Ibiza twentyeleven – almost heaven

stivi

stivi

Well-Known Member
For the second consecutive year i only managed to do ONE single Ibiza-holiday this season… and you surely can imagine how keen I was on arriving there, meet my friends, party etc. So, here's nostrum's review of the Ibiza closings 2011. Enjoy.


25/9 - Oh love, how i've missed you...

I had an easy flight and arrived in Ibiza at exactly 12noon with butterflies in my stomach. I really had gotten nervous during the last 20mins of the flight, I was so happy to be back! Not even the lovely views over Formentera, Es Vedra & Cala Jondal while flying in could calm me down. Someone else on this forum wrote in another thread something about the unity feeling you can feel once you set foot on the island and it's exactly that feeling which overwhelmed me when I stepped out of the plane. I got my luggage super quickly and then went to get my rental car. Got a nice black Hyundai (first time, I normally always got Fords before) and it all went really swift. Then onwards to PDB, check-in at our apt. Then i met up on the beach with the first part of the family. We went swimming time in sea and had a quick snack (just some sandwiches with fries really) at the new restaurant „Crystal“ on the beach in PDB, which is the ex-Insula Augusta if I'm not mistaken. Then off to the airport again twice to get other ibz family members. Had a bit hectic nightlife preparations then, because we had to be inside space by 10pm for guestlist reasons. But, via a pit stop at pizza hut, we just about managed to get in on time. So the closing of we love was our first night out! We did what any seasoned we love-goer does: arrive early to enjoy the hours before midnight...so thought we at least. The sunset terrace was home to rock nights and we weren't in the mood for this at all. Oh it's such a pity that place (the sunset terrace) doesn't have the same energy than it once had a few years ago. So we went over to the main terrace. There we had our first big moments of this years hols: When the DJs (Jem Haynes, Jason Bye and Ian C) played Starblazer by Deetron and later Man with the red face. That was some time past midnight. Then, after a 10mins-show from adamski, FatBoySlim took over and the place went mad. Finally there was a real we love-atmosphere!! I am personally not such a big fan of him and his tunes and sets, but it was really nice to see the place rocking. For us it was soon time to go, we still needed to properly get into the vibe and were also tired after such a long day... a big shout goes out to Liam, who I unfortunately only got to see at Space this year. Take care dude and hopefully see you next year!


26/9 - I love Mondays...but only in Ibiza!

We slept till about 10am and started into our first full IBZ day with brekkie nearby. Then we went off to the beach, but just for a bit, so we went down to nassau for a while. Then we met up with more friends just before we went to dc10. We got to DC10 at around 6pm and it was still really (i mean REALLY) quiet when we arrived. So, time for a drink in the garden and then off to terrace, which luckily soon enough started to fill up. We had a brilliant time at DC10 and enjoyed everything about it, the music, the people and the most definitely unique vibe. Tania (8-10pm), Seth & Jaime (10-12pm) and Matthias & Davide (playing the last slot on the terrace) were all in top form and so were we! The only downside was that one of our group got stolen her iPhone straight out of her purse (fcuk, not again!!!! We had the same thing at Ushuaia last year! Damned ****ers). So remember: never bring anything to DC10 you don't essentially need. Ah well, the music and the vibe made up for it and Matthias and Davide closed the terrace only at about 3:15am!

We then drove back to PDB and debated quite a long time about yay or nay to Cocoon closing. I really wanted to go, but energy levels and motivation inside the group weren't at a high at this point and so we decided against it... and went to sleep for a bit instead at around 6am.


