Day 16 Ibiza

Tired from the day before, and knowing we had all day and night in Ibiza, we set no alarms and woke up on our own. About 10:30 I finally started to move around and actually felt better than I thought after a good nights rest. We were already docked in the port and people were pouring off the ship. I figured this was a good day to run the track (not really a track like we had on Celebrity's ship, but a walking path) and I was right. There were maybe 20 people sunning on the upper deck and it was wide open for a run. I had set my running app with wifi in the room to get it started and then turned it off. When I began my run, it was working without wifi, so I was excited. Today she was talking to me in kilometers, not miles, but I figured I'd go til she said I had gone over 5k. The scenery was amazing from the top of the ship and I got a great view of what was to come for the day.

After a nice hot shower I got ready for lunch. We decided to eat on the ship instead of going into the town and trying to find a lunch spot as we had skipped breakfast and didn't want to wait. We basically had the dining area to ourselves and took our time with a nice lunch. Guy had pork marsala and it was delicious. I was trying to be a bit more healthy today and I had a small selection of local cheeses and a fruit plate. *Confession time: tired of eating -- there...I've said it.* So after lunch I blogged about the previous day, packed our backpack, and off we went on our exploration of Ibiza.

Kind of thinking it would be a repeat of Palma, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was completely different! From the top of the ship I had already seen the castle on the hill, but the town lining the ship yard looked much like yesterday. However, when we boarded the bus and it made a turn for the town, you could see that below the castle was what was called old town and it was dotted with beautifully stacked white-washed buildings that looked like some of the Greek towns we've been to before. We came across an information kiosk, got a map of the city and chatted with the girl about going to the part of Ibiza with the night clubs and nightlife. We didn't sign up in time to get the ship's excursion tour as it was full, but the info gal told us it was an easy cab ride then we could come and go when we wanted. Excellent.

We spent the next few hours walking the outer parameter of the castle and all through the town. There were lots of unique shops and cafes and we stopped at one cafe in the "Dalt Vila" section of Ibiza, called el Bistro, to take a break from the heat, get some drinks and use their wifi. It was funny because this was a total hippy town. It was covered with peace signs, flowers, and brightly covered fabric. This was our best stop so far as it was really clean, unique and sometimes even funny. Guy was patient as I went in and out several shops and made a few purchases. They did say there would be shopping in the town we were going to tonight, so I didn't keep him too long. It was a bit difficult to find stamps, but we did find some in a tobacco shop (it was quite fancy with a glassed in room just for cigars). We bought some drinks, snacks and stamps. It was nearing 6pm so we headed for the ship to shower, eat and head out for our big evening of nightlife. If you know us, this is totally out of our comfort zone. We are old fogies that prefer the sounds of Harry Connick Jr. and his big band. But when in Ibiza, known for their famous night clubs, we forced ourselves to go.

Dinner in the restaurant was again really good. We both started with the Asian appetizer and the potato and lentil soup. Then Guy had the tuna steak (breaded and seared) and I had the eggplant surprise. I say that because I didn't really know what it was. But it was good. Guy asked for some lemon for his tuna and it took awhile to get...so he ate slow. But when it did arrive there were enough lemon slices to squirt over every tuna in the dining room. We both had the apple tart for dessert and even tho it was good, it tasted like it may have been baked in an oven that had something burnt in it. I know this taste from experience. LOL

Our shuttle tickets were good all day, so we hopped back on and went to the drop off spot by old town where we caught a cab to Platja d'en Bossa. Our cabbie didn't speak English, but the other cabbie that was next to him spoke perfect English, which is good, because we weren't sure where to tell them to take us. We had the names of three night clubs the ship was taking their tour group to, but the cabbie said you want to go to the lights, the shopping, and the action first, right? We said "yes" and he told our driver to take us to Bora Bora. Away we go. The ride was not long, but was about 15 Euros. He dropped us off in the center of the action and when we got out it was like being in a bad section of Daytona. We got out of the cab and went the opposite way of a guy that looked like he was going to try to talk passersby into going into his bar. The opposite way led us to a really nice gip joint where I got an Ibiza tea towel and post cards (already had the stamps). As I stood in the line to pay, which was really long, Guy stood out front to evaluate our next move. When he came back in to check on me, he proceeded to describe the atmosphere of our surroundings. Not so good. As we stood outside the store, every bar had people out front trying to get you to go inside. One guy across the street physically touched people, took their glasses, and was loud and obnoxious. We definitely didn't want to go that way, but a similar scenario was in each direction. It was nothing like we had in mind. This island is famous for its nightlife and DJs. We had no idea "sketchy" would be the word of the night. Definitely a younger crowd and not our scene at all. We thought from what we heard it would be a place where the rich and famous come to party. I mean they even had an ship "excursion" to come here - the one that was SOLD OUT when we checked on it. Ok..so that means these poor people were stuck in this area for 4 hours. Lucky for us it was sold out and we went the cab route. Speaking of a cab, we hailed the next one we saw and our evening in Platja d'en Bossa was shorter than the time it took to boil an egg.

Happily back at the old town, it was more our speed...a small market of hand made items, street music and people dressed as hippies singing about love and peace. I'd rather be accosted by a hippie than and skanky drunk guy. We walked around the town and tried really hard to find Guy a Tshirt. He likes the simple ones, but those are pretty hard to find. We stopped for some ice cream and enjoyed looking at the town lit up at night and the beautiful boats in the marina. After we felt like we'd had enough...and it was nearing midnight, we hopped the shuttle back to the boat and went to the piano bar to listen to a blonde Italian lady in 10 inch heels sing old pop songs in English. Guy walked the entire ship looking for some popcorn. He came back unsuccessful. We are such party animals.

Overall, Ibiza has by far been our favorite stop. It was beautiful and fun. We'd do this stop again on a future cruise, but probably take a day trip to one of the famous beaches and then go into the old town at night for dinner and shopping. So Ibiza gets our first official Thumbs Up of the cruise!

Tomorrow is a day at sea. Looking forward to doing nothing. However, being on a ship full of Europeans on the sun deck I fear only one thing. Old guys in Speedos.