Soon, the much-awaited day arrived and we started our journey, Bangalore > Mumbai > Munich, on 23/Sep.
DAY #1 : We’re going to Ibiza!
We reached Munich on 24/Sep morning and headed to Ibiza the same day afternoon via a short flight from Munich. We hired a small car (CITROEN C3, automatic) at the airport for our stay in Ibiza. That worked out quite cheap and convenient for us to commute within Ibiza. We stayed in a hotel called “Vibra Algarb”, a large hotel complex located right on the beach and 10 mins drive from the airport. There was an Indian restaurant “Rosa India” right opposite to the hotel, which was convenient to satisfy our desi taste buds. We took rest in the evening and were looking forward to the next day’s activity.
DAY #2 : Soak in the turquoise waters of Formentera
25/Sep: In the morning we finished breakfast in the hotel and headed to Formentera, a Balearic island that lies just south of Ibiza. It’s less than an hour’s journey by ferry and soon we arrived in Formentera. We could have taken our car on the ferry to Formentera, but it required some pre-approvals to do so. Formentera is just 20kms long and 2 kms wide and hence we decided to hire a 2-wheeler and explore the island. Also, the weather was perfect for a 2-wheeler ride. We visited a few beaches (Illetes and Migjorn to name a few), spent our day hanging around the beach and at the restaurants on the beach side.
I will let this video talk about the beauty of the beaches on this island.
We took a ferry back to Ibiza in the evening and witnessed a beautiful view of sunset from the ferry. There are ferries between Ibiza and Formentera every 15-20 minutes and one can buy open tickets (to and fro) which can be used any time within a year! There are quite a few hotels in Formentera if one decides to stay and spend more time there.
DAY #3 : It’s party time with world’s renowned DJ, “Martin Garrix”
26/Sep: Today the plan was to hire a boat “without a captain” and drive around the Ibiza coast during the daytime. Yes, we can rent a boat for half or full day (4hrs/8hrs) and drive it without having a captain on board. However, this is applicable only for small boats with less than 15 bhp power. Also, a license is not required for driving such boats. But today the lady luck was not on our side. All boat rentals were cancelled for the entire week due to the high tides.
Hence we decided to explore Ibiza island and beaches during the day time. In the evening, we booked tickets for a DJ party with DJ Martin Garrix at the Ushuaia hotel. Both my wife and I like DJ music and we were looking forward to this event, one of the highlight events in the party town of Ibiza.
During the day we visited a few beaches in the northern part of Ibiza (San Antonio). This video shows a glimpse of the turquoise waters of “Cala Salada”.
By late afternoon we returned back to the hotel and got ready for the most awaited DJ party. The DJ party venue “Ushuaia” was within walkable distance from our hotel and the timings were from 5pm to 11pm.
During the summer season, the world’s top DJs perform every week at various venues in Ibiza. At Ushuaia, each day of the week is blocked by one of the top DJs (the list includes David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Calvin Harris, Black Coffee, ANTS, etc.).
Since summer is ending, ours was a week of “Closing Parties” and large crowds were expected this week. We reached the venue on time and by then the crowd had already started gathering. The first two hours of the event was an opening act hosted by a budding artist. The opening act was then followed by an amazing set by Martin Garrix. The other point worth mentioning is that we cannot carry any items (including water bottles) inside these party venues. The prices of the refreshments were quite exorbitant (starting at €17-20 for 300ml water) and once the party starts it is impossible to go to these vending counters and bring anything to your place due to the heavy crowd.
By 6pm, the venue was house-full, the party had caught up full momentum and the whole crowd was dancing to the rhythm. Martin made an entry at 9pm and the energy level of the crowd suddenly went multifold. Here is a video to explain the scene further.
It was our first participation in such a large event and we enjoyed the ambience, the music played and the quality of sound/lighting systems. By the time we reached the hotel, it was midnight and DJ beats were still ringing in our ears.
DAY #4 : Wife’s birthday celebration and an additional dose of DJ PARTY!
The agenda for the day was to explore Ibiza town, do some shopping and celebrate my wife’s birthday in the evening. However, when we reached the hotel lobby after breakfast, our agenda was amended with another exciting item. While we were enquiring at the hotel travel desk about the places to visit in Ibiza, he told us that there are few tickets available for the “DJ David Guetta” party tonight. After the previous exciting night with Martin Garrix, we were up for more and nothing could have been better than DJ David Guetta. It was a perfect gift I could give to my wife on her birthday. Within seconds, we bought the tickets and were off to city tour with a big smile on our faces.