27/9 – An eventful day at la Plage

The advance of going to sleep is obviously the fact that you feel rested (at least a bit) afterwards. So we started quite fresh into our Tuesday on our beloved little island. We again had breakfast nearby and then it took some time until the whole group came together. Todays destination was the Cocoon afterparty happening at La Plage de l' Elephant (ex-Ushuaia). On the way we stopped at Granja Dunes in PDB, a place we quite often frequent for a snack. We weren't exactly hungry, but we knew it would be long until our bodies got any nutrition again, so we did eat something. With stuffed stomaches and a lot of stamina we got to la plage at around 3pm. Getting in was easy, they just gave wristbands to everyone arriving and that was it. Nice! Sven Väth was already playing when we got there and boy, this old fella is the pure definition of stamina! We had a wonderful afternoon there, dancing, relaxing on the beach for a while inbetween and just enjoying the vibe that was created in that place. It was there, right on the dancefloor, a few steps away from the dj booth and just before it got dark, where I experienced another ibiza moment as many would call it: people from all over the world come together here, on that quite small place of earth, they unite for the love of music, they congregate to party and to celebrate their love for the world of electronic dance music and for this beautiful island!! It's simply magic. Papa Sven was quite in a state, but I must say i'm amazed how this man keeps going - and mostly mixing well (apart of maybe 3 trainwrecks). The cocoon afterparty at la plage went on till midnight. After that, we walked back to our apt. via the beach in Playa d'en Bossa and went to a nice little private afterparty nearby before we eventually fell into our beds at around 4am. Another big shout goes out to Morbyd who was present at We Love closing, DC10 and La Plage (and Cocoon closing, although we weren't), just before he had to take his flight back to Russia. Hope to see you more next summer mate!!!
 
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28/9 - Beachside Ibiza

I woke up at 10am. In the afternoon we all went to Sa Trinxa at Las Salinas. It was absolutely lovely: A great Sa Trinxa salad (really recommendable!) and Sangria de Cava and Jon sa Trinxa on a David Bowie-trip - brilliant! Then I met some people of the Spotlight HQ and only got back to the group (which were enjoying a BBQ at some friends place nearby) at 11pm. Went to sleep quite early without any clubbing.


29/9 – Ibiza's north and PDB's parties

Got up at 11am and went to do some grocery shopping in San Jordi after breakfast. Then we took our car and finally went to do some island excursion. We drove to the beautiful north, stopped in picturesque San Carlos, went for a swim at Cala Boix and continued our trip via Cala San Vicente and the funny rally track that is the road between cala San Vicente - San Joan - Portinatx. On that bit we also encountered the not so funny leftovers of one of the big forest fires :-( In the area of Portinatx we went to the restaurant at S'illot d'es rencli; a small beach that I've known for a very long time already, but had never eaten there before. Big recommendation from my side! The food was delicious and not expensive at all. We shared gambas al ajillo for starters (prawns with a lot of garlic), then we both had a big big dorada a la plancha. Together with water, a bottle of white wine and coffes the bill was 80€ including tips! Great! Then home for a shower and off to Ushuaia for Sasha's „never say never“ closing party. We got in there short past 7pm. It was my first ever visit to the new Ushuaia and, having read so many good and bad things about it, you could tell I was well curious about it. Well, first of all, I must say, the outside bit is done really nicely. The concert/party area with the pool looks cool. The soundsystem seemed really fine to me as well (actually extremely powerful if you stood directly in front of it). At this fiesta, I also thought the people weren't too pretentious, there was a nice cool vibe. Of course Ushuaia is not as wild & crazy as at dc10 for example, but you wouldn't expect that anyway. Also, there weren't too many (wannabe?) VIP's. When we got there, Damian Lazarus was on the decks. His set was okay, but I had heard much better stuff of him. Then Booka Shade were on. They weren't playing live, it was just a DJ set, but musically, it was still the highlight of the night for me. Their set was energetic, melodic sometimes and to me, it really had a nice flow. Then, from about 10pm onwards, Sasha himself was on the decks. I must say I found the first hour of his set totally boring. Luckily things got much better in the second hour and so I did like the second part of his set! Things came to a close at midnight. We waited until the whole group came together again (with a new member we had just found by the way) and then made our very short way over to Space for Kehakuma closing.
We spent the first hour on the sunset terrace having drinks and talking (and I went to say hi to Ramon Castells who was playing that room at that time). Then we went over to the main terrace and stayed there all night. First Jamie Jones was playing (until 3am), then Glimpse were playing live for an hour and after them Nick Curly and Mathias Kaden played back to back until close. I did like the music generally, but I guess I had too high expectations on the party. I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with Kehakuma and also the atmosphere wasn't too spectacular. Don't know if it was just me…? But yeah, I did like Jamie Jones and Nick Curly/Mathias Kaden. We stayed till about 6:30am and then left. Went to bed at about 8am.


