Hello from Ibiza (3)

September 30, 2004, 4:15

Sitting here in an Internet Cafe in Cala Llonga on the east side of the island. We spent about 2 hours in Ibiza today, me just sightseeing, climbing up to the fortress and taking pictures, Theresa finally getting her souvenir shopping done.

From about 1 pm on we have been spending our last few hours at Cala Llonga, a beautiful beach, set in a deep inlet, where we have been relaxing.

Yesterday was by far the most exciting day. We took a ferry from Ibiza to Formentera with the Balerias boat called Ibiza Jet (29.80 Euros for supposedly the faster ferry at 25 minutes, it still took us 40 minutes to get over to the other island.)

Formentera is a lot smaller than Ibiza, about 82 square km compared to about 580. And it´s virtually flat, with only two areas with a long hilly elevation. The highest point is on east end of the island, at Far de la Mola, elevation about 200m.


Lighthouse on the east end of Formentera.

We rented 2 motor scooters to discover the island, which was absolutely the best idea and the most fun. We had 2 little Piaggio automatic scooters with a 50 cc engine, top speed about 70 km7h, and a cost of 20 Euros a day, crappy helmet included.


Riding the motorscooter made me feel like a kid again!
We booted around the whole island, Far de La Mola, Far des Cap de Barbaria - an almost lunar landscape with many little figures of rock that must have been built by other tourists.

Then we moved on to Platja de Cala Saona, probably the nicest beach on the island, set into a rocky scenery. Most other beaches we saw (Es Copinar, Es Arenals on the south side of the island) were very flat, sandy beaches, with little scenic interest.

However, the colour of the water, as anywhere on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera is truly amazing, deep blue water with turquoise and light blue patches. I couldn´t believe the colours when I first saw them.

After handing our scooters back, we caught the slower ferry back at 7
and arrived in Ibiza Harbour at about 7:30, all the while standing on the outside deck and enjoying the cool air and the atmosphere of an impending sunset. Then we just shopped for dinner at the local Spanish "Walmart" and had a quiet dinner back at the resort. Although it wasn´t so quiet after all, it was karaoke night at the Gold Crown pub and there was many a singer who wasn´t really meant to be in front of a microphone.

Finally around midnight the ruckus died down and I could get to sleep. Well, tomorrow is our last day in Ibiza, our last chance to enjoy the Mediterraean. Tonight we are going to enjoy some true local Spanish dances in the village of Sant Miquel. Should be interesting....

SQ.
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Hello from Ibiza (2)

September 28, 2004, 9:45 pm

We just returned to the resort after a gorgeous evening and decent dinner in Santa Eularia del Riu. Today we spent the whole day driving from beach to beach, starting on the northwest side of the island, just north of Sant Antoni, continuing towards the north side of the island and ending up in Santa Eularia.

The first we visited was La Salada, just north of Sant Antoni, a place only reached via a very stony road. After parking the car we had to walk another 10 or 15 minutes and we reached a very secluded beach with rocky platforms where a few people (mostly nudists) were sunning themselves. The view towards the sea included a rocky island off the coast - what an amazing vista!

We continued on through the interior of the island and enjoyed the hilly, rather quiet road. Then we reached Sant Miquel, and the Port de Sant Miquel which is a very beautiful little town. The next beach, Cala de Benirras, is also very beautiful with a rocky outcrop in the middle of the bay. The scenery with the coastal hills, rocky outcrops and the sea is just absolutely stunning.


Portinatx, a gorgeous beach in the middle of town.

We continued on towards Portinatx and visited several beaches there, again some of them with rocky outcrops situated in the various bays. Then we made our way to Sant Joan de Labritja to Cala Vicent which again is a stunning beach looking out toward the island of Tagomago. We spent a bit of time there, but the wind blowing in from the sea was really cool so we packed up and kept visiting and photographing beach after beach just north of Santa Eularia.

All the while we commented on how small this island is and how much immense beauty there is concentrated here. For dinner we went to Santa Eularia which has one of the most beautiful seafront promenades that I have ever seen.


Santa Eularia des Riu.

We had a 3 course dinner (menu del dia) at the Bar Sinatra Restaurant which appeared to be a very upscale place. A regular soup of the day was listed on the menu for 6.25 Euros! We on the other hand had a nice dinner with appetizer, main course and free drink (including wine) for 10.50 Euros. My grilled pork chops were not the absolutely best, or at least tastiest, but for the amount we paid we got a great value.

After a little icecream at the sea front we decided to get going to get ready for our big trip to the island of Formentera tomorrow.

SQ.
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Hello from Ibiza (1)

September 27, 2004, 6:05 pm

I am sitting here in the front entrance hall of the Ses Fontallas Plaza timeshare resort in Sant Antoni. We arrived on Saturday at about 5:30 in Ibiza and had to hang around for the luggage. 2 of our pieces actually didn´t make it due to a technical problem with the cargo area on the plane and we had to wait an awefully long time at the baggage information area to find out that the baggage would be delivered the next day.


