Ibiza
I'm flying off to Ibiza on the 22nd of this month, and I'm reeeeeeeaaaallly excited. Unfortunately, thanks to Sky TV and other trashy TV stations/programmes Ibiza has a terrible reputation for beer boys. But there is so much more to the island. The beer boy element is there but that's all in one area that covers about two streets. However, just around the corner from the West End of San Antonio you have the sunset strip where you can see some of the most amazing sunsets ever. You have two clubs in San Antonio, Es Paradis which is one of the most gorgeous clubs you'll ever see. Inside it's all polished white marble and Greek columns, and outside it's a huge pyramid where the roof panels slide down to let air in when it starts to heat up. Then you have Eden where I have had some of my best clubbing nights ever. You do get a bit of a beer boy element in those two clubs, but it's not as bad as Castro's (for instance). Surrounding San Antonio you have some gorgeous beaches, the pine-tree covered Benimussa hills and some of the best scuba diving around!
In the north of the island you have the hippie communes at Es Cana and San Carles. These are genuine hippies that settled on the island in the sixties and are now considered 'locales' or locals by the indeginous Ibecencan population (as opposed to the Spanish seasonal workers who are considered to be 'chivato's' or untrustworthy people. Es Cana has a hippie market on Wednesdays but the better one is at Las Dalias near San Carles on a Saturday. Las Dalias is where Tribe of Frog and Namaste (a Goa/India influenced psy-trance night) are held, and are filled with locals and hippies. Incidentally, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and others have performed at Las Dalias to celebrate finishing recording albums.
In the middle of the island you have San Rafael. Here you will find Amnesia with the best sound system set up in any club in the world including bass bins you could literally camp out in (though I wouldn't recommend it!). It also has a jet-powered dry ice machine that keeps clubbers cool. Tiesto and Paul van Dyk regularly play there. Literally across the road you have Privelege which is in the Guiness Book of Records as officially the biggest nightclub in the world with a capacity of 10,000. Unfortunately the air conditioning is woefully inadequate for the size of club.
On the Eastern side of the island you have Ibiza Town which is actually a city. It is dominated by D'alt Villa, a huge Arabian citadel that sits on top of the hill over-looking the town. Inside the citadel you have the oldest cathedral in Europe. Ibiza (or Eivissa in Ibecenco) was occupied by Arabs until the start of the 19th Century when the Arab ruler of the island was betrayed by his brother after an arguement over a concubine and he revealed the secret passages into the citadel to the Catalans.
Either side of the harbour you have Pacha and El Divino- you get no beer-boys at all in those clubs, but they are very expensive and can be very selective over who gains entry.
South of Ibiza Town, near the airport you have Playa Den Bossa, home to Space, which is cool, DC10 (which is literally at the end of the airport runway in an old hangar), and Bora Bora beach bar.
There is a small island just off Ibiza Town called Es Vedra which is regarded with suspicion and superstition by locals. It is the 3rd most magnetic point on the planet (after the North & South Poles), and strange sounds and lights are often heard & seen coming from the area.
Heading back to San Antonio, there is a small monument near the old church that comemorates a massacre perpetrated by Franco's troops after the Spanish Civil War because the island refused to support his fascists. He sent in troops with orders to execute the first born male of every family on the island wether they were granfather, father, son or grandson. It was a biblical tragedy on a devastating scale for the island.
The island is covered in pine trees and the eco-system will not support any creature that is lethal to man. Indeed there are no wild animals on Ibiza unless you count tiny lizards, a fact notecd by the Phoenecians who were the first people in history to mention Ibiza, which they used to bury their most revered warriors (there was no risk of them being dug up again by wild animals).
Finally, Ibiza is mentioned by Nostradamus who called it the 'Last Refuge of Man' in the event of a nuclear war. Some scientists believe there may be an element of truth to this as Ibiza has it's own eco-system completely different from the rest of the Balearics and mainland Spain.
In the north of the island you have the hippie communes at Es Cana and San Carles. These are genuine hippies that settled on the island in the sixties and are now considered 'locales' or locals by the indeginous Ibecencan population (as opposed to the Spanish seasonal workers who are considered to be 'chivato's' or untrustworthy people. Es Cana has a hippie market on Wednesdays but the better one is at Las Dalias near San Carles on a Saturday. Las Dalias is where Tribe of Frog and Namaste (a Goa/India influenced psy-trance night) are held, and are filled with locals and hippies. Incidentally, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and others have performed at Las Dalias to celebrate finishing recording albums.
In the middle of the island you have San Rafael. Here you will find Amnesia with the best sound system set up in any club in the world including bass bins you could literally camp out in (though I wouldn't recommend it!). It also has a jet-powered dry ice machine that keeps clubbers cool. Tiesto and Paul van Dyk regularly play there. Literally across the road you have Privelege which is in the Guiness Book of Records as officially the biggest nightclub in the world with a capacity of 10,000. Unfortunately the air conditioning is woefully inadequate for the size of club.
On the Eastern side of the island you have Ibiza Town which is actually a city. It is dominated by D'alt Villa, a huge Arabian citadel that sits on top of the hill over-looking the town. Inside the citadel you have the oldest cathedral in Europe. Ibiza (or Eivissa in Ibecenco) was occupied by Arabs until the start of the 19th Century when the Arab ruler of the island was betrayed by his brother after an arguement over a concubine and he revealed the secret passages into the citadel to the Catalans.
Either side of the harbour you have Pacha and El Divino- you get no beer-boys at all in those clubs, but they are very expensive and can be very selective over who gains entry.
South of Ibiza Town, near the airport you have Playa Den Bossa, home to Space, which is cool, DC10 (which is literally at the end of the airport runway in an old hangar), and Bora Bora beach bar.
There is a small island just off Ibiza Town called Es Vedra which is regarded with suspicion and superstition by locals. It is the 3rd most magnetic point on the planet (after the North & South Poles), and strange sounds and lights are often heard & seen coming from the area.
Heading back to San Antonio, there is a small monument near the old church that comemorates a massacre perpetrated by Franco's troops after the Spanish Civil War because the island refused to support his fascists. He sent in troops with orders to execute the first born male of every family on the island wether they were granfather, father, son or grandson. It was a biblical tragedy on a devastating scale for the island.
The island is covered in pine trees and the eco-system will not support any creature that is lethal to man. Indeed there are no wild animals on Ibiza unless you count tiny lizards, a fact notecd by the Phoenecians who were the first people in history to mention Ibiza, which they used to bury their most revered warriors (there was no risk of them being dug up again by wild animals).
Finally, Ibiza is mentioned by Nostradamus who called it the 'Last Refuge of Man' in the event of a nuclear war. Some scientists believe there may be an element of truth to this as Ibiza has it's own eco-system completely different from the rest of the Balearics and mainland Spain.
posted by Padster at 10:18 PM
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