‘In Bed by 2am’ – a Middle-aged Raver’s review (5th-12th August) [incl. Photos & Videos]

thejudge2k

Active Member
At the age of 31, I may not be ancient, but the days of spending a fortnight partying until sunrise are now less prevalent. Here’s proof you can enjoy Ibiza to the full, without comprising on 8 hours sleep, or breakfast at your hotel...

Tuesday 5th August: Arrival
For the first time we decided to take the BA flight from Heathrow to Ibiza. A mid afternoon flight time and the calmness of T5 certainly helped get things off on the right foot. As afternoon turned to evening, we approached the White Isle from the East, and I decided to film one of my favourite approaches to an airport anywhere in the world – from Talamanca, to Dalt Vila, Figuertas to Playa den Bossa, it’s a lovely sight. Here’s the video (sped up) in case you want to relieve that excited moment you arrive back on the island:


We grabbed a dinner of massive proportions at Ibiza Rocks Diner and headed back to the hotel.

In Bed by: midnight

Wednesday 6th August: Bastille at Ibiza Rocks
Despite not being a massive fan, the missus and I decided to check out the band that seemingly provides 90% of the ‘Made In Chelsea’ soundtrack.

Having checked twitter when arriving in San Antonio at 8:30pm we soon realised the main act were still some time away, so instead wandered down to Mambo for sunset and a couple of drinks. Following Fatboy Slim on the Monday and Eats Everything on the Tuesday (who happened to be one of the passengers on our BA flight), the sunset strip was busy but not rammed. We sipped a couple of Vodka Limon’s and watched as the sun slipped into the sea, watched by everybody from young boy with his dad, to a group of guys on a bender, to a family of four from France – it may happen every day, every where in the world, but it’s still special! :)

Here’s another sped up video from the shoreline:


As day turned to night, we walked back up to the Ibiza Rocks hotel, showed our pre-purchased tickets, and breezed straight into the pool area, where Rag N Bone Man was just finishing his warm-up set.

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Having not had chance for food, we grabbed a burger and chips and a couple of drinks and preceded over to the far side of the (now moved) stage. It was busy, but not rammed, so we easily got a spot on the side of the stage, overlooking the throngs of teenagers brimming with excitement. What followed was an energising, fun and honest set of catchy rock / pop / dance songs, with the lead guy Dan bouncing up and down as much as the crowd. As the set reached a climax, he decided to embark on a foray into the audience for a rendition of ‘Flaws’, still singing perfectly in tune as he jumped up on the wall harbouring the MTV cameras and then on into the heaving masses (see video below).


Overall, it was great fun and another thoroughly enjoyable Ibiza Rocks evening, and by the time we had walked back to the harbour front and grabbed a cab, it was still a relatively early finish.

In Bed by: 1:30am

Thursday 7th August: Abigail Bailey at Sa Trinxa & ENTER at Space
We decided to chill out the next day, so grabbed a cab to Playa de Salinas and spent the day lounging on the beach. Having bought a parasol to shield us from the baking hot weather and grabbed some ham, cheese & bread at the local shop for lunch, we were able to stay the whole day enjoying the various club night parades strutting past.

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As the evening reached around 6pm, we decided to have a walk up the beach to Sa Trinxa. As we approached, the drummer had just finished beating out some rhythms, so we headed to the bar and ordered a couple of Lemon Beers.

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As we stepped back on to the beach, a saxophonist and violinist started playing just in front of the bar. Then the call went out for Abigail Bailey to come down to the DJ booth. Next thing we know she’s belting out choruses from classic dance tunes such as Red Carpet – Alright (“Everything’s gonna be Alright…”) and Fragma – Toca’s Miracle (“I need a miracle…”) and about 40 people and dancing around on the beach in the evening sun.

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Having checked Google it appears this happens reasonably often, but nonetheless at that moment I genuinely had goosebumps all over. For me, those tunes mean so much, and to hear somebody with a great voice just freestyle with the lyrics on a sun-kissed beach in Ibiza was phenomenal. I could definitely live out the rest of days at Sa Trinxa experiencing moments like that.

After 15-20 minutes the set concluded to mass applause, we finished our beers, wandered back down the beach, collected our stuff and jumped on the hourly bus back to Playa den Bossa.

