Lovely day in Eivissa

What a difference a day makes! When we anchored here in Talamanca on Tuesday afternoon, it was chilly and rainy, so we opted to stay inside. Yesterday, though, the skies cleared, so we took the dinghy to shore and walked to the city. Along the way we passed the marinas that we hear would charge us €270/night and congratulated ourselves on our luck that the weather let us be comfortable in our anchorage on the other side of the point.

If you aren't into the club scene, and we're not, the thing to do in Eivissa is visit the old city (Dalt Vila) on the hill above town. The medieval Dalt Vila is still enclosed by walls and only three of its gates are open. Despite the beautiful weather, we didn't feel like wandering around lost, so we stopped at the tourist office and got maps. Directions to the sights and tourist office are well-marked on the street signs here, so it's easy to be a tourist.

Then we simply followed one of the tours on the map and had an easy walk up to the top of the city. The views of the harbor and its approaches are spectacular from the hill. From the cathedral square at the top we could even spot our mast in the distance on the other side of the point. A sign for a terrace bar specializing in sangria drew me, but upon closer inspection, I opted to look further because it had no view. On our way back down along the wall we found a plaza with tables and a view and several cafés to choose from.

We picked a little self-service place. It seemed to be the choice of the locals, too, because while we were ordering, several people stopped to say hello to Maria, the proprietor. John ordered a glass of the local herbal liquor and learned that it is normally served over ice (all this without Maria uttering a word of English). The liquor was quite tasty, so we bought a bottle on our way back to the dinghy.

Eivissa is very pretty, especially in the Dalt Vila, but even the resort developments are mostly attractive. We enjoyed it a lot. Later today we're headed to Es Canar and the hippy market. We read that the hippies discovered Ibiza in the 1960s, and a few reminders of that era still remain, the hippy market being one. It isn't far from here, it's on the way, and the forecasts are favorable, so why not check it out?

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