30/09 – Family life

Got up at around 10:30am feeling a bit rough after only having slept for 2hrs. Drove to the airport to catch another friend who had just arrived. Then we all had breakfast at home together, before we went to Sa Trinxa again for the afternoon. I had a chicken salad there this time which didn't satisfy as much as the sa trinxa salad. But else, it was another perfect afternoon at Salinas. Got back at around 7pm and two hours later, we drove into Ibiza town to have dinner at our friend francesco's italian restaurant Tentazione up in Dalt Vila. It was the last day the restaurant was running for the season and many people came by and ate there. I had some absolutely perfect tagliatelle with prawns and the local italian specialty „burrata“ beforehand which was just as delicious. It was a lovely evening with the family, but I was extremely tired. In bed by 2am.
 
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01/10 - Here we go again…

Had to get up at 6am to bring someone to the airport who left the group today. Went back to bed and slept till 10am. Had breakfast with the family when everyone was awake. The afternoon was spent with preparations for the big and long closing party marathon ahead. Early in the evening we made our way to Ushuaia for its closing party. and got in at around 7pm. Ushuaia was already really busy, but absolutely on a bearable scale. Robert Dietz was playing until 9pm and I found his set quite boring. Then Digitaline played live for an hour and their live performance was very much up my street, really liked their sounds! From 10pm onwards it was Luciano playing. His set included some really good moments, some flat parts and some highlights like The Age Of Love (around midnight) and Wonderful Life (around 1am). You know, the original plan was to play it safe at Ushuaia, stay till midnight (we originally thought Ushuaia would close at that time) and then go to sleep for a while. But that plan properly went tits up when Luciano played much longer and our 20people multinational group had just such a good time there. Luciano's set was not always superb, but it still kept us going and going and so we only left Ushuaia at about 3am. I really liked Ushuaia closing! The music went on till 4am at Ushuaia as far as I know. We were home for a bit and first thought we wouldn't sleep at all, but…


02/10 - Craziness continues

We passed out some time after 6am and woke up again just in time...errr, too late actually, only at 9am. Super-quick shower, off to get friends & then to Amnesia for their closing party. In a strange twist of happenings we somehow managed to only get inside Amnesia short before 12noon, which is the latest ever I entered to Amnesia closing. At least we got the last few bits of Loco Dice's set (which I found brilliant) and then Marco Carola took over. He followed Dice's footsteps and continued the same banging Underground Techno path LD had laid. At 3pm circa Richie Hawtin began penetrating the soundsystem and played till 5:20pm! Amnesia closing this year was absolutely amazing again. It was very busy, but nowhere as unbearable as last year. Loco Dice and Marco Carola were both in top form. And even Hawtin's set was quite good (not a Hawtin fan as you might know). The atmosphere was electric. The vibe was uncomparable and everyone was smiling! There was another Ibiza-moment when out of nowhere (err, just from the dj booth to be correct) a big bottle of Hierbas appeared. We gave it around in our circle of friends and beyond, to everyone who was dancing around us and the bottle of Hierbas was gone within less than 5 minutes. I SIMPLY LOVE AMNESIA CLOSING MORE THAN ANY OTHER PARTY ON EARTH!

After Amnesia closing we went home for a shower and a snack, then walked to La Plage. We thought the Amnesia closing afterparty would happen there, but that was not the case. The real afterparty with Dice and Carola apparently happened at some Villa in San Juan at was quite private. At La Plage, it was „only“ the afterparty of Matinée. We still went for a bit. The music was really upbeat and matinée-ish with many classics being hammered out. We stayed there for about two hours (till about 10:30pm) and then left the group and went over to Space for its closing party. We arrived there short before 11pm and first went to the Flight Area (car park). Armin Van Buuren was playing there and it was strange for us to listen to trance there. So we left the car park before it closed at midnight and had a stroll around. Got the very last bit of Radio Slave's set on the sunset terrace (again: where has the vibe of that room gone?) and then met up with other friends. For most of the next few hours we stayed on the main terrace where we got a bit of Nick Curly and Maya Jane Coles. I liked both – but without thinking it was anything groundbreaking. Then we moved over to El Salon, where we had some drinks. Marcoloco was playing there and that room had a good vibe, but I got really tired so we left at around 3:30am and went sleeping.


