Ibiza

By Megan Hulshizer

I have one word for Ibiza: sunsets. Both evenings we spent on the island, Brian and I enjoyed drinks and watched the sky change every color of the rainbow in stunning light shows. Some say we are still looking at the sunsets there to this day.

We flew out of Madrid at 7 am, an incredibly early flight, and arrived around an hour later to warm and sunny Ibiza. The transportation system is wonderfully easy and we took the bus into town toward our AirBnB. Our morning began with tomato toast (which quickly became a favorite in Spain) and coffee, before dropping our luggage off at our little apartment. Because we couldn’t check in yet, we walked over to the port and explored the fort.

I guess I didn’t really do much research before Ibiza, but I was blown away by the old town and the fort. There were cute restaurants selling delicious toast tapas, small bars where we could connect to wifi while we sipped our beer and planned our next move, and the walled city area consisted of winding roads and colorful doors and a church at the very top of the hill. After cleaning up at the AirBnB after our walk, we had a late lunch/early dinner of tapas and beer at Sa Vida. It was a perfect evening to walk over to Calma, which provided the perfect spot for a beer and a view of the sunset. We watched a wonderful show performed by Mother Nature and I proceeded to take approximately one thousand photos, and repeated approximately one thousand times how beautiful I found the town. That night, Barcelona was playing against Paris SG, so we found the perfect local restaurant showing the game and full of shouting and invested fans. Barcelona overcame an almost insurmountable deficit to beat Paris, and the restaurant was electric. An exciting and wonderful end to our first night in Ibiza.

The next day we took the bus north to the town of San Antoni, or San Antonio. We bought the makings for sandwiches at a grocery store and had a small picnic by the port. Nice and full, we strolled along the seaside path to Golden Buddha. We enjoyed a beer and coffee looking out over stunningly blue water. More strolling through the town and along another beach until we stopped for lunch, where the wonderful waiter informed us that San Antonio was hosting a carnivale parade and a tapas tour at many different restaurants around the town. We had some time before the parade, so we went to the beautiful beach of Cala Gracio, and stuck our toes in the water. Unfortunately the water was pretty chilly but we had the beach basically to ourselves and the sun was warm. Brian and I watched the parade from the super fun Rio, and we watched as children in all sorts of costumes and many types of floats passed by. The sun was beginning to set so we watched the spectacular show from our fave, Golden Buddha. Even though it wasn’t tourist season in Ibiza, it seemed everyone was out on the west side of town to enjoy the fading rays and a cold drink. The food festival was starting so we headed to the restaurants listed on the handy guide. Hilariously some of the restaurants were starting at later times or different times so it was hit or miss, but we did manage to have great tapas and try all sorts of places around the area. Finally it was time to catch the last bus back across the island to our AirBnB and we left, full and happy after a day in San Antonio.

After a wonderful few days in Ibiza, it was time to catch our flight to our next destination. But before we left, we took a walk on the beach and had a seaside breakfast on a beautiful day that even locals were astonished by. Even in the off-season, Ibiza was a tropical paradise for us.

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