Ancient People
Active Member
It had been a few years since I went back to Ibiza, and I heard about the new laws regarding opening hours, so I knew this trip wouldnt be about clubbing, but more to have chilled out beach experiences.
Sunday arrived in the late afternoon at our appartment near Santa Eularia. We headed for some drinks in Eivissa and ended up getting free wristbands for Little Louie Vega at El Divino. Now, Im not a big fan of the club, but Louie Vega has always been one of the djs I enjoy whenever I heard them play out. We got there around 01.30 and the place was not even half full, it was weird to see Louie Vega spinning with hardly anyone dancing to his tunes. I know lots of people love El Divino's terrace but to be honnest I think its far from nice, when most of the terrace is vip area. Also the crowd was nothing to write home about, I guess most of them didnt even know who was playing, or didnt expect to hear soulfull latin deephouse. Best part was when the lovely Anana came on stage and sang a few anthems, finally some hands in the air moments. We didnt stay too much longer as we didnt want to miss too much of the next day.
Monday woke up around noon and after showers heades straight to Salinas. Salinas has always been one of my favorite beaches of the island, thanks to Jon Sa Trincha its one of the only beaches on Ibiza where you can atually hear good tunes when you r in the water, bliss. We ordered some jars of Sangria and when you r in the water, feeling the sangria and maroccan, hearing soft balearic tunes, you know your holliday has started. We hanged there all afternoon till we decided to check out another favorite place of before, Bora Bora.
When we got there the party was slowly beginning, with just a dozen people dancing on summery tunes. Once they put the blue screens, and more people start getting in, I noticed the increasing presence of security, something I hadnt noticed years before. But you know how it goes, you r having a good time so you chose to ignore it. In the meanwhile there was some seriously good music, none of that electro crap I feared for, but a good mixure of uplifting house and trance classics. When Nalin&Kane"s beachball got played the place went crazy and I loved it. After a while the first girl climbed on a chair but immediately she got rather brutally pulled of by one of the steroidy bouncers. Also when one group was dancing a bit enthousiastic (ie shouting screaming etc) the bouncers were there to keep an eye on them. Te be fair tho, there was a lot of drugs present, if there is one place on the isle where you can get sorted easily its Bora Bora. I left a bit after sunset, leaving the mayhem behind. Bora Bora is definately not the place anymore what it used to be, regardless what anyone says about adapting, going with the flow etc. It used to be a free spirit place, when now its just a place with good tunes and people dancing. Enough said.
Thuesdays waking up was easy and early as the night before we went to bed early (we r getting old). After some picknick shopping we left for the beautiful drive to the north of the island, heading to Benirras beach. One thing that is said many times about Ibiza is to rent a car and go explore the island. The only thing I can say about it, is that it is a must. We had our own car with us but its so cheap to rent one, I saw places that rent cars for not even 25 euros a day, that money is spent on one taxi ride so go figure. To drive thru Ibiza's hilly countryside with some good tunes playing, its already half of the fun you have of getting to a place. We stopped for a little bit in San Juan which is such a quaint little village, where we found a nice little spot with a great vieuw to eat our sandwiches and drink our wine before we continued our drive to the beach. Benirras has lways been a favorite beach of mine, with its clear water, the unprentious crowd, and the greater then life characters that used to hang out there. When I went to my old hang out the little restaurant at the furthest end of the beach, the Candel familia restaurant I was shocked to hear about what they had to deal with. For more then 40 years this lovely family had been around cooking the best fish in a sober chiringo but this year they didnt get anymore license to do so. They still sold their beers at cheap prices (not in the open tho so shhh) and eventually she even cooked me a delicious snapper in garlic sauce, but officially they cant do that anymore. The other new fancy expensive places obviously didnt have the same problem. Its a story I would get to hear during my stay; the authorities trying to stop all places which they think are not catering for the upscale tourists. It makes me sad and angry at the same time. Those places are what Ibiza was about, so when you get to Benirras, please stop by to sign to petition to help the Candel family survive. That evening we got a beautiful sunset, and stayed till the early hours chatting, and listening to live music.
