In June 1999, Claire and I went to Ibiza for a holiday. We stayed at the Playa Sol I apartments between Playa D'en Bossa and Figueretas, and we were there for a week. The weather was scorching for the whole week, which meant we didn't have to pick and choose when we went where.
We arrived at 4 in the morning, went straight to our apartments and straight to bed. Getting up around 11 o'clock, we went to the talk from the reps, sorted ourselves out, went to buy some groceries (they actually had Irn Bru there!) and in the evening we went to Playa D'en Bossa for a meal in a cheap and cheery seaside restaurant.
Friday was disaster day. We went to the beach for the day, but on the way there I managed to sprain my ankle badly, which hampered me for the rest of the holiday. We stayed on the beach most of the day, and Claire got badly sunburned. The beach was excellent, though, and the water was lovely. We went to a rubbish Chinese place for dinner.
Sore ankle, sore skin, not a lot was ever going to be done this day. Most of it was spent sitting about and moaning a lot. In the evening we tried paella at a restaurant in Figueretas, and hated it. Overall, not a good day.
We decided to get the bus into Ibiza Town. The bus didn't come for a while, so we walked in the general direction we knew the town was, and before we knew it we were there. This is the largest town on the island, and part of it, built on the hill, is know as Dalt Villa, the old town, and is surrounded by huge walls. We had a great time wandering around the old town, exploring dark passages, and climbing up to the high point, where the cathedral is. Afterwards we walked back and later found a wee Chinese place in Figueretas which charged three pounds for a three course meal and drink. Excellent!
Having discovered where and when the buses passed, we decided to take a trip to San Antonio, the club capital of the island. When we got there we spent ages looking for the train ride we'd heard about, eventually finding it and buying tickets. The train ran on the road, and took us inland through orchards and fields and so on. The driver had an intercom system, and chattered on in three languages throughout the trip. His humour (and lack of) made it an enjoyable ride.
Back home in the evening, we went to the Thai place, just beside the Chinese we'd been to the night before. Good food on a budget! Mmmm.
We decided on a more restful day on Tuesday. In the morning we went to Figueretas, and had a lie on the beach there. In the afternoon we took the glass-bottomed boat trip to a wee island off Formentera, stayed half an hour and came back. Evening was splash out the cash time, since this was our penultimate day, so we gorged out in an Italian place.
This was our last day, and we were kicked out of our rooms at eleven. Leaving our luggage in the store room, we left for Es Cana, and the hippy market. After a wander around there, and some ice lollies, we came back, got changed, and went to our favourite Chinese for the evening. We stayed in the apartments lounge until the bus came at 1 am to take us to the airport. A flight at 3.45 and we were back home by 6.
All in all a good holiday. We got burned and bruised, but didn't get mugged, robbed, ill or given a duff apartment. Not bad at all.