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Mediterranean Island Beach Day

Today’s mission, if we choose to accept it: Find some sun. Lay on some sand. Recover from the previous night!  First off, though, some food. We found a great little handmade sandwich spot a few blocks down on our way to the beach. I’ll be honest… I *think* it might have been Casa 13 Piada e Cassoni? I’m not sure. The sandwiches were great, though. We took ours to go and found a spot on the sand where we could enjoy them.

Someone actually managed to make Brian smile. Guess he’s having fun after all.

While Mercy soaked up some sun, I tried to fight my way through the local aquatic vegetation to go for a swim in the Med, with varying degrees of success. The waves were nice, though not quite surf-quality. (Hey, everyone’s a critic.)

I came in after a little bit and dried off in the sun. *Someone* captured this particular moment, which reminds me of  a sad satire of Dr. No’s Ursula Andress. Only with a guy. Who’s pudgy. And *not* easy on the eyes. And decidedly opposite of Ursula Andress in every conceivable way. Ah, well.

After the beach, we decided to check out our hotel’s brand-new rooftop pool (with a bar, of course).

Did I mention a rooftop bar by the pool? I enjoyed a G&T while Mercy switched between sparkling wine and a white sangria. Hey, it’s a hard life in Ibiza.

In the meantime, I tried the pool… which was *freezing*. FREEZING, I tell you. The ocean was maybe 60 degrees? The pool had to be 40-45. FAHRENHEIT, in case you were confused. I braved it for a couple of laps, but mainly to prove to myself that I could. After which I got out, dried off, and finished my gin and tonic.

After another late nap, we strolled down to the old town just under the watchful eye of the castle. This was a really neat area that had a great promenade for walking, a number of picturesque plazas, and a wide variety of tasty restaurants. We started the evening at the Michelin-rated Sa Brisa, which was delicious (though the portions were tiny…) The highlight of my meal was the roasted rabbit and dates.

It wasn’t particularly filing, though, so we tried a second meal around the corner at the whimsically-named “Locals Only” (actually titled after their ingredients, not their clientele). Both plazas were right at the base of the old castle wall, which made for very romantic views in the lanterns. Very charming.

 

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The Boat to Ibiza

The weather was still somewhat cloudy and promising some storms when we woke up on Wednesday morning. Fortunately, a freshly rain-washed town and some gorgeous morning light facilitated some great photos of the town castle a block inland from our hotel.

I took advantage of the opportunity to take a panorama shot from our third-floor hotel balcony before we checked out. See how many Denia landmarks you can spot in 270 degrees!

Having cleaned up and checked out, we had quite a bit of time before our ferry left the terminal at 5PM. We walked around the marina a bit and enjoyed seeing the coast in broad daylight, for once.

Eventually, we settled in at a restaurant near the ferry terminal to enjoy a substantial afternoon brunch of mussels, three different ways. All fresh: first cooked with with olive oil and onions; second, broiled in white wine and paprika, and third… Well, here’s a picture.

That tasty little dish, as we’d learn when we re-encountered it in Barcelona, is “tiger mussels.” At first, we had no idea how it was prepared–it seemed almost like deviled eggs, but with mussels. Later, we’d learn the following recipe: 1) remove cooked mussels from shells; 2) slice mussel meat and mix with cream, a little cheese, and sliced mushrooms; 3) ladle back into shell and cover with breadcrumbs; 4) fry in olive oil and serve on the shell. Oh my. Oh me oh my. One of our new favorite dishes, and quite possibly the best preparation of mussels we’ve had (and we *love* us some mussels anyways, no matter how plain).

After our meal, it was time to board the ferry! This sizable catamaran would take us on the two-hour trip to Ibiza. It looks big, but with some of the stormy waves we were working through, and the shallow hull draft-to-inertia ratio of a sizable catamaran, it got pretty rough at times. A number of people in our first-class area got quite sick–and believe me, hearing other people heave is the worst part. Nonetheless, we made a speedy trip out to the islands.

When we approached the islands, the clouds started to break over rocky lighthouses. We entered port to a beautiful scene in the evening sun.

Ibiza is an interesting island. Renown for its party-central status and a multitude of nightclubs, it’s still an interesting Mediterranean destination in it’s own right. We were staying in the *city* of Ibiza (it shares its name with the island itself), which featured the main port, our target nightclub (Pasha), a great beach cove, our hotel, a neat castle, and charming old-town, all within walkable (or a cheap taxi fare’s) distance of each other.

Our hotel in Ibiza (the city) was another Eurostars, this one brand new, half a block from the beach, and nestled against the rocky hill topped by Ibiza’s own millenia-old anti-pirate castle. After a long boat ride and an even longer nap, though, we were afraid we once again would have difficulty locating an open kitchen. (Ibiza, even though it’s a party-hard kind of town, still stops serving food at most establishments around midnight.) Fortunately for us, the establishment Prince (just on the other side of the beach) was still serving a variety of simple but tasty dishes–so we refueled on smoked salmon, jamon bocadillos, and wine. The lady was pleased, which meant I was, too.

After a late dinner, it was time–around 12:30 AM–to hit the nightclubs. We were aiming for the infamous Pasha establishment, and that evening’s performance (“Cocoon”, featuring several prominent discoteca DJs and lots of EDM) didn’t disappoint. We danced for hours. Even I had fun. Despite where this picture was taken from, shot for context, we were right up in front for the whole night.

Of course, I’m pretty sure 90% of the crowd was high on some combination of ecstasy, alcohol, and pheromones. You can tell something’s going on when I’m one of the better dancers in the room. We headed back to our hotel around 3AM, after a fantastic night of laughing at each other’s moves on the dance floor.