Next up (after a quick bite at Ciao Ciao) was a quick stop at ENTER at Space. Having arrived at 10:30ish we sampled married couple Adam Beyer and Ida Engberg on the sunset terrace / sake bar whilst supping a customary Sake cocktail. Their set was OK, but nothing special, unlike the décor which always looks special for Thursday nights. No being massive techno fans, at midnight we headed over the road for a drink with friends who were buzzing from Armin’s 7 hour solo set at Ushuaia, before hitting the sack.

In Bed by: 2:00am

Friday 8th August: Fiesta Fireworks
Another day at Salinas was followed by an evening in Ibiza Town. The biggest fiesta of the year meant huge amounts of people by the port, and a great atmosphere with fairground stalls and everybody from local families to groups of tourists mixing with each other.

The fireworks at midnight from the harbour wall were excellent, lasting a good 15-20 minutes and making everybody gaze into the sky with amazement. Having spoken to a friend who was travelling home that night, apparently planes were delayed from taking off while the show took place.

As the crowds dispersed, we headed back into the old town to sample some tapas for dinner, before getting the disco bus back to Playa den Bossa for just 3 euros each.

In Bed by: 2:00am

Saturday 9th August: S’ametller for dinner
A day relaxing by the beach was followed by dinner at our favourite restaurant in Ibiza Town. Having first visited last summer following trip advisor research, we went again in May and reserved a table for tonight. It was a good job – about 10 visitors were turned away on the night as the 9 tables were all fully booked. Despite some temperamental air conditioning making it a little hotter than usual, the food, wine and service were awesome as always. It may feel like you’re in somebody’s living room, but the food would cost you an arm and a leg in London!

Afterwards, we wandered round some shops in Ibiza town before once again getting the disco bus back home.

In Bed by: 2:00am

Sunday 10th August: We Love at Space (Loco Dice Birthday special)
We spent the morning chilling by the pool, and had our usual walk down the beach to Passion café for lunch (expensive but brilliantly fresh food). As we passed the usual hordes of PRs near Bora Bora, one of them mentioned Carl Cox. I asked him what he was referring to (as Coxy’s night was not until Tuesday) and he explained Carl was the special guest on the sunset terrace for Loco Dice’s We Love party. This was going to be an opportunity too good to miss so we grabbed a couple of wristbands and headed back to the pool.

The sunset terrace is my favourite dancefloor, and Coxy one of my favourite DJs, so as I walked down the road towards Space I was properly excited. As we reached the door spot on 9pm, there was no hint of a queue, and for a fee of just 20 euro each we were straight onto the sunset terrace. There in the booth stood the big man, just beginning his set. The last of the sun’s rays were streaming in through the fabric covering of the ceiling, and the floor was nicely full of dancing bodies – paradise!

Over the next three hours, Cox on his own, Cox and Loco Dice back to back, and finally Loco Dice on his own pounded out the tunes as the terrace filled up to bursting point. The music was pretty banging, but also had some classics thrown in such as Deelite – Groove is in the Heart and Dennis Ferrer – Hey Hey. As the volume reduced and Loco Dice headed inside, we slipped out, content that we’d seen another great, unique Ibiza musical moment. We decided to grab food at Ciao Ciao again and watch the amusing selection of individuals from Avicii’s night at Ushuaia stream past.

In Bed by: 2:00am
 
Monday 11th August: David Guetta at Ushuaia
Another day of lounging around the pool, soaking up the continuous sunshine and lunching out at Passion café.

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This evening we’d booked tickets for Guetta’s extravaganza at Ushuaia. Having checked the stage times, we arrived at around 8:30pm for the start of Zedd. As the sun dipped behind the hotel and the lasers, he banged out hit after hit, with vocals interspersed with big Electro beats. It was a great party atmosphere – busy, but not ridiculously rammed (as per the opening party in May for example).

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Then followed the main (French) man himself, and the full extent of the production kicked in – scantily clad dancers fitting the ‘Guetta College – Ibiza Campus’ theme, lasers, and even a gymnast spinning on a hoop suspended from a collection of balloons metres above the crowd.

