Ibiza

I left Munich on Saturday morning hoping to finally experience what the summer is like in Europe. I have to think that global warming is definitely doing something to the world’s climate. The summer in Munich has simply been missing in action. I left the city on yet another cloudy and rainy day with a temperature of about 57 degrees, hungry for sunny days with clear blue skies where I didn’t have to worry about carrying a sweater, a jacket and an umbrella. Not that I was necessarily looking forward to the hot European summers but a couple of warm days to go bathe in one of the many lakes near Munich or to go back to the “Eisbach” would’ve been nice. As a matter of fact I had already prepared psychologically for the warm, sweaty and sleepless summer nights without any air conditioning, the rides on the subway in the middle of the summer days in wagons with no AC and going to the shops and internet cafes where the only ventilation came from a couple of fans that did not work all of the time. Now that I think about it I guess that in a way I lucked out because by the looks of it we won’t have a warm summer after all.
So I left Munich on yet another cloudy and rainy day with a temperature of about 57 degrees (just trying to pick-up where I left off) looking forward to warm and sunny Ibiza via Cologne on board an Air Berlin flight. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed. The flight to Cologne was about an hour long where I barely had time to advance on my reading of “La casa de los Espiritus” from Isabel Allende. The connecting flight to Ibiza was delayed about an hour and forty minutes making the connection in Cologne about 4 hours long and putting me in Ibiza right around the same time that my friend Eliana would be arriving from Frankfurt. Just in case you don’t know her Eliana and I went together to the German School in Medellin. We both started in the same pre-k class when we were 4 years old and continued together in the school until graduating from high-school…not too long ago (ji ji ji). She lives now in Frankfurt.
Once we landed in Ibiza I discovered yet another trait that we Latinos inherited from the Spanish: clapping when our plane lands. I have to admit it brought a smile to my face and I couldn’t help wonder what the German on the plane, as reserved and introvert as they can sometimes be, where thinking at the moment of such a folkloric expression of joy. Or is it an expression of relieve for having made it safely to one’s final destination? I have no clue why we do it but for the sake of old times I had to join them in the clapping. We arrived to the hotel at around 930 PM and Marelys, our friend from FIU who is now living in Madrid, was already there as her flight had gotten to the island early in the afternoon. That first night we just went out for a walk around the hotel to grab something to eat. We were actually staying at an apartment type of hotel about 500 meters from the water. Since the apartment had a fully equipped kitchen we were able to do some grocery shopping and have breakfast in the room before heading out to the beach, prepare some sandwiches to take to the beach and have some snacks for the nights: perfect for the student/unemployed/salary-less life I live nowadays.

The first day in Ibiza we woke up very enthusiastically and headed out to one of the many beaches the island has to offer: EsCaná. And like I said earlier we were not disappointed. The weather was SUPER! (no wait…that is German. They use super to say great, wonderful, and awesome). The weather was great: sunny, a clear sky and with a very pleasant breeze. It was never too hot that you couldn’t be outside. The nights were a little bit cooler, with a very nice breeze and no humidity: the perfect weather conditions to sit outside while having dinner or just to go out for a walk. We made it a point to go to a different beach everyday: EsCaná (Sunday), Santa Eulalia (Monday), Salinas (Tuesday), and Cala Nova (Thursday). We would get there usually around noon and 1PM (I know, the time where the sun exposure is the worst) and leave between 6PM and 8PM. As a result I have a tan to die for (Eyy..I have to compliment myself from time to time) which now I cannot show off because of the cold weather in Munich. But I’ve also started to peel on my stomach as one afternoon I forgot to put on some sunscreen and it became red from all that Balearic sun.

Ibiza from the airplane ------------------EsCana Beach

Salinas Beach ---------------Santa Eulalia Beach

On Wednesday we took the ferry to the nearby island of Formentera and spent the day in one of its beaches together with the rest of Italy. I’m not kidding; it was surprising to see the amount of Italians that visit the island of Formentera. Everywhere we turned there was a group of regazzi. After spending the whole day under the sun and in the water I was super tired to go out partying at night. So as much of a party town as Ibiza can be you will probably be disappointed to hear that we did not do that much partying. After coming back from the beach we would just go out for dinner and maybe have a drink at a beach bar and then head back to the hotel. I guess we are getting old!

Island of Formentera

Sunset at Cafe del Mar

One afternoon we went to the town or neighborhood of San Antonio to watch the sunset at the famous “Café del Mar”. It was soooo beautiful. We got there just in time to watch the sunset together with the hundreds of people that gather on the beach in front of the café to enjoy the stunning view of the sunset, take lots and lots of pictures and listen to the lounge type of music played on the background by the Café’s DJ. Once the sun sets everyone started to clap and whistle (Mmmm, clapping once again. It must be an Ibiza thing) after which they continue enjoying a drink while sitting down on the beach.

Sunset at Cafe del Mar

Cafe del Mar

On our second night we discovered a delicious and cozy Indian Restaurant which by the end of the trip became our Cheers in Ibiza: that place where everybody knew our name. The owners are 2 sisters from India who were raised in England and have lived in different countries where they have always opened the same type of family-owned restaurant. The name of the place: Bollywood. This is also the place where we had our last supper on Thursday night and where we ended up dancing to Indian music in the middle of the restaurant with the owners, the crazy Italian cook from the restaurant across the street and some other guests.
All and all the vacation in Ibiza was very laid-back, relaxed and quiet: exactly what I was envisioning and looking forward to. I had a wonderful time and would definitely love to go back there again. The return back home was thank God uneventful. I made it back to Munich at 8PM on Friday after having left Ibiza at 2PM via Dusseldorf. When the plane started to descend and I began to see the green fields near Munich I had that comfortable sensation of being back home and the realization of how good I feel living in this wonderful city. I put on my sweater, took out my jacket and was ready to once again hop on the first train/subway into the city.

Tan progression