anything! I can't really explain it!! Was it as good as I expected! Better! Later on in the afternoon a bottle of Hierbas came down to us from the DJ booth and that was quickly passed around our group and finished in about 5 minutes.
Did anyone else see the lady in white with a stuffed poodle standing in the VIP right above the DJ booth? Hahaha!
I left happy, but not too tired… even though I was in there for 11 hours! We went back to our apartments to freshen up, take a shower. Then it was off to La Plage… I thought this was the Amnesia after party, but I guess that was off in a cave somewhere. This was the Matinee after I guess. Still though, I had such a good time. Really good atmosphere, top music and met some really really nice people.
I had been debating going to Space closing, but I'd had such a good day/ night, that I just wanted to get back and prepare for Dc10 closing the next day. When I was walking around PDB the next morning and saw everyone stumbling out of Space at noon on Monday, I kind of wished I was one of them, but then I thought about awful I'd been the past 3 days and decided to be sensible. Sort of sensible. Maybe I can say no?
Monday October 3
DC10 closing!!!! Weeee! I was so excited. And excited that I was feeling good. A big group of us had wedding theme and some of the costumes were amazing. I didn't have anything so I had half a piece of tablecloth clipped to my head to give me the bride look. It lasted me a good 6 hours in DC10, so it was worth it I think.
We got to DC10 at about 5 pm, still in time for some dancing in the sunshine. We danced out in the garden while the sun was still up.
Quickly, DC10 became very busy. I know there has been a lot of talk about this on the forum and I've seen many negative reviews on the facebook page as well. There were points between midnight and 3:30 am, where it was just ridiculous!!
And the toilets! Honestly, could they not have got another 10 or 15 porto-loos … even for the closing???? The line up for that was sooo long, I honestly don't know how long I waited in line. I don't want to know. I actually felt bad for the security who had to look after the toilets…. I was standing there in line and saw all these zombies swaying around… I would have been pi55ed too if I had to keep that line in order, but from what I saw, the security was on good form.
But for next year DC10… get some more toilets… seriously! And take care of that overcrowding!!!
Also, there were a couple of fights on the terrace too… and I talked to 3 or 4 people that got their phone stolen. That's just people I know!
Anyway, enough about the negative, because the last 3 hours was one of the highlights of my holiday. It made up for the last few hours of crowdingand aggressive behaviour. The group of us that lasted until the end were all going nuts and there was a smile on my face the whole time!
One of the best parts of the night was when someone brought Twister and put it down on the dance floor, right in the middle of the dance floor. Good times! I was standing right in front of this, but the video was too dark to see anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR6297SqcbA
When it finally closed at 6:50 I believe, I left feeling sooooo happy that my holiday had ended on a good note. I do recall walking out to the parking lot, and taking a look back at the crowd stumbling towards the parking lot thinking that if a completely sober person were to see this right now, it would look like a scene out of Shaun of the Dead….zombieland!! Hahaha!
After this, I was thinking of going to an after-party, but was sensible (two days in a row!) and got some sleep, but only for an hour or so.
Well, the holiday was just about coming to a close… there was one more party at La Plage. I decided that I couldn't have a big night on my last day as when I was flying back to London the next day, I was to get right off the plane and go directly to a big family lunch. Oh dear!
The music at La plage was great, but unfortunately got shut down around 11 pm. Something must have happened, because it all of a sudden just stopped, mid track and they immediately began pushing everyone out and we all had to leave right away. A bit disappointing, but I was thinking that I'd had many good nights and my body was telling me I just couldn't do anymore.
I was debating going to Sankeys, and although I heard it was very good, I only thought about that for a little while, and knew I needed to get some rest.
Wednesday October 5
A beautiful sunny morning! I got up, threw my stuff in my car and went to the airport. I was sad about leaving, but had definitely put in my time on this trip. Going for two weeks allowed me to do a lot of things… and allowed me to get sick and recover (sort of!)
I battled the post-ibiza flu for about 2 weeks and still have a bit of the sniffles, but that's because I live in a boring cold city that is getting ready for 6 months of winter!!! Blah!!!
Summary
Ok, if you're still reading, I'm sorry… I didn't expect this to be so long!
This time I had some family weddings and events that I went to and was travelling for a couple of months before Ibiza. Usually my Ibiza trips are just a short holiday and I think in the future I'll keep it that way. Arriving there with more travelling clothes and having to find somewhere to wash them was a bit of a pain. I love travelling for months at a time, but I think Ibiza needs to be its own trip.