Ses Fontanellas Plaza timeshare resort.

We finally checked out our rental car, a VW Polo, at Hiper-Rent-A-Car, just outside the airport. Not a bad deal for about 158 Euros a week... On the way to our resort we stopped off in a huge supermarket, we called it the "Walmart of Spain" where we picked up the basics of groceries and we then made our way to the resort in the dark.

Ses Fontanellas Plaza is a nice complex right in the tourist area of Sant Antoni and we got unit 308, a one-bedroom with partial seaview. Definitely a very nice place, with mini-kitchen, a comfortable bedroom, nice furnishings, nice bathroom with bidet (still calling it the "boot-washer" since I haven´t figured out what to do with it...;)

I am sleeping out in the living room on a comfortable trundle bed and the balcony is very roomy with a nice view out to the sea. We had a nice sleep and finally a home-made meal after all the restaurant cuisine that had started to taste a little bit the same.

Then a nice breakfast on the balcony yesterday. After waiting around for our luggage to be delivered, we finally decided just after noon to head out and we drove to Ibiza. Interesting town with a fortress on the hill. We climbed all the way up and had a beautiful view of the harbour and the south and southwest side of the island.


Ibiza in the evening - D'Alt Vila - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I took a ton of pictures and also picked up a few items from the souvenir shops. Got all my souvenir shopping done in about half an hour. The pottery is really amazing here. I wish I could pack it all up and ship it home to Toronto.

On the way down from the fortress I saw a local family, grandmother, 2 or 3 adult kids and several grandkids, in the street and thought I´d practice my people photography. From the looks the family appeared to be gipsies. I approached them very friendly in Spanish and asked if I could take some pictures.

The grandmother then got up and shot into my direction and got very aggressive and shouted at me to get lost, waving her arms. Her kids were quite okay with the idea of being photographed, but the old lady wanted no part of me taking any pictures. So much for my first foray into trying to experiment with human motifs in my career as a hobby photographer....

Oh well, after walking around a few hours we were pretty pooped and drove back to our little apartment where we made a nice little dinner, watched some Jay Leno and Conan O´Brien on the satelittle network before going to sleep.

Today we got going pretty early, we left at about 10 am. Another brilliant day with sunshine on the coast, but a few darker clouds hanging inland. We checked out 7 or 8 beaches or coves on the southwest side of the island and spent about 3.5 hours at a cove called Cala d´Hort, which had the most stunning scenery of all, a nice cove with a sandy beach, looking out to a monolithic rock that sticks out 389 m from the sea. An amazing view.


Relaxing in front of the rock.

We thought we´d have dinner there at the local restaurant but the sun drained our energy and we decided to drive by 2 more beaches and then come back to our little home away from home. One thing we noticed for sure: Ibiza is a gorgeous place.....

SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
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Hello from Sitges

Sitges, Cafe Tiempo Loco, September 24, 2004, 7:20 pm


The beautiful church of Sitges

Sitting here in the cafe, 2 minutes from the Hostal Bonaire (Euro 39 for a single room) where we are going to spend the night.

We left Javea yesterday around 1 pm and drove up the A7. We were just curious about the toll and ended up paying Euro 6.20 and Euro 17.75 plus another Euro 1.20 to exit just around Tarragona.

We decided to explore the mountain areas and ended up in a hostal in the small medieval town of Montblanc where a single room cost only Euro 25.00 and a double room was Euro 42.00. We walked around the town which is completely encircled by walls and medieval watchtowers. Quite interesting, but very small.

Having dinner was another thing, we were ready to eat by about 8 pm, but no chance, none of the restaurants would open before 9:00 pm so we ended up eating a bocadillo (sandwich) at a bar on the main square.

This morning we had a nice little breakfast on the main square at the same place. It was market day today and all sorts of merchants were selling various types of merchandise from portable stands. Our breakfast was lovely, tea plus 2 of the freshest croissants we had ever tasted.

We then made our way through the mountains past Valls into the area of Montserrat, which is an absolutely fascinating area. We ended up spending the entire afternoon at the Monastery of Montserrat, checked out the basilica, were astounded at the various modes of transportation one could use to get up to the monastery, ie. the road with Euro 4 for parking, a pin and racket railroad and an aerial tram.


The mysterious jagged mountains of Montserrat.

Plus we took a funicular to the top of the mountain to Sant Joan and walked around at the top of the serrated mountains. What a gorgeous view! We also walked up to the right to a little chapel (I guess the Chapel of Sant Joan). Right beside it was an abandoned villa / restaurant that was glued against the mountain. It pretty much lay in ruins and I wondered what must have happened to this rather mysterious place...


The famous monastery of Montserrat.

