Hotel: Miami Apartments, Es Cana
When I told friends and colleagues that we were off to Ibiza for a week, the first question on everyone's lips was "you going clubbin', lads holiday?". The closest we got to a club was the mini disco at our hotel and my holiday group consisted of my wife, Clare, Baby I, my Mother-in-Law Sue Sue and her partner Granddad Kev, and believe me, this was the party I wanted.
Our flight out to Ibiza could have been split right down the middle, exited groups of holiday goers ready to live it large on one side of the Island in San Antonio and the other half, what I came to class as "Lazy Town" inhabitants whose final destination was Es Cana and Santa Eulalia.
Obviously being the end of the season, the lazy town of Es Cana was quiet, subdued and relaxing. Well, as relaxing as it can be with a 20 month old toddler who knows exactly what she wants, all of the time!
When we arrived at our hotel, we were told that they had over booked and we would need to share a room (as a family) for one night, but as compensation, they would throw in the buffet breakfast every morning for the rest of the week, we happily accepted. Although we were in the self catering apartment side of the hotel complex complete with cooking facilities and a fridge, the cost of breakfast every morning would soon mount up. Thankfully, this was now catered for by the Miami. In the morning we would move to our new abode, poolside and ground floor, but for our first night it was sea views and shared rooms.
The hotel itself was geared towards children, aside from the generic swimming pool there was a small pool complete with pirate ship water feature full of slides, fountains, splashes and cannons. In the height of summer I could see us sitting here for most of the day whilst Baby I played all day long. In early October, the water temperature hardly rose above slightly freezing and after 30 minutes of pure enjoyment, lips began to turn blue, shivering set in and it was time to wrap up and snuggle in. That was me by the way, Baby I could have carried on regardless if we had let her! After the first apprehensive attempt of the slides, there was no stopping her. Pushing aside older kids, running through the pool back to the steps and whooshing down again. Sometimes head first, sometimes backwards there was no fear in this 20 month old crazy girl. It was only on the latter few days of the holiday that we discovered the age specifications for the pirate ship was intended for children 4 years and above.
On our first evening, we thought we would take in the delight of the kids mini disco. Based on the success of the Rory Show at Wild Duck in Norwich, we thought that it could not fail. How wrong we were! Within minutes of arriving, one of the entertainment team had told off most of the kids for having too much fun, this set a precedence for the rest of the show, no fun was to be had!
After a unanimous decision, and Granddad Kev uttering the word "Crap" and the quietest moment of the show, we made our own entertainment for the rest of the week.
Thankfully, Granddad had brought special tokens that make the coin operated rocking machines work. Daddy still does not know where to get these from and will deny all knowledge for years to come. This is were our nightly destination of the "Car Bar" began. Every night we would have a little drink whilst Baby I rocked back and forth on her Volkswagen Bug spending magic tokens. We could hear the music from the mini disco in the background, and every night we confirmed our thoughts, "Crap".
With each day being cram packed full of excitement, new adventures, water parks and pool swims, Baby I was absolutely exhausted every night. After a few days we thought of venturing to Mini Disco once more but Baby I had a better solution, she requested a little snooze around 5pm and only woke the morning after at 7am. This is something that has never happened before, but this little girl was beyond knackered.
Just on the outskirts of Es Cana, or Lazy Town, is the Hippy Market. Held once a week (Wednesday), crowds swarm from far reaches of Ibiza to experience the tranquility and chilled out nature whilst also taking in artisan and unique products mostly handcrafted by the vendors. I was far from chilled out and relaxed from the moment we entered. The temperature of the already sunny morning seemed to increase ten fold at the gate, the amount of shoppers, onlookers and perusing patrons ambling around just increased the heat and with no sense of direction my tranquility took it's toll, I had to find a way out. I was not alone in my decision and we all headed back to the gate to escape for a nice cooling drink.
Early in the week, I had been out for a morning run, and on the way back to our hotel I was walking towards a gentleman and child. I knew I had met this man before but could not put my finger on it. In my head, I knew he had an accent and as he walked past, his strong Scottish timbre reiterated my initial thoughts. Later we saw him and his family around the pool and I involved Clare in my investigation as she is far better at remembering faces than myself. As I walked passed his good lady, I knew that we had met. I stopped, brought up the confidence and asked, "where do I know you from?", she replied, " I thought the same,
you weren't on a cruise ship on the Nile a couple of year ago were you?". It is a small world, and as travelers continue to see every country they can, surely paths will cross again and again.
We closed our week of relaxation, great food and great company with a little Glass Bottom Boat trip. Following the coastline, with views of the Mediterranean sea bed, fish swimming this way and that, sunken ships and a multitude of seaweed. Baby I followed her usual boat routine by falling asleep after 5 minutes and waking up only as we disembarked.
The weather for the time of year was perfect, averaging around 27 degrees Celsius everyday, no rain and only a splattering of cloud cover. We saw the sun rise every morning and the moon rise in the evening over the calm horizon. Es Cana is relaxing (unless you go to the Hippy Market), tranquil and quite picturesque. My initial thoughts about travelling to Ibiza were a little apprehensive. I knew I would enjoy the week with our party as Sue Sue and Kev are always great travel companions and entertainment, but as the initial questions from friends and colleagues resonated in my head, I was expecting a party town with cheesy entertainment. Es Cana was the complete opposite, well, apart from the entertainment....."Crap!"
