Long Weekend in Ibiza

 What a fabulous weekend! To recap, I left immediately after classes on Wednesday to go Ibiza for the weekend with four Dartmouth students. My friend Eve and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight, but then we saw that our boarding passes indicated the gate closes 45 minutes before the flight! Shoot we were cutting it close! All of a sudden we were in a huge hurry!

Eve used her Spanish skills to help us cut the lines to get our passports checked and we sped through security, running through the airport without shoes. We quickly found our gate relaxed when we saw there was a long line. We were not going to miss the flight. Phew. So we boarded the plane and then sat on the tarmac for over an hour. People were starting to get frustrated and yell angry-sounding things in Spanish. The pilot came on the PA system and said they couldn’t find some travel documents required for a commercial flight and we had to take a different plane. So all 150+ passengers had to get off the plane, get on a bus, ride 100 yards, and board a different plane. Our flight finally took off 2 hours later than scheduled. Oh well, we weren’t in a hurry.

Eve and I got to the hotel around 7pm and checked in. She found this hotel online and it was pretty inexpensive, so we were expecting the worst. We got up to our room, and cautiously entered, afraid kinds of grim things we might find. Then we opened the curtains and saw this (!!!) and realized everything was fine. WOW.

Here is another view of the Mediterranean Sea and the pool from our room’s balcony. We spent the afternoon relaxing on these outdoor beds under the palm trees in the sunshine. It was cloudy for one day, but the other two days were clear blue skies.

 Here’s a view of a peninsula jutting out from the island with a large fortress built on top (in this photo it’s the red and yellow buildings at the top of the hill). We decided to see what was up there, so we walked from our hotel and up to the top of this structure, which is part of a nature preserve or state park or something. Check it out! http://www.spainisculture.com/en/monumentos/ibiza/almudaina_-_castillo_de_eivissa.html

 Here’s a photo of Eve, Mary, and me on top of the fortress.

 From the top of the fortress, we could see most of the island.

Here’s a view of the lower part of the fortress.

The water was amazing shades of teal and blue. It was the clearest water I’ve ever seen. In the summer, there are tons of snorkeling and scuba diving trips, for obvious reasons.

 This is the port which is located at the end of the main street in Ibiza Town, the island’s biggest city.

On my way home yesterday, with Eve and Mary, we discussed how returning to Barcelona felt like going home. We’ve only been in Barcelona for two weeks, but it really does feel like home and Amparo has made me feel like part of her family :)