Wednesday although a little hangovered we managed to get up early and hit the road again. Today it was time to the 3th one of my top 3 beaches, Aguas Blancas. Much less popular then the previous two, but definately more authentic, more an original ibiza feel to it. When you drive try to go to the southest part of the beach, its where you can the indiana jones like stairs down to the beach. Immediately you get welcomed by chilled reggea tunes of the little Chiringuito where the drinks are still cheap and the salads fresh. The Argentinan owner told me that so far he didnt have any problems with the authorities, but he realises that he s lucky that his place is not easily accesable. I really recommand this place, every time when you tip them they hit a big gong hanging from the cealing, hillarious. The beach in front of it is populated by stoners, big naked hippie families from Amsterdam, young italian neo punks and the smell of green is everywhere, top place.
One of my friends is a big fan of the Martinez Brothers, who? yes the Martinez Brothers, two kids from Brookleyn who get discovered by Dennis Ferrer, playing an eclectic mix of funk bossa soul house. Some say they r the new Masters At Work. And they played that night at Pacha, warming up for Erick Morillo's Subliminal Sessions. Pacha I always had a love hate relationship with. I really love how the place looks like, from the funky room to the terrace, its one of the most beautiful clubs I ever been. Thing that ennoyed me several times was the attitude of the crowd, especially the ones of the VIP areas. When I go clubbing, I party, I dont pose, I dont stand there chatting, and I definately dont sit on my arse. But too many times I have seen that at Pacha. But anyway, back to the Martinez Brothers, they started off with Touched The Sky, followed by some classics as I'll house you and Jack your body, but soon they started playing rather monotonious which made me leave the main room and go show my danceskills in the funky room which was great as always. I went to check out Erick Morillo but the be honnest I couldnt tell the difference from tune 2 till 5, like it was on flat noise trip, I wouldnt call it bad, it just aint my thing. I should have known as Subliminal has never been a favorite of mine, I almost regretted not havin gone to Defected the day before. Nevertheless I had a good time in Pacha.
Thursday we slept till late had a quick breakfast and then headed over to Cala Comte, which took us a while to get there. Cala Comte was never really on our map untill Sunset Ashram started its business. With a spectacular vieuw, a cheap and yummy kitchen, oriental chill out tunes, you are bound to attract people like me. The beach was supercrowded, hard to find an empty spot, with a good mix of young people and families. Also the restaurant was doing well, and have developped a great system of ordering your food. Once you have ordered you get a little electronical thingy, which gets activated when your food is ready. I had the Indian curry with chicken which I really enjoyed. I wish I would have come here around sunset like last time to hear Bruno from Ibiza spinning but those roads in the dark are something else then in daylight. Since we didnt find a good place on the beach we decided to head back and stop at another nice little place, Macao Cafe. The beach here is much different, with thousands of little white rocks, as if its made. They have the greatest soundsystem, playing chilled out groovy tunes. We found some nice empty matrasses on the rocky beach and ordered the best mojitos I ever had in Ibiza. When you look for a not too crowded, friendly service, good music not so far away place, Macao Cafe is the place fore you.
Friday we were a bit undecisive what to do, as one of our friends had never been to Atlantis we warned him that with these temperatures it would be a struggle to get there. We agreed to drive to Cala D'Hort so we could see what to do once we got there. I almost forgot what a great drive it is to get there. Once you have the first glimse of Es Vedra from your car you know you r getting close. Luckly it wasnt that crowded probably due to the extreme temperatures of today, the car thermometer said 35 with no cloud in the sky. It was unbearable to be on the beach, and the sea there was full of jellyfish, so we stayed there for the obligatory Es Vedra shots and decided to call it a day. Even my friend understood that in this circumstances you cant do any physical activitities, so he had to postpone Atlantis again. Instead we took a drive to Salinas again where we had another jar of Sangria to ease his pain. A bit before sunset we drove a bit further to playa des Codolar, where we had a lovely sunset meal at Cap des Falco. I really like this place, but instead of coming here with friends I would rather come here with my other half. It doesnt get more romantic then this.
Saturday and almost one week passed by, time flies, even when you dont party ! But today we would party, but I had my doubts about it. Matinee used to be my favorite party, mainly becos of the daylight partying, the unpretentious crowd, and most of all pure housemusic. To have the party started at 6pm felt a bit weird but I was still excited to go. But before that we went to Sa Caletta, another nice beach near Cala Jondal. It has one restaurant that makes great Paella, you know the greasy type that fills your stomach for hours, just what I needed before a Matinee session.
