La Isla de Fiesta
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created 8/2002, posted on 11/05/2002

I used to live on an island that never sleeps. On every night of a week, you can always find a place to go and party until daybreak. After I moved to another city where having no cars means no life after 10 p.m., watching "Sex and the City" becomes the greatest nighttime activity I can have here (No, I don't watch "American Idol").

So it is refreshing to visit Spain, the land of nocturnal activities, where clubs don't usually get crowded until 2 am. And the music goes on and on until the next morning. It is like that in Madrid. It is like that in Barcelona.

Then there is the isle of Ibiza.

This little Mediterranean island literally becomes a European party central in just the past 2 decades. With eight gigantic nightclubs (Privilege, Amnesia, Eden, El Paradis, El Divino, Pacha, Space, and DC-10, if you ask me), famous DJs are flown here weekly from as far as New York and Tokyo. The party goes from midnight to the early morning in some clubs, then continues in some "after hour" clubs. After some "disco nap," the partygoers head to beach, possibly dance topless along the beachside bars until sunset, go back for some rest, then head out for another round of nightclubing. Sounds like my idea of vacation - 7 years ago.

Different from 7 years ago, now I can afford a real hotel room instead of a bed in youth hostels. With the bed so comfy, I actually felt resistant to go out partying late, especially after a full week of academic activities and sightseeing in Barcelona. So I slept in and did not go out to visit any nightclub on my first night in Ibiza. And unfortunately, that night happened to be Saturday night.

The largest town of Ibiza, Ibiza Town (Evissa) is located on the eastside of the island. It is mellower and slightly more expensive. With a walled old town (Dalt Vila) and a huge fortress on top of the hill. Ibiza Town is quite classy. Down the hill in the distric of Sa Penya, the labyrinth like streets are quiet at daytime (because everybody is at beaches) but full of people at nighttime when restaurants and bars open their outdoor terrace. However, outside of the town center, Ibiza Town is relatively unappealing.

On the other side (west) of the island, Sant Antoni is the second largest town on Ibiza. Famous for its large number of lobster-colored (you know what happens when very pale people have too much suntan...) British tourists, walking around streets of Sant Antoni sometimes make people feel they are in Liverpool. English is possibly more widely spoken than Spanish here, with British accent of course. Because it faces west, the beach of Sant Antoni is a great place to watch Ibiza sunset, usually with hundred of other people (many are in lobster color). It is obviously that Sant Antoni is not why I come to visit Ibiza.

On Mediterranean islands, the most popular thing a vacationer does is of course enjoying the beach. However, after a whole of intense suntaning, even I did not morph into a lobster, it is always good to head back to hotel for some "pre-disco" nap. While....

Wait to be finished at this moment....

Next Chapter: A Place in My Heart II