After Montserrat we drove down to the coast and we decided to spend our last night on the mainland in Sitges, a really beautiful town about 50 km southwest of Barcelona, right on the Mediterranean. We went to the tourist office to get our accommodation information and then drove down to the beach where we had to park quite far away from the downtown. Parking is definitely an issue here.

We booked into the Hostal Bonaire right downtown, 2 single rooms at Euro 39 each, not bad for a beautiful beach town. Not fancy, but clean and with private baths. Now we are gonna head out for dinner. After about 4 to 5 hours of walking today we are pretty tired and hungry....

Tomorrow it´s off to Ibiza where we are going to have a more relaxing week.

SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

Hello from Javea

Tuesday, September 21, 2004, 5:40 pm

We just arrived in the little port town of Javea, about 75 km south of Valencia. Yesterday we drove down the coast from Barcelona, stopped in Tarragona for a lovely little lunch and had a quick peak at the remains of the Roman walls. We couldn´t find the supposedly well preserved amphitheatre though....


Peniscola - a scenic little town on the Mediterranean.

We made our way south along the N340 to a town called Peñiscola, a beautiful jewel on a peninsula sticking out into the Mediterranean. We stayed in a beautiful little hotel along the waterfront (for Euro 37 each) and had a great dinner at a local restaurant.


Peniscola - and it's old Moorish centre.

This morning we left, drove into Valencia and walked around the downtown area. We checked out the Cathedral on the Plaza de la Reina, then the Mercado (similar to the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto) where the fish market area almost made me toss my cookies.


Valencia.

Across the street is the Llonja, a Gothic silk market, one of the few Gothic buildings that is not a church. Unfortunately it is under renovation and all covered up and we couldn´t get in.

Then we headed out on the road again, for about 2 hours, drove through the expansive developments at Denia and ended up driving over the mountains to Javea. Javea is a beautiful little town right on the Mediterranean, at the foot of an impressive mountain called Montgo.

We´ll see what tonight holds...


Views of the Costa Blanca.

SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

Hello from Tarragona

September 20, 2004, 1:05 pm

My second blog entry. Sitting here in Calle Cos del Bou in Tarragona. We spent 2 very intense and interesting days in Barcelona. Barcelona is a great city with so many sights to see. The Barrio Gotico (Gothic Quarter) with the old cathedral, the newly renovated waterfront with the Statue of Columbus, La Sagrada Familia, the architecture by Antoni Gaudi (La Pedrera, Casa Battlo, Parc Guell, La Sagrada Famila), the Olympic Park.

The topography is great, on one side is the Mediterranean, on the west side is the hill Montjuic and on the north side is Mount Tibidabo, the highest mountain overlooking the city with an amusement park and a beautiful church on top.


The beautiful church on top of Mount Tibidabo.

We ended up buying a 2-day ticket for the Bus Turistico (20 Euros for 2 days, 16 Euros for 1 day) and rode the blue, red and green lines of the bus, covering all the major sights. We also took the Tram Azul and the Funicular to the top of Mount Tibidabo.


The Magic Fountain, a beautiful nightly display of colour in front of the Palau Nacional.

A great city. Tremendous nightlife, although we are not club goers, the activity and hustle and bustle until late in the night are great. La Rambla is just full of people and people of all ages are walking in the Barrio Gotico and as a tourist you feel completely safe. Lots of entertainment, we even saw a live concert in front of the old cathedral (La Seu) where people were dancing the Sardana, a traditional Catalan dance.


Dusk in Barcelona.

Now we have just arived in Tarragona and do a little walking around this old Roman town before we head further south on the coast. Next report to follow...


Tarragona's Painted House.

1:10, SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

Hello from Barcelona

September 18, 2004, 1:45 pm

This is my first ever blog and I´ll have to be very brief since I only have about 11 minutes left at the Internet cafe. I am sitting here at the Maremagnum shopping mall in the port of Barcelona.


The Port of Barcelona.

Theresa and I just came back from our tour on the blue Tourist Bus. (20 Euros for 2 days). What a fabulous city!


Barcelona's Gothic Quarter.

Yesterday we had dinner in the Gothic Quarter and got serenaded by one musician / music group after another. And today the bus tour, beautiful weather, brilliant sunshine, about 28 degrees Celsious.


One of Gaudi's masterpieces.

We started in the port area, snaked our way past the Casino, the Olympic Village, the Zoo, through the Gothic Quarter to the hussle and bustle of Plaza Catalunya. Along the way we had a quick peak at Gaudi´s masterpieces: Casa Battlo and La Pedrera. The we came across the middle part of the city, up to the hill of Montjuic where we visited the Poble Espanyol (Spanish village), a beautiful 1929 replica of buildings from villages throughout Spain.


The Poble Espanyol.

Then we passed the Olympic stadium, the Teleferic cablecar and came back down into the city where we are just starting to relax now in the harbour.

Tonight we´ll probably head up the Ramblas and check out some authentic Barcelona Nightlife.

SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com