Tranquil vs. Chaotic: the battle of March 31st, 2010

          An hour later, I was rested; I stared at the tv screens trying to watch Wedding Crashers in catalan.  The subtitles were in spanish, but I tried to read lips, which is definitely not easy to do.  The movie ended perfectly timed to our arrival in port.  It was about 10:30 and it took me a half hour to get off the boat (so much for my prime seating).  I went to the tourist office and found a place to store my now wine heavier bag (I went from 8 to 15 kilos).  2 people, Jake and Jamie, had abandoned their trip and joined me in Ibiza.  While it was nice to reunite with them and have some company, I enjoyed my time alone.  There was no one to impress, no one to think of besides myself, and I listened to no one but my inner-self.  It was a freedom I need, and one I hope to get back.  What I've always thought and finally witnessed, is that when you do what you want and don't care about what others think or follow the pack, people will be envious and follow you.  It is an interesting phenomenon, whether it's right or wrong.
          I met them at the beach and we talked about what we both had done the previous 2 days.  After laying there for a bit, I suggested we check out town and get a bite to eat.  It was near siesta so we ate first.  Our restaurant, Comidas Bar San Juan.  We shared a plate of croquetas (fried pieces of potato and meat filling), and squid stuffed with something served with rice and a sauce of their own ink.  I liked it better than the squid ink pasta I had in Venice, but the squid was incredibly tough and chewy.  I then finished up with carne asada, which was much different than the mexican version, but tasty.  It had lots of carmelized onions and raisons in the sauce in the sauce, which added some pleasant sweetness to the dish.  Jake and Jamie had paella, this version was a bit al dente and very fishy, but for 4,80 euros it was unbeatable.  The entire price for 5 plates, the hous rosado, and bread and garlic aioli (delicious); a whopping 31.10 euros.

  
 

          After lunch, we wondered the old town on back streets that normal Ibiza tourists avoid.  Ibiza is the party capital of the world (one of them), with 5 or 6 discotecs (clubs) that can hold 10,000 to 15,000 people each.  One has a pool inside and another floods leaving dancers knee deep in water.  Those experiences would have been just as foreign to me as these back streets, but luckily they weren't open or Jamie and Jake would have liked to go.  

  

After walking through a neighborhood of tiny houses with kids playing in the streets, we strolled around Da Vita.  The walls were high with an authoritative, and protective, presence.  At the end of our loop it was 3:30, and we needed to hurry down to port to catch the ferry over to Formentera.  We barely made it, and we caught our breath on the 30 minutes of sailing to our new home, the 20 km long island of Formentera.

 

          Upon arrival, we went to the tours office which was closed.  The guide book said it was only open from May - October (the main tours season when the island goes from 9,000 people to 40,000).  My goal for the two days we had on the island was to vespa around to everywhere and anywhere that looked interesting.  We got maps at the rental agency and learned about our options.  In the excitement of renting, they told us it would cost 55 euro for 3 days of renting (even though we only needed 2 days) and that the insurance deductible was 108, so if we damaged the bike, the most we would have to pay would be the 108.  We thought yea right, who the hell would crash one of these things...well later that night, the answer would be...well, us.  The first problem, was our luggage; both Jake and Jamie had overpacked and I had a full bag with all the wine.  They luckily had backpacks, I had a duffle and had to wear my backpack across my chest with my duffle over my shoulder.

   

It was a comical journey over to our hostel in Es Calo (about 12 km away).  At one point, Jamie took the wrong turn on a roundabout and we ended up going down a one way road the opposite way.  A guy in a car going the right way shook his head with an all too clear expression of, "great, here come the tourists again," but we did make it to the hotel unscathed.  After dropping our stuff and once I got them off their beds, we went to the beach on the opposite coast near Es Arenals.  The beach was beautiful with clear green waters with pockets of dark blue.  The sand was soft and gentle on my feet, and I couldn't have wanted to be anywhere else than here.

          We explored the beach and stumbled upon a kiosco called Pirates Bus.  It was a tiny shack bar with 5 stools and an ample supply of beer.  We planted ourselves on some stools and ordered a round.  It was packed with locals; we were very out of place.  I struck up a conversation with Richard, our new personal tourist officer, and learned about his life, his dog, and the island.  He told us which beaches were the best, and where to eat dinner.  Most of what I had in my guidebook, was still closed because of the season.  We decided that this would be the place we watched the sun go down.

       

          After the sunset, we followed Richard's directions (that was him with his dog on the stool) to go eat at Can Toni.  It was a good plan, but we hadn't accounted for the unthinkable.  Dinner was in Es Pilar de la Mola, about 6 km east of our hotel.  It was up winding roads that switchback and forth up to the mountain.  We were going fast and almost a few times ended up in a ditch on the side of the road (we hadn't gotten a hang of these things completely yet).  On a straight shot near the top, we all stopped and lined up tire to tire.  On the count of 3, we tore off.  Jake passed both Jamie and I first, then I passed both of them and then Jamie passed me.  We gained speed and space from Jake and it was neck and neck between Jamie and I.  Out of no where, the road ended in a T; Jamie saw it before me and slammed on his breaks, I followed and we both skidded to a stop at the end of the road.  Jake wasn't as observant; he slammed on his breaks much to late and was forced to choose between running into the back of Jamie's bike or turning towards a 3 foot ditch.  He turned, and his vespa's front wheel hit the ditch, sending him superman-ing over the front of his bike skidding on the asphalt for 10 ft.  It was one of the  scariest, funniest, and crazy events I have ever seen to this day.  He is incredibly lucky that he was not hurt, let alone killed from the accident.  The damage was minimal, but still there.  The scooter's headlight was dangling from the wire and the entire front plastic body plate was cracked through.  I used my duct tape to secure the light and the crack.  Jake scraped up his knee pretty badly, but left the scene with no broken bones or anything more than a few scabs.  We took it easy with the speeding after that.

          Once we were at the restaurant, we searched for a table in the cramped bar to no avail.  It was packed; there was a projector playing the barcelona vs. Arsenal soccer game and every one was interested in it.  We settled for outside and ordered at the bar and stood there until our food was ready so we could watch the game.  I ordered deer or "bambi," as the bartender called it, and Jamie got the steak, we went half for half.

  

Now this was no ordinary bar food, this was even a step above gastropub.  They were highly complex dishes with many components that danced when combined together.  The quality of the steak was impeccable (Bambi turns out to be a little tough) and both sauces were delectable, the steak, with a green pepper variety, and the venison, with a fruity raspberry concoction.  The red pepper stained mashed potatoes served with the deer was perfect.  To say the least, I was very happy.  The 31st of March was an amazing food day, (am I really 2 weeks behind?!?!?!?)  the best of the trip.  After we ate, and Arsenal came back and tied up the game settling for a tie, we drove out to the eastern tip of the island (about a minute on the vespas) and looked at the moon and lighthouse.

  

These were the best that I could get to come out of the camera and I thought they were slightly successful.  We then returned to the bar, had a drink, and then drove home.  It was an spectacular day and I was starting to feel right at home on that oasis.