It was hard to choose, but these were some of the highlights.
Top nights
Es Vive - for the fantastic company, Chewie`s music and random people and random conversations
Joris Voorn closing – We love Closing –best set of the night by far!!
Cocoon closing – just because it's Cocoon and it went on until noon
Amnesia Closing – words can't express…. You just had to be there!!
Last 3 hours of Circoloco closing!!! –I know Dc10 closing had a lot of bad reviews this year, but if you made it until 3:30 and stayed until the end you were rewarded big time!!! I have been listening to tracks I heard out there and I can still feel that breeze of the air coming in the side door, see the guy with the pony tail going ballistic to my right and jumping and high five-ing some random people around me ( yes, I high fived people)
Over the years I have been to many places and I've been on many kinds of holidays. Nothing is quite like Ibiza. I was a little skeptical this year and even started on the “Is it as good as it used to be?â€
How wrong I was!
Then I just thought, that is RIDICULOUS!!! I had a better holiday this year than in other years. And I think they've relaxed a bit with the after hours and private parties. I think that the day parties and music could come back in. It's like a pendulum… it'll be back!
I had some funny conversations with people about “it's-not-as-good-as-it-used-to-beâ€. I was talking with someone at DC10 about the vibe and he was going on and on about how it used to be about the music and now it's about money and blah blah blah!
I asked him when he first came and he said, “2007â€
Ha!
I will always keep coming back. Even though I was sick for part of it due to my “can't say no†policy, I think an Ibiza holiday isn't an Ibiza holiday without its ups and downs. I was going to write something here about going on an emotional / musical journey, but I'll stop now!
It was fabulous meeting up with old friends, meeting new ones, and basically having some of the best nights of my year! I really can't write anymore, so I'll leave you with just a few of my favourite tracks of the summer.
See you next year! xxxxxx
Azari & 111 Hungry for the Power - Jamie Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQT-r-lXWg
Subb-an remix of Noir & Haze 'Around'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtezHhJu5n8
Cassius - The Sound of Violence (Franco Cinelli Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--V5GIv4dkg&hd=1
Phreek Plus One - Passion feat Mr White (DJ T Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN78zVuTLNY
Miguel Campbell - Something Special (Original Mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEJHueJiBvc
Benoit & Sergio – Everybody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRem_IhyT0E
Subb-an feat. Anomaly Jones – Misleading
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzYFpFJPIV0
Micha Klang — Any Time You Please ( Shonky remix)
http://soundcloud.com/khalilbenjemia/micha-klang-any-time-you
Many more, and am still trying to find a few that are dancing around in my head, but those are some of my favourites.
Ok, I think I must have started a review about 10 times in the past few weeks, only to get to the 3rd sentence and then say “I'll finish it tomorrow!†Now that I've forgotten a lot of what happened, I'm sure the review won't be as long…. And I've probably left out a main night or something, but better late than never! some of this stuff happened over a month ago now!
I was looking through my camera and realised I took 4… yes 4 pictures the whole time I was there. Maybe this is a good thing? Luckily, other people around me sent a few, but I really don't have any photographic evidence of this trip. This might be a good thing!! I've thrown in some random YouTube videos… none of which are mine (maybe yours???) from a few of the nights!
It had been 3 years since my last trip to Ibiza. Last time I went was in 2008 and I had been wondering how much things had changed since then. This was the first time I'd also stayed more than 10 days! 2 weeks was a good amount of time and this year we had the most gorgeous weather right until the last day. When I was last there in 2008, I think it rained every single day! Not so this year… every day was fantastic! Not only that, it was one of my top trips out there…. Definitely better than 2007 and 2008!! (and I still had a fabulous time those years too!)
Tuesday, September 20th
Arrived in the late afternoon, picked up my rental car and went to Bon Sol apartments in PDB.
Now, when I stayed here in 2007, my friends and I were robbed on the last night of our holiday and the staff couldn't give a ****. However, travelling on my own, it is probably the cheapest place to stay and other places (like the Fiesta Hotels) have gotten soooo much more expensive, it was my only option in PDB. And, I thought the robbery was just a one-off. Luckily, this year there were no robberies…but I was extra diligent in hiding things when I left for the day or night. There were, however loads of loud holiday makers banging on doors at all hours. Couldn't believe how many times someone got the wrong door and always thought they were in my room!
