Marc's Public Blog - Trips to other locations

Current Music: Paul Van Dyk - Politics of Dancing CD 1 - 6 PVD - Vega
Current Mood: Partied out, slowly recovering :)

Man, this was way too much work. I'll be happy to go back to a normal and restful life at work. Vacation requires way too much energy :)
Now that I'm home, the remaining pictures were posted ( Pictures from Saturday and Pictures from Sunday )


Anyway, after 3 weeks in Ibiza (1 last year, plus 2 this time), I think I've finally seen and done what I wanted to do there:

• seen pretty much the best and most famous techno DJs in the world (never saw Oakey there, but I had seen him twice in San Francisco). I did manage to miss Armin Van Buuren, who would have been a very nice cherry on the cake, but while he was resident at Amnesia, it wasn't before August, so that didn't work out.
  I did however get to see: DJ Tiësto, Paul Van Dyk, Dave Pearse, and Pete Tong, all big name DJs that I had been listening to for years. This of course doesn't include the many other parties I went to with lesser known DJs
  
• Crazy stuff ranging from the Manumission party to Fiesta Del Agua
  
• Been to a few pseudo-mythical places like Bora Bora at Playa Den Bossa (not that it means all that much to me, but the beach and water were nice)
  
• By the same token, I have been to and danced in some of the famous clubs that are in so many of live techno mixes (many come from Ibiza). Basically, I went to all the big clubs in Ibiza, which just wasn't possible in one week last year.
  
• Got to see more of Ibiza and some of its secluded beaches, as well as its sister Island: Formentera
  
• I managed to further my picture taking hobby, even if it cost me a brand new camera half way through the trip. I actually quite enjoy some of the "difficult" club pictures I was able to take (those can be quite challenging, especially if you're supposed to hide on top of that)
  
• Got a tan, sure, great, moving right along...
  
• Got my PADI diving level 1 and 2 certifications. While the certification piece was overpriced in my opinion (about $800, or which only $300 or so went to diving and rental costs), well, the point is that I have it and I can go diving up to 40 meters when/wherever I please now :) (I have prior history of having being denied great dives in Australia that had left me a bit bitter). I should add that this was one of the primary goals of my trip, even if some people doubt it :)
  
• Did a little bit of water sports (wakeboarding/windsurfing), although not enough :)
  
• Had a fun two weeks with a couple of groups of french people.
  
• Made good friends with the Spanish people at the Diving club, and my instructor, Upi (Geert-Jan). I was cool to shoot the shit with them, and see that they were quite good at doing it themselves too. It's also nice to see the more relaxed Island / Spanish way of life where an appointment or a time is something sometimes highly subjective :)
  
• I even learned a little (just a very little) Spanish
  
• And last but not least, I survived the whole two weeks despite harsh conditions for the body (partying + diving) :)

Regrets?

• Didn't get to see Armin Van Buuren
  
• Didn't get to sail more
  
• Didn't get a single night to use SS rue des Anglais, which would have been fun (either I was off partying, sleeping before a party, or way too tired/sick to make it)

At this point, I don't really need to go back though. I'm not saying that I won't, but there are many other places I can be going to, and for diving many much better and closer ones.
I may still go there in August at the peak of the season with a confirmed lineup of who's going to be playing in which club, to maybe attend some of the best DJ gathering and mixes of the year, but we'll see...

Oh, as a cool souvenir, I found a picture of a couple of friends an me on the Cafe Del Mar site