03/10 – long live deltacharlieonezero

We got up at noon I think. Then we had breakfast at passion (never cheap but always a good tip) and then got our group together again and went to DC10. Our theme this year was „just married“. We were a group almost 20 people strong and the group included three couples ready to get married at DC10, two priests and many followers, best men etc. We arrived there at 5pm sharp and got in quickly. The first few hours were spent in the garden when the sun was still out and we had our wedding ceremonies there, which was an endless lot of fun, can't stop grinning when thinking about it now. Of course it was no serious wedding, but it was sooo funny!!

Music-wise, I must say i thought the first few hours were really flat. I only really liked the second hour of Seth and Jamie (11-12 midnight). We then changed location and went to the terrace, where we just caught Cassy's last half hour, which was brilliant. After her, it was Ricardo Villalobos' and Zip's turn. No like. And – as expected – the terrace got ridiculously busy after midnight, when the garden floor closed. Up until midnight it had been fine, but now it was just rammed. It had been the same last year and I knew things would get better again later. At 2:30am Matthias Tanzmann and Davide Squillace took over on the terrace and then the sound got better. It took another hour till it also got a bit less busy again.

But before i begin with the best part of the night, I must confess that I never had seen such a lot of aggression, fights and bad vibes at DC10 before. On the terrace, the vibe from about midnight till about 3:30am was just NOT DC10. there were at least 3 fights and even I got a nice punch from a guy when I tried to walk past (which was not easy just because it was too busy). Yeah sure, everyone was already really worn out after a few days of partying very hard and surely temper levels were at a low, but still guys; get your sh*t together and behave!!! Also, I had never seen that few funny dresses around at DC10 before! What a pity – I always loved the DC10 closing for that as well.

But as last year, it was worth waiting and enduring the not-so-comfy-period. At around 3:30am DC10 got DC10 again. It was a bit less busier (still packed, but one could move and even dance!), Davide & Matthias were in top form and slowly but steadily the vibe came back. The Visionquest boys (Lee Curtiss, Shaun Reeves and Ryan Crosson) took over at 4:30am and their set was just WOOOW!!! They mixed current hits with old classics and especially the last hour from 6am till 6:50am (when the music stopped) was just brilliant. I remember Benoit & Sergio's „Everybody“, then „Knights of the Jaguar“, Armand Van Helden's „You Don't Know Me“ just to name a few choons which were played…So again, my recommendation for anybody who's been disappointed with the DC10 closing would be: Come really early (mid-afternoon) to enjoy the vibe in the garden and then take a break when it's just too busy (that would be from midnight till about 3am) and then go for it again until close!!! You won't regret doing it that way.

We then got back to PDB and had a nice private afterparty before we eventually passed out at 12noon.
 
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04/10 – more afterparties or not…?

got up at 4pm after 4hrs of sleep. went down to sands for the dc10 closing afterparty, which was well busy and going off. we didn 't have a lot of energy though and felt very hungry soon so we left the group for a while and walked furthermore south down to coco's beach and had a lovely dinner there instead of partying on. we shared a steak tartar for starters and then we had a oven-baked dorada fillet and a monkfish-curry with rice, both were very delicious!

walked back to sands (the music had just stopped, it was around 10:30pm), told our friends goodnight, went home and were in bed by midnight.