After I check in I went over to Salinas for a couple of hours and then on to Mambo for a couple drinks and sunset. Now, I used to be pretty good at getting myself around the island. I've hired a car every year… but for some reason… I just forgot where Mambo's was… how could this be? I gave myself a good talking to and said never ever ever again can I give myself a 3 year break from Ibiza, because I'll start to forget where everything is!!
Then it was time for Carl Cox closing party!!! I always love Coxy, even though he does overdo it on the mic (but he is the only one I think can get away with it… anyone else… bleh!!) The floor was nicely packed and I had a few drinks on the “sunset terrace (I forget what they are called anymore!) then headed down to the disctoteca. Now, I don't think I mind crowding as much as most people… I like that sweaty vibe on a dance floor. I rarely dance on the main floor and spent most the night dancing up at the front to the left of the DJ booth.
I was looking forward to checking out DJ Sneak on the terrace… I love him… and tonight he was good…but not great! Maybe it's because I had high expectations, but I don't think he was on top form.
I know one complaint people often have of Ibiza clubs (myself included) is people pushing, being aggressive, but I found this not be the case at all. People moving out of the way to let me get by, people being aware of their space etc.
Unfortunately I bought some things earlier that made me feel quite sick. I started off OK, but then had to go to the toilets a few times to be sick. It was a great atmosphere, I could see a lot of people having fun, I loved, loved the music, but feeling really crappy, I decided to leave at 6:30. I think if the music had been bad, or the atmosphere had been bad, I would have been feeling a lot worse. I knew that I still had 14 nights ahead of me, so I didn't feel TOO bad about leaving at 6:30. I don't like leaving until the lights come on, but it had to be done.
Wednesday, September 21st
Got up feeling fine, nothing like the night before, thank goodness. In the afternoon, I made my way over to Es Vive where spotlight's very own DJ chewie was playing. Lovely beats all afternoon. Met up with some old friends and met some new ones as well. Great company!! Es vive certainly has some yummy food and drinks.. Think I had some strawberry mojitos and fish tacos… yum yum!
After the afternoon session, I had some more to eat and then went over to Bora Bora for about 10 minutes ( can we say boring boring??) and then we came back to Es Vive for more of Dj Chewie… yahoo!! Had a really fun night with loads of laughter and dancing! Heinekens (which I found out later were Rockstars), grumpy doormen and kangaroo-jumping Italians and catalogue kids made the night more interesting. Thank you for a great night Chewie! Afterwards we moved on to the beach outside and sat and had random conversations with more randoms.
The security guy though… talk about a downer. Blabbing on about how great DC10 was 4 years ago and that people now “just don't get it “ I love how people like that assume that he knows, but no one else does or we couldn't possibly know anything about DC10 ( and 4 years ago?!?!…. come on!!) Why still come to Ibiza to work if you're going to be so miserable about it?!?
Also met some other girls who were talking about the night before and how coxy's night was just horrible and everyone there was a zombie and Carl wasn't on true form and people were just dancing and not talking to them. I said how much I enjoyed it and thought it was a fantastic night. It's interesting to see how different people can view the same night. I think they said they only stayed until 1 or so, so maybe that's why.
Thursday, September 22nd
I got up fairly early and was so excited, because I was headed up to my favourite beach..cala d'en serra!!
Yeah. Not my favourite beach anymore.
I had been swimming for about 3 minutes when I felt this massive pain across my left leg. It was a jellyfish, but this had to have been some jellyfish. I got out and saw 4 massive blisters starting to appear on my leg, all about 8 or more inches long. It was soooo painful and I know I was supposed to pee on myself or something, but I didn't think about it at the time. I decided to leave and I really should have got some ice because the welts grew on my leg. Anyway, I still have massive scars on my leg today, so I hope they fade at some point!!
(Seriously, ask anyone here who saw… it was bad!)
I was going to stop at Agua Blanca, but wasn't in the mood, so I called a couple of friends in PDB and went down to Salinas. I met them in PDB, they had never been there before, so it was nice to show them around. I always like to keep walking past Sa Trinxa to the smaller, more private beaches in the rocky part.
People started to leave and we were the only ones left on the little beach. A man came over and only 10 feet away started to do some handiwork right there next to us. He didn't last very long.. I think he needed to get some more scenery. When he left, we gave him a big smile and wave goodbye, but he didn't wave back.