Spent the day exploring the old city, shopping at the hippie market and enjoyed authentic Spanish Sangria. In the evening we had planned to go to San Antonio and have dinner at the most popular beach-side restaurant called “Mumbo Café”, while watching the sunset. When we reached the restaurant, it was quite crowded and there was a long queue to enter the restaurant. Since we didn’t have a prior booking the wait was long. Fortunately, one of the managers came to us and said that there is a table available for 2, but at extra cost. I found this a good deal as I could celebrate my wife’s birthday in a restaurant of her wish.
The ambience at the restaurant was very good along with nice food, beverages and service. They also arranged a small cake (Cheesecake) for cutting. We enjoyed the evening while watching the sunset. Surely, that is one happening place in San Antoni!
By 8pm, we finished dinner and returned back to our hotel. We had an exciting DJ night awaiting us. The party timing was from 11pm till 5am and this time we decided to go late at around 1am, so that we could have some sleep at the hotel and be there at the venue just before DJ David Guetta entered the party.
The DJ party was at “Hi Ibiza”, which is right opposite to Ushuaia. We reached there by walking at 1am and as we entered the hall, it was completely packed with people swinging to the DJ tunes. The DJ’s platform at Ushuaia was elevated 30 feet so that everyone can have a good view. Hence we were able to enjoy Martin Garrix party from a distance. However, here the stage was at ground level and we could hardly see the DJ from even 30 feet distance. My wife wanted to have a close view of David Guetta and hence she pulled me in and started to squeeze through the crowd towards the stage, slowly and steadily.
Within 20 minutes, we managed to reach the front of the hall and there were just 10 rows of people ahead of us and we could get a good view of the stage. DJ Guetta entered at around 2am and suddenly the sound levels and the energy doubled in the hall. We could literally feel the beats from the massive woofers in our stomachs. After a few minutes, we saw that many people were going out to buy stuff and that created an opportunity for to squeeze further, as and when they left their space. In no time, we were able to reach the front row and it was an unbelievable experience to see David Guetta right in front of us, with just a DJ table separating us!
Next 3 hours were full of action and DJ Guetta entertained the crowd to the ultra-max level. I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my wife’s birthday.
DAY #5 : The next phase of our trip begins, in style
In the morning, we returned our rental car at the Ibiza airport and had some more Spanish Sangria before boarding the flight back to Munich. I was excited and really looking forward to the BMW Z4 that awaited us in Munich. At the same time, I was a bit nervous, as I would be driving in Europe for the first time (Driving in Ibiza was cool as it is a small place with not much traffic and roads have low-speed limits).
When I reached the Sixt counter at Munich airport, I was up for a shock. The guy at the Sixt rental counter told me that the BMW Z4 M40 model is not available as it was damaged by the guy who rented it last and it needs repair. That was quite a bit of disappointment for me. He started offering me other models but were mainly sedans. Upon a lot of push and negotiation, he agreed to an upgrade and here is what I got.
He offered me the only BMW 850i that he had in their collection, almost a brand new car with less than 10K kms on it. Initially, I felt that would be too big to drive on the narrow roads of the EU, but since it is an 8-series convertible, I agreed to go with it. When I went to pick up the vehicle in the parking lot, I saw the damaged BMW Z4 parked next to the 850i. When I saw the boot of the Z4, I could make out that it would not have accommodated our entire luggage. In a way, 850i was a blessing in disguise as it had better boot space and also had a narrow 2nd-row seat where we can keep the luggage.
As I started driving this beast out of the narrow parking lot, I hardly could judge the edges of the car. Luckily, the 360-degree cameras on the car came to the rescue and soon I felt comfortable with the corners. While I missed the small sporty Z4 model, the 850i was quite a responsive beast with 550+ torque.
Our destination for the night stay was Hotel Hey Lou in Piding, which is a small town before the Austrian border. By the time the car pick drama ended at the airport, we were quite hungry and wanted to have some good desi food. We found “Rama Restaurant”, an Indian restaurant about 15 kms from the airport on our way to Piding. After finishing a good dinner there, we drove down on the autobahn towards Piding.
Since I was getting used to the traffic signs and the new vehicle, I did not speed much on the autobahn. Reached the hotel late at night and hit the bed.
Continue reading VIJMAC’s travelogue for BHPian comments, insights and more information.
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Publish date : 2024-10-21 23:35:00
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