Day No. 188 - Off to Ibiza Town

Have you ever taken part in a meditation that was not in your native language? The meditation that we want to do over the next few weeks, as a kind of start to the day, is in English.

This means that while you are meditating, you try to translate synchronously without disturbing your meditation. This is a real challenge for me, as I have only ever used my English on vacation. Although this works relatively well, relative is relative. That's why we first set about translating the content of the meditation in full today. As it seems to have worked quite well in the meditation, I didn't realize how many words I was struggling with. Either I'm more mentally alert during the meditation or mentally clearer! - I'll leave that open. (Note from Torgit: I let myself drift in meditation. My subconscious will do that. Simply according to the basic law of Cologne: 'Et hätt noch emmer joot jejange'.

Now that the day has started with hard work, we want to get straight on with it. We pack everything up and drive towards Santa Eulària. There we first visit a mercadona and replenish our supplies. By now it is already 14:00. It's time for breakfast. The great thing is that this Mercadona is only 400 m, or 2 minutes by van, from Babylon Beach - 38°59'21.3″N 1°32'53.5″E. Shortly afterwards, we pack up our Hector "in the front row" on a beautiful rocky coast. A late breakfast, but a picnic right by the water. - It's absolutely quiet here today - only a couple walks past with their dog, who greets us stormily.

Next up is some bookkeeping left over from yesterday, which we do. By now it's 4 p.m. and we still have to do the washing. So off we go to the nearest laundrette. While Torgit takes care of the dirty laundry, I take care of the dirty Hector. His appearance has suffered a little over the last few days. The wind has also stirred up a lot of sand. The van, which was previously white, could pass for desert camouflage today. So off to the nearest petrol station to clean the van a little. - Then we clean the windows - it shouldn't just look nice from the outside. After all, we also want to enjoy the view of the landscape.

As we're leaving for Formentera tomorrow morning, we're now driving towards Ibiza to see what the parking options are like there and where our ferry departs from. Balearia, the ferry operator, seems to be only half-heartedly embracing the digital age. - We had already noticed this when we booked our tickets for the trip to Ibiza. You can buy tickets online, but they have to be printed out or alternatively collected from the office. Our Hector isn't that modern after all, the guys from VW actually saved on the printer. If you want to pick up the tickets in advance, you have to be there an hour earlier, according to the Balearia website. This is noticeable on an early ferry like ours. Yes, I know, now one or two people will say "the early bird catches the worm". I'll tell you "the early bird can kiss my ass".

But just in case, if we had been there on time in the morning and had picked up the tickets on time, it would have been absolutely chaotic. This is because a link is sent with the order that gives an indication of where the ferry is supposed to depart from. Here you also get the tickets, but also the information that the ferry departs from a completely different location. This supposed departure point is also 2.7 km away. So it's about half an hour's walk. If, like us, you get there in good time, you will hopefully find someone who knows about it after a long search. We found him, but we also found the clue that the ferry actually departs from a third place. Thank goodness I could remember the departure point from earlier, so we found it after about a quarter of an hour, despite the Spanish explanation. Even the nice man from the ferry company only spoke Spanish. Which I think is pretty cool in this context. The Spanish seem to be very, very proud of not speaking English. Because the question "Do you speak English?" is usually met with a hearty laugh. Conclusion: you don't need any language skills to laugh at the world. - Or is it laughing at you? 😉

As we are already on site, we look at two parking options nearby. We would have liked our spot on the pier, but it would certainly have been a little too busy in the morning - what alternatives are there? Firstly, the centrally located parking lot Parking Es Pratet - 38°54'47.1″N 1°26'02.1″E - and secondly, the IKEA parking lot - 38°55'04.1″N 1°26'11.0″E - so we are prepared for tomorrow. We explore the old town a little. As on our last visit, everything still seems to be in hibernation. Is everything really asleep here? No, a small German bastion is open. We met Andreas, the owner of the Ibiza 45 store in Carrer de la Mare de Déu, Calle de Virgin, by chance at the flea market in Sant Juan. If you're looking for unusual clothes, this is the place for you. In the end, I walk out of the nice little store with two new T-shirts and two pairs of jeans. I have no idea how we are going to fit them into Hector, our T5 van. But where there's a will, there's a push. - One more note about Ibiza 45 - this is a space at risk of being sold. The owner, Andreas, knows his job and finds things that fit and suit his personal taste. Nice, charming, but a clear salesman. - I like that.

We end the evening in the Kaixo restaurant - 38°54'39.1″N 1°26'02.7″E - also recommended by the store owner. From here, it's only a few meters to the harbour and our parking space.

We leave the restaurant at around 9:30. Do we really want to spend the night in the Ikea parking lot? We spontaneously change our minds and drive to Sa Caleta - 38°52'09.0″N 1°19'55.8″E - Here we find a quiet spot for the night above Playa es Bol Noudes via park4night. The Phoenician settlement of Sa Caleta is also nearby. But we'll probably have to visit it another time.