The sun was beginning to set and we walked back towards Sa Trinxa and I could hear Micah the violin guy. I've seen him at amnesia before and to be honest, while I think he is amazing, I think it just kills the atmosphere at a club, because people just stop dancing and stand around and watch. I went to Salinas a few more times on this trip and he was there each time, so I guess it must be a regular thing?
Here are a couple of videos I found (not mine!) from the day I was there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPa5jqAXjJo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93o1BbBgBB4
Such a great atmosphere!
Friday, September 23rd
Lunch today was at El Bigote (thank for organising Morbyd!) at Cala Mastella beach. I'd been to the beach before, not the restaurant, but again, like with café Mambos, I became directionally-challenged. Luckily I wasn't that late. I highly recommend this place. You have to book in advance, all tables were full and the food was DELICIOUS!!! Everyone eats the same fish stew and you can finish it off with a very delicious coffee.
In the late afternoon, evening it was time to head to Carl Cox at Sands.
Wow! Just wow!
Carl sure knows how to get a party going… funky funky funky old tunes, great classics… an all-round AMAZING time.
I realised I did take ONE video, but the quality is not very good and it's essentially just me walking into the crowd and then walking out again… (starts to pick up about the 1minute mark) and not at its funkiest moment… I was usually too busy dancing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjqFZlQmQYA
It`s too bad I couldn`t capture this moment, but it was the music, the people.. Everything was absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!! Love it loved it loved it!!
A far as beach bars go, Sands and La Plage are where it`s at. Bora Bora has had its day, in my opinion, but each time I was at Sands and La Plage it was rocking!!
Saturday, September 24th
I think this was the only day where it might have gotten a little cloudy for a bit. I did some exploring around the north of the island (not to cala d'en serra! Grr) and went to Benirras for a lovely drink and snack. Again, being directionally challenged, I made my way to a family fun restaurant near San Lorenzo and had a chicken and lamb stew… greasy, filling but very good!
In the evening it was on to Ushuaia!
I had never been here, and had really only heard negative reports. I'd heard it was pretentious, full of posers, angry security…
Not so! The music was good with some cheese thrown in there, but generally just a lot of people having a good time. When I walked in the security asked to look in the bag, but before I could even open it, he just waved me on through. Great company as well!
After this a few of us went on to a villa party… think it was near Jesus. We were going to stop at Pacha for defected, but the queue was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long and couldn't find anywhere to park so went on to the villa. It was very well organised, music was great and we stayed until about 10 am. The music stopped for a bit and I think they were trying to get the rif raf (me, I guess?) out of there and then I heard they started up again. I didn't get much sleep, maybe an hour so because it was already Sunday..
Sunday, September 25
After only getting an hour or so of sleep (if that!!) I got up, went to Passions for something to eat and realised I didn't want to waste a nice hot sunny day sleeping. Went off to Salinas again for some sun. Violin man was back again.
Time to get ready for We love. I spent most of the time on the Terrace. Heard some good sets. Am not really into 2 many DJs and Fatboy Slim, but they got the crowd going, the crowd went nuts, so I enjoyed it.
Set of the night… and one of the sets of my holiday had to be Joris Voorn! Everything from start to finish had me jumping up and down and waving my hands in the air!! Fantastic!!! He finished if off with “Music sounds better with you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L4XX8wKdsI
Such a good mix of music and a perfect way to end the night!
Monday September 26, Tuesday September 27
After space, we had some drinks, didn't get any sleep at all. We went to DC10 around 7 pm. There was one point in the night I overdid it I think and for part of the night was a bit (or a lot|) out of it. Around 2 we left in a taxi and went straight to Cocoon. I love Cocoon… I love the music, I love the energy…but when we got there it was SOOOOOO HOT!! I was sweating buckets. A bit of aggression here too… I got pushed down the stairs by a worker there, I actually had someone shove me in the face. I think that this sort of thing must bother me less than others, but it was still annoying at times.
Still though I stayed on until noon, when it finally shut. I was planning on going right on to the Cocoon closing after party at La Plage, but I had to go home and take a few hours rest before. When I woke up I felt awful. No surprise really… I'd had an hour of sleep on Sunday afternoon, so I'd been up since Saturday morning and now it was Tuesday. I went for a couple of hours to the Cocoon after and was wishing that I'd had some sleep on Sunday and Monday, because I really wanted to enjoy the cocoon after. It was a great atmosphere though, but I left and went back to my apartment to crash.
Wednesday, Thursday Friday September 28, 29, 30
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Serves me right for going too hard the days before. I'm not a whippersnapper these days I guess. Although a 2 week holiday is great I've realised something.