We got to Space around 7pm, it seems quiet outside at the parkingspot, there wasnt even a queu lining up. I spotted one police car with a guardia civil looking very uninterested. Once I got inside first thing I noticed where the changes that Space went thru last couple of years, changes I only heard of. I dont know why they still call it a (sunset) terrace when there is no terrace (nor sun). The place was half empty but the atmosphere was good, saw some familiar faces which is always good to get the party started. Again great tunes, with Beachball (with vocal this time) followed by Greece 2000 which created mayhem on the dancefloor. But as soon as it got darker, also the music got darker, less emotional. Maybe becos my Bora Bora experience, but I thought to see much more security, the gorillas were all over. Not being nasty or something, but maybe its my hazy memory, but I cant recall seeing atleast 8 security guys in every angle in lets say 10 meters around me in the past. Around midnight the the floor get way too packed, that combined with all the casualties, it was hard for me to stay there. But I had a good 5 hours of partying, having a good time, and thats what is it all about.
The good thing about hitting the sack early last night is that today will be fully spend lounging at one of the most posh beach lounges of the isle, Blue Marlin. We got there around noon and immediately ordered Rose to start the day. A bit later the dj start spinning his tunes and from then on it went all kinda blurry. We met some crazy coked up frenchies who were there with their boat, next thing I remember we were couple of hours later ordering sushi. Its only from this year Blue Marlin serves sushi but my god, how good it was. Im not a man of decadence, but atleast one day should be spend here, its so over the top that its cool, just dont take it too seriously.
And monday our last day we took the early boat to Formentera where I decided to spend my next Balearic holliday there. To come here just for the day doesnt do the place justice. We rented scooters to get around, and first went to platja Illetes, beautiful clear waters, the softest sand but unfortunatelly packed with people, but that didnt stop us enjoying the water, this place would be paradise if it wasnt for the tourists (and yes I was part of them too ). Then we took a drive to the other side of the island Platja de Migjorn where Blue Bar is situated. Entering this place felt like a turn back to the early Ibiza days. Dusty sandy roads, an empty beach as far as you could see, some hippies, some naked models and true balearic music, early Alfredo style. Unlike Illetes, this beach had big waves, which were lots of fun to play in. Those wave games, and general vibe at Blue Bar was the perfect ending of a chilled out holliday.
Sunday arrived in the late afternoon at our appartment near Santa Eularia. We headed for some drinks in Eivissa and ended up getting free wristbands for Little Louie Vega at El Divino. Now, Im not a big fan of the club, but Louie Vega has always been one of the djs I enjoy whenever I heard them play out. We got there around 01.30 and the place was not even half full, it was weird to see Louie Vega spinning with hardly anyone dancing to his tunes. I know lots of people love El Divino's terrace but to be honnest I think its far from nice, when most of the terrace is vip area. Also the crowd was nothing to write home about, I guess most of them didnt even know who was playing, or didnt expect to hear soulfull latin deephouse. Best part was when the lovely Anana came on stage and sang a few anthems, finally some hands in the air moments. We didnt stay too much longer as we didnt want to miss too much of the next day.
Monday woke up around noon and after showers heades straight to Salinas. Salinas has always been one of my favorite beaches of the island, thanks to Jon Sa Trincha its one of the only beaches on Ibiza where you can atually hear good tunes when you r in the water, bliss. We ordered some jars of Sangria and when you r in the water, feeling the sangria and maroccan, hearing soft balearic tunes, you know your holliday has started. We hanged there all afternoon till we decided to check out another favorite place of before, Bora Bora.
When we got there the party was slowly beginning, with just a dozen people dancing on summery tunes. Once they put the blue screens, and more people start getting in, I noticed the increasing presence of security, something I hadnt noticed years before. But you know how it goes, you r having a good time so you chose to ignore it. In the meanwhile there was some seriously good music, none of that electro crap I feared for, but a good mixure of uplifting house and trance classics. When Nalin&Kane"s beachball got played the place went crazy and I loved it. After a while the first girl climbed on a chair but immediately she got rather brutally pulled of by one of the steroidy bouncers. Also when one group was dancing a bit enthousiastic (ie shouting screaming etc) the bouncers were there to keep an eye on them. Te be fair tho, there was a lot of drugs present, if there is one place on the isle where you can get sorted easily its Bora Bora. I left a bit after sunset, leaving the mayhem behind. Bora Bora is definately not the place anymore what it used to be, regardless what anyone says about adapting, going with the flow etc. It used to be a free spirit place, when now its just a place with good tunes and people dancing. Enough said.
