1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Ecole de Plongeé

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Gran Canaria

 

1995

3 Months

NYC

A Jewel

Eivissa

Tree Abuse

ECO

Black Friday

Bocadillo

Danger!

Estofado

Sangria

Rave

Cannibis

Camino Viejo

Neutrinos

Weather

Roosters

JCS

The PM

Plongeé

Smila

Customs

O. J. Verdict

1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Fish Monger

A Roar

MacWorld

Padinkos

Bye E, Hello GC

Gran Canaria

Where

A Tour

How

Food

Yumbo

Las Palmas

Playa

1995 Gran Canaria: Potpourri

Norteños

More Food

Irishmen

Heading Home

USA

With Dad

Back at Home

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1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Ecole de Plongeé

Saturday 30 Sept 1995

Shortly after breakfast I grab my fanny-pack and head off for town via el camino viejo, the old trail. I have three goals in mind:

  1. to enjoy the outdoors

  2. to celebrate the hike's end with a caffè con leche at Fernandito's

  3. to get some more bearings for my project of plotting the exact location of Daniel's house on a Spanish-government-issue topograpic map

The whole map thing is complicated because (a) we're in a valley with few landmarks, (b) the difference between Magnetic and True North isn't given on the map, and (c) the scale of 1:50,000 shows the area I want to cover but doesn't provide enough detail for what I want to do.

Amic

Amic (at left), the family dog, decides that he wants to accompany me into town. I can't dissuade him with shouts and emphatic finger-pointing, so we continue on as a team. I find old twine to use as a makeshift leash for times we'll be near cars or other dogs. Later I replace the tuine with a bicycle inner tube.

The trail is quiet, and a bit dark (from the same clouds that are sprinkling a fine mist on us). I'm most worried about how Amik will respond to the dogs in the kennel, which is the main reason for the leash. But the kennel appears to be empty, and we pass without incident. It's only a few minutes later that the dogs return to the trail-side of their kennel and barking ensues. We're far away enough so that Amik barely notices or cares.

Camino Viejo Camino Viejo Camino Viejo Camino Viejo Camino Viejo

Along the trail (thumbnails above) I find the skeletal remains of a rabbit, which according to the scat I find along the trail, populate the hills. But the real treasure is an ancient sign that says

No Tocar
Peligro de Muerte

(Don't Touch - Danger of Death) over a skull and crossbones. I'm thrilled; this is just what I need to decorate my computer nook at home.

Jeffrey

Amik and I arrive in Sant Joan around noon. Amik goes into the ACT Garden, right next to the indoor patio where Mayra is taking Flamenco dance classes with Jeffrey (shown at left). I go across the street to Fernandito's; Thomàs sees me walking over and a caffè con leche is waiting for me.

It's there that I meet Chris Baker, a Londoner. We talk about the books we're reading, and about bookstores, the British Film Board and censorship, and finally, about our experiences on Eivissa. Chris, who's staying in Eivissa Cuidad, wants to get into less touristy surroundings. He's bicycled north in hopes of finding peace and quiet. I send him to the penzione just up the street. Before I can find out whether he's scores a room I'm called over to ECO to help fix Daniel's ImageWriter II printer, which has gone out of alignment between changes of ribbon.

One item of note is Chris' mention of AMOK, a Los Angeles publication that has to do with "extreme sources of information". It sounds interesting; if I find out more about it I'll post a note here.

1400 Schrada comes to town to take Daniel, Djamal, and me to Benirràs. We take off in her little Toyota Land Cruiser (which is not the vehicle for bumpy roads) to Sant Miquel de Balansat. Daniel gets to speak with Ute while I glance around the main part of town. A three-day festival begins tonight so everything is covered in bunting and flags. I don't get a good feel for the character of the town and so I make a mental note to return for further exploration.

(Something that I forgot to mention a few days ago was the bicycle race I saw while on my way to Benirràs that first day of walking. Bike racers in colorful nylon jerseys and police officers on motorcycles carrrying red warning flags came from the direction to which I was walking. I was told this was an around-the-island event.)

Daniel once again called the repair facility in Barcelona. The story today is "we thought we had motherboards, but now we're not sure, and we just can't say anything until Monday." I guess I can't recommend that you use "Cut and Paste" if your Mac needs repairs in Spain.

Port panorama 1

I'm told that Mayra wants to go Rollerblading in Eivissa Ciudad with Anna, a friend of hers. (Above and below are thumbnails of panoramas of the Puerto Eivissa, respectively 200 kb and 188 kb.) And so we all get into the larger Toyota LandCruiser and head south. After Anna rents 'blades we walk (or skate) along the marina, along boats of all sizes and purposes, from the yachts of the wealthy to commuter boats (25 minutes to Formentera) to small fishing boats. We end up at a playground, where Djamal is freed from the stroller in order to climb up slides and run around on unsteady legs.

Port panorama 2

Mayra and Anna skate behind the playground onto a large pier. That's where I find the Escuela de Buceo H2O (and in smaller print "Diving School * Tauchen * 1995 Eivissa (Ibiza): Ecole de Plongeé"). The Divemaster (and the price) seems sane, so I make a mental note to make a dive or three when I'm able to use Daniel's extra car when it's returned.

Fixing a facade

As I walk around Eivissa Cuidad I notice repairs of all sorts going on, both small (such as fixing a building's facade, shown at left) and large (the five-year reconstruction of the old city, including the removal of above-ground telephone and electrical wires and poles and the drastic reduction of automotive traffic allowed inside the old walls). It's a welcome change, counteracting many years of neglect and environmental wear. (Eivissa has Europe's greatest concentration of cars; the pollution doesn't do the old buildings much good.)

Croissant Show

Bar la Maravilla

cafés are the center of daytime social living; the discos are their nighttime counterparts. Each café has its own personality and clientèle; they vary as much as between the Croissant Show (at left; another view , linksTo:"croissant-show-2.jpg">here), which caters to the young tourists and hip expatriates, and the Bar la Maravilla (at right), which caters to the elderly residents of the city. The terms "bar" and "restaurant" (and even "café") seem to interchangably used; Fernandito considers his meetingplace a bar. The two eateries are just around the corner from each other, only a few meters from the entrance ramp to the Old City (thumbnail below).

Old City Ramp

In years to come the Old City will be more and more a cultural and historical place, rather than the garish mish-mash of tourist bars, postcard racks, and overpriced tourist knick-knacks.

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