“I can't say no!â€
I just keep going and going until I get sick, which is what I did and ended up missing Kehakuma, another Ushuaia night and hanging out with friends! I knew that my Amnesia / DC10 closing was coming up and I NEEDED to be rested up for that. No way was I going to miss that!
Even though I didn't get in any club nights for these nights, I still managed to have some chilled, peaceful days around the island. Went to Cala Jondal, blue Marlin, Cala d'hort and various other beaches around the island. I just couldn't go out at night… at least I wasn't as bad as one year where I was crawling around my apartment on my knees trying to find the shower.
Saturday October 1 to Sunday October 2
Amnesia closing!! I bought my tickets off spotlight, so this meant I had to be in by 6:30 am. I had been to some of the closings before, but never the Amnesia closing so I was looking forward to see if it lived up to its hype!
I rested a bit, set my alarm for 5:45 and got a taxi over to Amnesia. Other people were going to join me later, but I was looking forward to catching the end of the Matinee party. (Last time I went to Matinee was when it was on Saturday mornings at Space….but I don't want to think about that right now....sigh, those were the days!!)
Anyway, I arrived at Amnesia at about 6:15 and got right through at about 6:18. No problems at all. In fact, I would recommend getting here at this time. It's really amazing to see how the crowd changes from the night time Matinee crowd to the amnesia closing crowd.
Huge difference!
I spent a lot of time moving around, mainly on the terrace, but on to the discoteca for a bit as well. Around 9 or 10 am, I found a good spot to dance on the stairs at the very back of the terrace. It was packed, but I'd found my little space to dance. Around noon I moved up to the front, right in front of the DJ booth, met up with my friends and stayed there until it finally finished at 5:30 pm!!
What can I say! I can't really say anything! I can't really explain it!! Was it as good as I expected! Better! Later on in the afternoon a bottle of Hierbas came down to us from the DJ booth and that was quickly passed around our group and finished in about 5 minutes.
Did anyone else see the lady in white with a stuffed poodle standing in the VIP right above the DJ booth? Hahaha!
I left happy, but not too tired… even though I was in there for 11 hours! We went back to our apartments to freshen up, take a shower. Then it was off to La Plage… I thought this was the Amnesia after party, but I guess that was off in a cave somewhere. This was the Matinee after I guess. Still though, I had such a good time. Really good atmosphere, top music and met some really really nice people.
I had been debating going to Space closing, but I'd had such a good day/ night, that I just wanted to get back and prepare for Dc10 closing the next day. When I was walking around PDB the next morning and saw everyone stumbling out of Space at noon on Monday, I kind of wished I was one of them, but then I thought about awful I'd been the past 3 days and decided to be sensible. Sort of sensible. Maybe I can say no?
Monday October 3
DC10 closing!!!! Weeee! I was so excited. And excited that I was feeling good. A big group of us had wedding theme and some of the costumes were amazing. I didn't have anything so I had half a piece of tablecloth clipped to my head to give me the bride look. It lasted me a good 6 hours in DC10, so it was worth it I think.
We got to DC10 at about 5 pm, still in time for some dancing in the sunshine. We danced out in the garden while the sun was still up.
Quickly, DC10 became very busy. I know there has been a lot of talk about this on the forum and I've seen many negative reviews on the facebook page as well. There were points between midnight and 3:30 am, where it was just ridiculous!!
And the toilets! Honestly, could they not have got another 10 or 15 porto-loos … even for the closing???? The line up for that was sooo long, I honestly don't know how long I waited in line. I don't want to know. I actually felt bad for the security who had to look after the toilets…. I was standing there in line and saw all these zombies swaying around… I would have been pi55ed too if I had to keep that line in order, but from what I saw, the security was on good form.
But for next year DC10… get some more toilets… seriously! And take care of that overcrowding!!!
Also, there were a couple of fights on the terrace too… and I talked to 3 or 4 people that got their phone stolen. That's just people I know!
Anyway, enough about the negative, because the last 3 hours was one of the highlights of my holiday. It made up for the last few hours of crowdingand aggressive behaviour. The group of us that lasted until the end were all going nuts and there was a smile on my face the whole time!
One of the best parts of the night was when someone brought Twister and put it down on the dance floor, right in the middle of the dance floor. Good times! I was standing right in front of this, but the video was too dark to see anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR6297SqcbA
When it finally closed at 6:50 I believe, I left feeling sooooo happy that my holiday had ended on a good note. I do recall walking out to the parking lot, and taking a look back at the crowd stumbling towards the parking lot thinking that if a completely sober person were to see this right now, it would look like a scene out of Shaun of the Dead….zombieland!! Hahaha!