Thuesdays waking up was easy and early as the night before we went to bed early (we r getting old). After some picknick shopping we left for the beautiful drive to the north of the island, heading to Benirras beach. One thing that is said many times about Ibiza is to rent a car and go explore the island. The only thing I can say about it, is that it is a must. We had our own car with us but its so cheap to rent one, I saw places that rent cars for not even 25 euros a day, that money is spent on one taxi ride so go figure. To drive thru Ibiza's hilly countryside with some good tunes playing, its already half of the fun you have of getting to a place. We stopped for a little bit in San Juan which is such a quaint little village, where we found a nice little spot with a great vieuw to eat our sandwiches and drink our wine before we continued our drive to the beach. Benirras has lways been a favorite beach of mine, with its clear water, the unprentious crowd, and the greater then life characters that used to hang out there. When I went to my old hang out the little restaurant at the furthest end of the beach, the Candel familia restaurant I was shocked to hear about what they had to deal with. For more then 40 years this lovely family had been around cooking the best fish in a sober chiringo but this year they didnt get anymore license to do so. They still sold their beers at cheap prices (not in the open tho so shhh) and eventually she even cooked me a delicious snapper in garlic sauce, but officially they cant do that anymore. The other new fancy expensive places obviously didnt have the same problem. Its a story I would get to hear during my stay; the authorities trying to stop all places which they think are not catering for the upscale tourists. It makes me sad and angry at the same time. Those places are what Ibiza was about, so when you get to Benirras, please stop by to sign to petition to help the Candel family survive. That evening we got a beautiful sunset, and stayed till the early hours chatting, and listening to live music.
Wednesday although a little hangovered we managed to get up early and hit the road again. Today it was time to the 3th one of my top 3 beaches, Aguas Blancas. Much less popular then the previous two, but definately more authentic, more an original ibiza feel to it. When you drive try to go to the southest part of the beach, its where you can the indiana jones like stairs down to the beach. Immediately you get welcomed by chilled reggea tunes of the little Chiringuito where the drinks are still cheap and the salads fresh. The Argentinan owner told me that so far he didnt have any problems with the authorities, but he realises that he s lucky that his place is not easily accesable. I really recommand this place, every time when you tip them they hit a big gong hanging from the cealing, hillarious. The beach in front of it is populated by stoners, big naked hippie families from Amsterdam, young italian neo punks and the smell of green is everywhere, top place.
One of my friends is a big fan of the Martinez Brothers, who? yes the Martinez Brothers, two kids from Brookleyn who get discovered by Dennis Ferrer, playing an eclectic mix of funk bossa soul house. Some say they r the new Masters At Work. And they played that night at Pacha, warming up for Erick Morillo's Subliminal Sessions. Pacha I always had a love hate relationship with. I really love how the place looks like, from the funky room to the terrace, its one of the most beautiful clubs I ever been. Thing that ennoyed me several times was the attitude of the crowd, especially the ones of the VIP areas. When I go clubbing, I party, I dont pose, I dont stand there chatting, and I definately dont sit on my arse. But too many times I have seen that at Pacha. But anyway, back to the Martinez Brothers, they started off with Touched The Sky, followed by some classics as I'll house you and Jack your body, but soon they started playing rather monotonious which made me leave the main room and go show my danceskills in the funky room which was great as always. I went to check out Erick Morillo but the be honnest I couldnt tell the difference from tune 2 till 5, like it was on flat noise trip, I wouldnt call it bad, it just aint my thing. I should have known as Subliminal has never been a favorite of mine, I almost regretted not havin gone to Defected the day before. Nevertheless I had a good time in Pacha.