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Guetta spent two hours mixing together all the big summer hits (Calvin Harris, etc) and some of his own hits (including ‘When Love Takes Over’ and his new one ‘Lovers on the Sun’). The awesomely fun evening ended with ‘Titanium’, accompanied by 7,000 people singing along and the swimming pool at the back packed with dancing bodies. Commercial, pricey, but just a proper fun party under the stars!

In Bed by: 2:00am

Tuesday 12th August: Home time
It was finally time to leave the White Isle and our home for the past 7 days - Hotel Garbi. On reflection, the hotel was OK – it is competitively priced, has a great central location and the communal areas are very well done out. However, the rooms are dated, there are no sun loungers left after 10:00 and it’s still not that cheap. We may be back, we may not be.

Summary
So all in all, we had a relaxing week, with 8 hours sleep a night, but still managed to fit in Space twice, Ushuaia, Ibiza Rocks, a Mambo sunset, fireworks and much more. Here’s to Ibiza being the place to reenergise after a tough time at work as much as a place to lose the plot!
 
lovely review - love the added pics too! very 'good boy'-ish to always be in bed that early, but you did get your fair shair of clubbing still which is cool :D
 
Thanks for a really enjoyable review. My solo 4 day trip last year consisted of 2 full on late nights and 2 "half" nights. It gave me a both of best worlds element to my trip. Its not that I cant do 4 nights full on in a row, its more now the fact that I dont want to these days. There is more going on than people think in the daytime/evening, more of it being closer to the original Ibiza vibe that I am now trying to experience.

The other thing is that if I went with just the missus, we would probably do something similar (okay, perhaps not Guetta?) as I cant be doing with "the face" at 6am in a club when she wants to go back to the hotel!!!

You are not middle aged at 31 (as prev said). I would not even class myself as middle aged and I have another 11 years on you!
 
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Well done for holding out for the whole trip ! I'm also much happier nowadays with earlier parties in the evening (9pm-1am is perfect). Or at home ones which start early at 6-8am when the weather gets colder and I don't want to be outdoors somewhere other than a club. Taking a week to recover when you get home isn't an option the more responsibilities you have. Be lying if I said crawling out of Amnesia at 9am after being up the whole day before is beyond me, but it's turning into the exception rather than the norm. Would rather go to sleep at 10pm, wake up at 4 and do a 5am-9am. Easier said than done though !

I thought that too I must admit :D I'm older than that and feel far from middle aged!

Give it another 5 years, Stivi ..... ;)

The other thing is that if I went with just the missus, we would probably do something similar (okay, perhaps not Guetta?) as I cant be doing with "the face" at 6am in a club when she wants to go back to the hotel!!!

:lol: .. trust me it's not just a "missus" who can have the same effect .... there's a reason some of us wind up slipping out to clubs on our own in the end as a matter of choice - after too much of this !!
 
Thanks for the comments guys!

Hmm, maybe I need to reconsider my definition of 'middle-aged' - although 'early 30s raver' just doesn't have the same ring to it... :p
 
do not worry about the perception of others in this board.. especially in this board!!


*cough *
 
Great review, I think my next trip will be more like this and less like the re-enactment of 24hr party people which the last one consisted of. And i'm only 26...
 
Great review, I think my next trip will be more like this and less like the re-enactment of 24hr party people which the last one consisted of. And i'm only 26...
 
Going next year and staying in the garbi thought it was dead on when I was in it last didn't stay in it but my friends did and was in there rooms thought they were ok , heard about the sun bed thou hopefully they get more for the pool next year , would you not recommend it ?
 
Excellent review. I tried to party all day and all night. My body was wrecked when I got home. I got to my hotel each morning between 6.30am and 7.00am and I tried to get 3 or 4 hours sleep before heading out again. I tried to write up a diary each day because I experienced so much, but there just wasn't time! I barely had the strength to hold the pen, let alone focus my mind clearly enough to write something down. LOL.

:confused:
 
Great post Judge. I'm going next year with my fiancé to do pretty much that (except I don't mind being out late and not sleeping just can't drink like I used to due to having IBS).

Last time I went with the boys it was a two dayer upon landing then basically gut-wrenching pain and vomiting for the following five! :-(
 
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