After this, I was thinking of going to an after-party, but was sensible (two days in a row!) and got some sleep, but only for an hour or so.
Well, the holiday was just about coming to a close… there was one more party at La Plage. I decided that I couldn't have a big night on my last day as when I was flying back to London the next day, I was to get right off the plane and go directly to a big family lunch. Oh dear!
The music at La plage was great, but unfortunately got shut down around 11 pm. Something must have happened, because it all of a sudden just stopped, mid track and they immediately began pushing everyone out and we all had to leave right away. A bit disappointing, but I was thinking that I'd had many good nights and my body was telling me I just couldn't do anymore.
I was debating going to Sankeys, and although I heard it was very good, I only thought about that for a little while, and knew I needed to get some rest.
Wednesday October 5
A beautiful sunny morning! I got up, threw my stuff in my car and went to the airport. I was sad about leaving, but had definitely put in my time on this trip. Going for two weeks allowed me to do a lot of things… and allowed me to get sick and recover (sort of!)
I battled the post-ibiza flu for about 2 weeks and still have a bit of the sniffles, but that's because I live in a boring cold city that is getting ready for 6 months of winter!!! Blah!!!
Summary
Ok, if you're still reading, I'm sorry… I didn't expect this to be so long!
This time I had some family weddings and events that I went to and was travelling for a couple of months before Ibiza. Usually my Ibiza trips are just a short holiday and I think in the future I'll keep it that way. Arriving there with more travelling clothes and having to find somewhere to wash them was a bit of a pain. I love travelling for months at a time, but I think Ibiza needs to be its own trip.
It was hard to choose, but these were some of the highlights.
Top nights
Es Vive - for the fantastic company, Chewie`s music and random people and random conversations
Joris Voorn closing – We love Closing –best set of the night by far!!
Cocoon closing – just because it's Cocoon and it went on until noon
Amnesia Closing – words can't express…. You just had to be there!!
Last 3 hours of Circoloco closing!!! –I know Dc10 closing had a lot of bad reviews this year, but if you made it until 3:30 and stayed until the end you were rewarded big time!!! I have been listening to tracks I heard out there and I can still feel that breeze of the air coming in the side door, see the guy with the pony tail going ballistic to my right and jumping and high five-ing some random people around me ( yes, I high fived people)
Over the years I have been to many places and I've been on many kinds of holidays. Nothing is quite like Ibiza. I was a little skeptical this year and even started on the “Is it as good as it used to be?â€
How wrong I was!
Then I just thought, that is RIDICULOUS!!! I had a better holiday this year than in other years. And I think they've relaxed a bit with the after hours and private parties. I think that the day parties and music could come back in. It's like a pendulum… it'll be back!
I had some funny conversations with people about “it's-not-as-good-as-it-used-to-beâ€. I was talking with someone at DC10 about the vibe and he was going on and on about how it used to be about the music and now it's about money and blah blah blah!
I asked him when he first came and he said, “2007â€
Ha!
I will always keep coming back. Even though I was sick for part of it due to my “can't say no†policy, I think an Ibiza holiday isn't an Ibiza holiday without its ups and downs. I was going to write something here about going on an emotional / musical journey, but I'll stop now!
It was fabulous meeting up with old friends, meeting new ones, and basically having some of the best nights of my year! I really can't write anymore, so I'll leave you with just a few of my favourite tracks of the summer.
See you next year! xxxxxx
Azari & 111 Hungry for the Power - Jamie Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQT-r-lXWg
Subb-an remix of Noir & Haze 'Around'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtezHhJu5n8
Cassius - The Sound of Violence (Franco Cinelli Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--V5GIv4dkg&hd=1
Phreek Plus One - Passion feat Mr White (DJ T Remix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN78zVuTLNY
Miguel Campbell - Something Special (Original Mix)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEJHueJiBvc
Benoit & Sergio – Everybody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRem_IhyT0E
Subb-an feat. Anomaly Jones – Misleading
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzYFpFJPIV0
Micha Klang — Any Time You Please ( Shonky remix)
http://soundcloud.com/khalilbenjemia/micha-klang-any-time-you
Many more, and am still trying to find a few that are dancing around in my head, but those are some of my favourites.
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