05/10 - A perfect last day in Ibiza

Got up at 9am - having finally slept more than just 3 to 6 hours!!! Had breakfast at home and then FINALLY went scuba diving in Ibiza (you might know i had wanted to do this for a long time but never managed to do so). We were too lazy to drive far (for example to Cala San Vicente or Cala Tarida, where you can find some famous diving bases and -spots), so we had arranged a dive with Anfibios in PDB at 11am. My expectations regarding the dive site weren't too high, but I must confess the dive was fantastic, I had underestimated the site and i'm 100% sure i'll dive more in Ibiza in the future! we saw some big barracudas, three lovely moorays and much more of ibiza's marine sealife! woohooo!

After diving, we took our car and drove to Cala d'Hort where we met up with the whole gang and had our traditional Paella at El Carmen. Then we spent some time on the beach and finished this beautiful day with the best sunset Ibiza offers - the one from Torre d'es Savinar, overlooking Es Vedra. The visibility was perfect and we saw the sun sinking right into mainland Spain, something you rarely see. and - oh Ibiza coincidence - up there, I walked right into a friend i hadn't seen for ages, search the net for „los angeles del fuego“, a couple doing fire-artistics, and you'll know more.

My energy level reached zero soon after sun had set so we drove back home, packed our bags and went to bed early...


06/10 - going home

Got up at 6:30am, drove to the airport and returned our car. Then checked in and had breakfast. My flight was more than an hour late and I safely arrived back in Switzerland at 12noon...adios ibiza, adios mi amor!!!

Spotlighters met this year:
- thanks again for a wonderful time with you all -
utagaura, weloveliam@space, Morbyd, Dicey, McRackin, belle, Lupoxx, Feierküken, Montana, Grego, James, insania…and there must be more I just forgot…ahh yeah, the Israeli posse for sure, Judith (pity we only had like 5 mins), funtom, I-Spy, ...

Highlights:
- Amnesia closing – simply unbeatable
- DC10 closing from about 4am onwards. That's the way I like it.
- Finally going scuba diving in Ibiza
- Finishing off the holiday with the perfect day (see Oct 5)

Regrets:
In a way it was too many parties in too little time. Consequence: not enough time to see all the places I wanted to return to. No lunch at Everybody. No sunset at Cala Yogi. No dinner at Balafia. I could go on for hours! 10 Days in Ibiza are just not enough at all…

Well then amigos, see you all next year!

(I might add more to my review later, but wanted to post this now. So there might be more stuff coming in the next few hours/days/weeks I guess)
 
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Yay!! Great review and great to meet up with you again! Wish we'd had more time to hang out since I was sick for a few of those nights.

Next year! :)

Now I will have to buckle down and get my review up!!!

Thanks again for posting your detailed review! xxx
 
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hasta el año que viene!! ;)
 
Always a good read!!!

Do you have a lot of contacts on the Island (guestlist speaking)?8)
 
Great read, Stivi - going to give it another couple of reads to digest it all properly :) .. is that Adam twirling his firesticks on the Torre by any chance ?

Did you really have to manage a group of 20 ? :eek: That must have been a logistical nightmare !!!
 
hey kim,

yup it's adam!
well, we weren't a group of 20 all the time, but for that dc10-wedding-thingy, we were.
 
Nice review as always Stivi, and great seeing you again. ;)


nostrum said:
..a big shout goes out to Liam, who I unfortunately only got to see at Space this year. Take care dude and hopefully see you next year!
Click to expand...

..I also spent 3 hours with you guys at DC10 the next day ;) ...and I thought your memory was good ;)

Hasta el año que viene amigo 8)
 
Amazing closings review as every year !

I must say that my holiday was very similar to yours , even other things than parties was similiar (torre de saviner , north beaches etc..)

except monza closing party and space closing , we visit the same parties at the same times , and its really nice to read that we have the same openiions about them.

Have a great winter stivi ,
& thanks for the Hirbas!
8)
 
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nostrum said:
01/10 - Here we go again…

Our theme this year was „just married“. We were a group almost 20 people strong and the group included three couples ready to get married at DC10, two priests and many followers, best men etc. .
Click to expand...

Hahah! I saw quite a few of your group whilst was I at DC10 closing party! I think we got there at about 2 or 3pm and it was pretty good room wise then but like you say it did get VERY busy later on. I will bear your recommendations in mind when I return in May :)
 
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