Ibiza and Formentera

This past weekend I visited the Baleares with my friend L. I thought that the much heard of island Ibiza would be the highlight of the trip. But as it turned out, I ended up having a wonderful time in Formentera, a relatively untouched island close to Ibiza.

There were 10 people from my Santander project who had planned the trip. The rest of this project team is from the Madrid office, I am the only one from Bcn. Madrid people stay up late after work and get in early ...everyday! (superhumans). When we coordinated in Ibiza, L and I were told to meet in the Privilege parking lot at 1am. My jaw dropped. Apparently thats when the clubs get going. L and I hired a scooter and explored the island on it all day. My fave part was these salt deposits. Would have been better to rent a car actually, since at night, in my mini-clothes, I was pretty chilly on those scooter rides. So we met the rest of the group and tailgated outside the supposedly amazing club but were way too exhausted and not in the mood to pay 100€ at almost 2am when the gang finally decided to enter the club. Turns out the electronic scene is neither of our thing. We said bye, left for the hotel and decided instead to wake up before noon and explore the island (good thing we didn't fall asleep in the parking lot, I was seriously exhausted). 

A few do's and don'ts while in Ibiza:

• Do stay in Sant Antoni if on a budget, but bring ear plugs. Otherwise you're better off staying in other quieter parts of the island like Santa Eulalia. If in S. Antoni, most likely no one in or around your hotel will plan to sleep at all. You'll be surprised to learn that people visit Ibiza without hotel bookings. Yep, they sleep on the beach all day (geez).
• Do visit the flea markets.
• Don't miss the sunset from Café del Mar in Sant Antoni.
• Do try to visit Formentera while in Ibiza. The access is only through a Ferry called Balnearia which takes you there. You can take your rented cars/scooters with you to Formentera on the ferry which is nice. 
• Don't forget to go to a bar/restaurant called "Tiburón" when you're in Formentera 

Back in February, in Laos, at the Luang Prabhang night market, there was a long sit anywhere you like dinner table with all veggie street food. I met a guy there who after an interesting conversation told me "if you ever come to Formentera between May and August, come to Tiburón and ask for XYZ" and I actually remembered his name and looked him up, and sure enough he was there (what a small world!) and hooked us up with the best table and as a result we got a front row view to one of the most beautiful sunsets ever! Did I already mention that Formentera is the best part about Ibiza? Forget the rave clubs, this little island is the place to be. Can't wait to go back. 

Life of a Consultant

I've been totally unable to blog over the last few weeks. Actually, make that last few months. I mean just sit down, breathe and let my mind flow. That seems like a far-away state of being right now. More like it has been workdays of about 10 to 12 hours, and then after-work time with colleagues. I've also moved cities (temporarily). I'm currently living in Santander, a city in the north of Spain (where its cold and rainy all through summer).

Apart from work, I've been engrossed in the book I'm reading right now "Shantaram." It is a true story of a man that takes you on a journey like no other. I have been so absorbed by it, that part of the reason I havent been here more can be attributed to it. I will surely write a review once I'm done reading, which I hope for my sake isn't soon (I dont want this book to end).

I moved here in the first week of June and plan to stay on till the end of July. I have a cozy company-paid flat all to myself, which is sweet. I feel lonely here, have to admit. But the company pays our flights/trips on the weekends (to Madrid/Barcelona or lower fare) and been using that up to travel.

I've managed to travel to a new place every weekend since June. Visited the Basque Country over two weekends - Bilbao and San Sebastian. Bilbao was two weekends ago, and in fact, I just got back from San Sebastian a couple of hours ago. I'd gone to see a friend from high school in Oman who later went to my rival school - Georgia Tech. Was good to catch up and hang out with someone from home after a while, and actually speak english all day.

Also made a weekend trip to Belgium with three colleagues last weekend, to Brussels, Brugge and Gent. Brussels gave me a good feeling, apart from being a historic and beautiful city, its people seemed to be pretty relaxed and "assle free" :-) The Pee-Boy and Pee-Girl statues were super cute. Brussels has a modern and easy-going air to it which was evident in the manner people dress there (for instance people don't tend to copy shop-windows) or "escaparate-dressing" like they do here in Spain. Also a lot of different cultures seem to thrive there, especially Arab. The cities of Brugge and Gent were enchanting with their little canals and old cobbled streets. I bought a lot of chocolate, which will last me possibly till year end. Overall a good time and the weather was favorable without any rain. Tried a beer called "Westmalle" which I really liked. Anyone tried it?

Today is Sunday and I've just realized how tired I was after the last few weeks of intensive work and travelling/partying. And the proof is: I slept yesterday afternoon at 5:30 pm and woke up this morning at 11:30am. Thats 18 hours straight :-)

Next weekend I'm going to Ibiza :-) I hope to be up to it!