a day in ibiza town.

I knew I had to get away and see some sun sooner or later. My last few holidays have been to places like Iceland, Prague and Copenhagen and well, I live in England and this year has hardly felt like one of the warmest (I still haven't packed my winter coat away). I'm not even one for the summer, I much prefer the winter but I still wanted some sun. Still wanted to step off a plane and feel the heat hit me. When one of my friends from Uni expressed the same wish, it wasn't long before we started looking for breaks away. 

I'm not sure how we came across Ibiza - I have had a little bit of an aversion to Spain for a number of years. It just seemed to be a place loads and loads of British people went to, a lazy option plus every single time I've been to Spain or heard tales of friends who've been to Spain something disastrous has happened. So I'm not sure why we decided to book, but I am really glad we did. 

Picking Ibiza was a little unnerving for me too, as I'm not a huge fan of clubbing and well, it's pretty well know what Ibiza is known for. I haven't been "clubbing" since I lived in Holland and Dutch clubbing is pretty tame compared to English clubbing and I'm sure I didn't enjoy it then and I wouldn't have enjoyed it now. Luckily, we picked a resort in the north of the Island - Portinatx - away from the clubs and the stag dos and the parties and whatever else. It was a good choice - quiet, empty enough beaches, adult only pools to lounge around next to and empty seas to spend the day kayaking around. 

But that was kind of it. With a very late flight back home on our last day, we knew we'd have to find something away from Portinatx to fill our time. So we decided to get the bus into Ibiza town. 

Let me just start by saying that this in itself was not an easy option. The bus from Portinatx to Ibiza town may have only been €2.95, but it ran four times a day at the oddest times. Not even in some of the most rural parts of England would the bus service have been this shit. It meant when you were in Ibiza town, you were pretty much stuck there for the day and you had to make the most of it. And God forbid you forgot where the bus stop back was. 

Because spending three days at an all-inclusive hotel stuffing our faces hadn't quite been enough food, the first thing we did was find ourselves a quiet bar near the port in the city. We grabbed a small selection of tapas, some beer and some shade away from the sun. It was pretty hot at this point, so any shade was extremely welcome! 

We then walked along the port of the city, which brought back a lot of memories of the last time I was in Ibiza, around 10 years ago, and came in on a cruise with my Dad. At sixteen, I think all I wanted to do was go clubbing (what a sea change to now!). We watched the thousands of ferries head off to Formentera, another island off the coast of Ibiza which is a lot smaller and apparently a lot prettier than Ibiza. We didn't have time to head over, if I'm ever back in Ibiza grabbing a ferry will be one of the first things I do. The port area of the city is full of hippy market stalls which are a main stay of Ibiza, and although not really my thing, they are worth a quick look. 

After recharging with a drink, we head off to Dalt Vila (literally high town) which is a Unesco world heritage site - a town hidden inside castle walls, and a complete maze of cobbled streets with secret tunnels (one hidden behind an old Catholic shrine). We entered through a draw bridge and walked into one of the bigger squares of Dalt Vila, Plaza de Vila. You can get amazing views across the island and over to Formentera. We carried on heading up, and down and up again through the maze until we stumbled on a square full of bars and restuatants, including one which instead of chairs had bean bags up the steps of the hill. We stopped again for another drink - I was a typical tourist and had a glass of sangria followed by affogato (at least, I know that's what it's called in Italian, who knows what the Spanish version is!).

Afterwards, we wondered around Calle de la Virgen, where it got a little more touristy, with a few shops and a whole lot of fridge magnets. It's the main gay part of the city, and there are rainbow flags hanging from most buildings. The small alleyway feel of the streets get progressively more packed as the evening goes on, full of people heading off towards the bigger clubs in Ibiza. 

We headed the other way, to a small square - Plaza del Parque - where we treated ourselves to a few cocktails which came with pintxos, small snacks which are generally held together with a toothpick. We watched the world go by and steeled ourselves for the horrendous bus journey back to the airport. 

I'm glad we took time out from our lazy mini-summer holiday to go and explore Ibiza a little more. Seeing Ibiza town in all its glory has changed my view of the island a little more - it's not just for clubbers!