Thursday we slept till late had a quick breakfast and then headed over to Cala Comte, which took us a while to get there. Cala Comte was never really on our map untill Sunset Ashram started its business. With a spectacular vieuw, a cheap and yummy kitchen, oriental chill out tunes, you are bound to attract people like me. The beach was supercrowded, hard to find an empty spot, with a good mix of young people and families. Also the restaurant was doing well, and have developped a great system of ordering your food. Once you have ordered you get a little electronical thingy, which gets activated when your food is ready. I had the Indian curry with chicken which I really enjoyed. I wish I would have come here around sunset like last time to hear Bruno from Ibiza spinning but those roads in the dark are something else then in daylight. Since we didnt find a good place on the beach we decided to head back and stop at another nice little place, Macao Cafe. The beach here is much different, with thousands of little white rocks, as if its made. They have the greatest soundsystem, playing chilled out groovy tunes. We found some nice empty matrasses on the rocky beach and ordered the best mojitos I ever had in Ibiza. When you look for a not too crowded, friendly service, good music not so far away place, Macao Cafe is the place fore you.
Friday we were a bit undecisive what to do, as one of our friends had never been to Atlantis we warned him that with these temperatures it would be a struggle to get there. We agreed to drive to Cala D'Hort so we could see what to do once we got there. I almost forgot what a great drive it is to get there. Once you have the first glimse of Es Vedra from your car you know you r getting close. Luckly it wasnt that crowded probably due to the extreme temperatures of today, the car thermometer said 35 with no cloud in the sky. It was unbearable to be on the beach, and the sea there was full of jellyfish, so we stayed there for the obligatory Es Vedra shots and decided to call it a day. Even my friend understood that in this circumstances you cant do any physical activitities, so he had to postpone Atlantis again. Instead we took a drive to Salinas again where we had another jar of Sangria to ease his pain. A bit before sunset we drove a bit further to playa des Codolar, where we had a lovely sunset meal at Cap des Falco. I really like this place, but instead of coming here with friends I would rather come here with my other half. It doesnt get more romantic then this.
Saturday and almost one week passed by, time flies, even when you dont party ! But today we would party, but I had my doubts about it. Matinee used to be my favorite party, mainly becos of the daylight partying, the unpretentious crowd, and most of all pure housemusic. To have the party started at 6pm felt a bit weird but I was still excited to go. But before that we went to Sa Caletta, another nice beach near Cala Jondal. It has one restaurant that makes great Paella, you know the greasy type that fills your stomach for hours, just what I needed before a Matinee session.
We got to Space around 7pm, it seems quiet outside at the parkingspot, there wasnt even a queu lining up. I spotted one police car with a guardia civil looking very uninterested. Once I got inside first thing I noticed where the changes that Space went thru last couple of years, changes I only heard of. I dont know why they still call it a (sunset) terrace when there is no terrace (nor sun). The place was half empty but the atmosphere was good, saw some familiar faces which is always good to get the party started. Again great tunes, with Beachball (with vocal this time) followed by Greece 2000 which created mayhem on the dancefloor. But as soon as it got darker, also the music got darker, less emotional. Maybe becos my Bora Bora experience, but I thought to see much more security, the gorillas were all over. Not being nasty or something, but maybe its my hazy memory, but I cant recall seeing atleast 8 security guys in every angle in lets say 10 meters around me in the past. Around midnight the the floor get way too packed, that combined with all the casualties, it was hard for me to stay there. But I had a good 5 hours of partying, having a good time, and thats what is it all about.
The good thing about hitting the sack early last night is that today will be fully spend lounging at one of the most posh beach lounges of the isle, Blue Marlin. We got there around noon and immediately ordered Rose to start the day. A bit later the dj start spinning his tunes and from then on it went all kinda blurry. We met some crazy coked up frenchies who were there with their boat, next thing I remember we were couple of hours later ordering sushi. Its only from this year Blue Marlin serves sushi but my god, how good it was. Im not a man of decadence, but atleast one day should be spend here, its so over the top that its cool, just dont take it too seriously.
And monday our last day we took the early boat to Formentera where I decided to spend my next Balearic holliday there. To come here just for the day doesnt do the place justice. We rented scooters to get around, and first went to platja Illetes, beautiful clear waters, the softest sand but unfortunatelly packed with people, but that didnt stop us enjoying the water, this place would be paradise if it wasnt for the tourists (and yes I was part of them too ). Then we took a drive to the other side of the island Platja de Migjorn where Blue Bar is situated. Entering this place felt like a turn back to the early Ibiza days. Dusty sandy roads, an empty beach as far as you could see, some hippies, some naked models and true balearic music, early Alfredo style. Unlike Illetes, this beach had big waves, which were lots of fun to play in. Those wave games, and general vibe at Blue Bar was the perfect ending of a chilled out holliday.
