Ibiza 2001 - September 10th - 26th


I'll start by putting it into perspective, by using the most appropriate word; amazing.

Personally this was to be my first time setting foot on the White Isle and what a great inital landing it was for me and all my friends that made their first trip their this summer. For the rest of our group who had visited Ibiza previously, as expected this summer was as good as the rest, if not the best yet. I'm sure they would agree it just gets better each and every time and it really just "doesn't get better than this". The only down point of this trip was the fact certain people were not able to make it, hopefully they will next year.

As with anything new that you've not encountered before, you're always slightly apprehensive to start with, I am anyway! I had no fears or worries about anything in particular but you must know that natural feeling you get. This sense of mind was soon to disappear into the night, as we became closer to that wonderful place. Our inital group was made up of six people, two of which I had not met before; friends of Dan, both great people, commonly referred to as Alex & Nick. The rest of the six made up of Dave, Darryl, Dan and myself (obviously). We all headed to Kent on the day of departure to gather at Dan's house and then from there to Stanstead Airport.

As far as I know we were the first group heading back out since everyone we know last got back from their trips earlier in the season. Dan, Darryl, Dave and I were to be out there for the longest period of time, as Alex & Nick were only staying for the first week and everyone else joining us later on were only staying for a few days and some for a week.
Fortunately for us, there were no delays at the airport and our flight left on time. At this point we didn't know about the trouble about to errupt and thankfully it happened after we flew so we didn't encouter delays. As soon as we arrived we got out luggage and set off for the first apartment; the second wasn't available to us until the next day. On arrival we found it very nice but we quickly decided to go and have a look round. Thanks to Falconar for being our tour guide, we ended up at Costline for a welcome drink at about 4.30am.

With regards to the attacks in the USA, it came as quite a shock to us as it did to most other people, we were walking around San Antonio in the West End area when we noticed people crowding around in shops looking at the televisions. A great shame, but we all decided that we should not worry about it, as we're on holiday! Some of the others suffered huge delays at the airport, such as Immy, I'm glad we never had any problems with delays both there and back.

Sitting at Coastline having just arrived watching people dancing and having a good time inside, we sat looking out towards the sea, in the warm air. It was at this point that I personally knew I was in Ibiza - the `atmosphere` could be detected a mile away, everybody was simply up for having a good time and laid back holiday. Indeed, this was the start of a great experience and certainly for me I'll be going back at least once next summer. I was that excited and awake, that upon return to the apartment I couldn't sleep and there were some funny noises I remember hearing to start with; I believe they were coming from Alex although don't quote me on that.

Joining us later during our trip was Luke, Jen, Jennie, Laura, Immy, Gaz, Nalini, Steph, Adam, AndyW, Scotty, Hannah & Laura...any more? Sorry if I missed you! The peak night would have to be Godskitchen and also most of us were at Subliminal Sessions Closing at Pacha!

Well, here we were in Ibiza for the closing parties, the only question left to answer was which ones we were going to do, as we can't be in two places at once!
Here's the list of closing parties that I did!

September 11th - Perfecto Closing Party at Pacha
September 14th - Xtravaganza Closing Party at Privilege
September 16th - Judgement Sunday Closing Party at Eden
September 18th - Godskitchen Closing Party at Amnesia
September 19th - Subliminal Sessions Closing Party at Pacha
September 20th - Cream Closing Party at Amnesia
September 23rd - We love Sundays at Space Closing Party at Space

As well as the above closing parties, I went to the Water Party at Es Paradis and Foam Party at Eden. It's a shame that these types of things are banned in the UK, since they were a right laugh, for me I did prefer the Foam Party, as the water at the Water Party was freezing cold and very salty; it made my nose run like mad afterwards. All of the closing parties were good and although Godskitchen closing was the one I was most looking forward to, it was not the one I enjoyed the most! I, like everyone else out there with us at the time, enjoyed the Subliminal Sessions closing the best! Erick Morillo rocked it and it was excellent coming back to the UK and seeing him the week after at Babooshka where, yes you guessed it, he rocked it once more for 6 hours!

On the nights that we were not out at the closing parties, we spent time mostly at Mambo, Cafe Del Mar, Coastline and the like. A few nights we did also venture to the nearby West End In San Antonio, which is home to some of the small towny type clubs. We had a good time down the West End, my main entertainment was watching Mr Falconar and his wild dance routines and also laughing at the amount of people working for these small clubs trying to bribe you in for a drink with free entrance and shot flyers! Another funny thing that were not just to be found in the West End streets were the sunglasses & watch sellers. The mere setup of the whole thing made us laugh, surely 20 people within close range of each other all selling the same goods isn't financially viable? Yes, that's exactly what we thought. Well for those of you who have not worked it out, this is merely a cover to their real trade, which is the sale of controlled substances. What we found funny is how they select the younger age group to ask and when they do, they call you over or try and attract your attention by using names such as "Dellboy".

One night we decided to conduct a small servey. We placed bets on how many would call us using one name or another between point A and B (not a very large distance, probably about 4 minutes walking distance). If I remember the correct value was 6. Maybe that gives you some indication as to the extent of it! I don't think I ever saw one of them sell a pair of shades or anything else for that matter!

There were many memorable moments for me during this trip, one of the best is the last night when I went Parascending along the sunset strip at sunset. It was so good to see everyone on the beach taking photographs as the sun went down and we were up there high in the sky. We went past close to Cafe Del Mar and Mambo, I was doing it as a pair, I went up with Darryl, I'm sure he will agree in telling you it was very relaxing and considering the height and speed, not much wind was about.

Most days I spent sleeping off the night before, unless we stayed up on a marathon no sleep session like we did when we first arrived. I think it was something to the tune of 40 hours before we decided to sleep after we got there, it came as quite a shock that nearly two days had passed when we realised. Some days we did manage to get up early, one of them being the day we tried going to Formentera, unfortunately the day we wanted to go the sea was a bit rough and the once a day boat trip was cancelled. As we left it until the last few days to go, we didn't actually get there, so that is a definite event for next summer. We did spend some time on the nearby beaches and we also made a trip to Cala Bassa.

During this trip I feel I have done everything that is physically possible pretty much, althought you never have time for everything as we found. On my list for next summer is Formentera, a trip to a waterpark and doing nights that I didn't do this time, such as Manumission. I could have done it, but just felt like chilling on the Mondays! Also a visit to DC-10, El Divino and Ibiza Town.

We visited varoius places to eat whilst out there, I didn't really have a favourite but one of the places that stands out would have to be the Curry Club and the KFC Pizza Hut! The size of the pizza you get is shocking and they certainly took me by suprise; a case of my mouth is bigger than my stomache! The curry club dishes up some nice curries, I went there twice during my trip. It's a favourite of Adam's, I know he will be visiting there in his sleep before he goes back in person next summer.

There were so many funny moments and discussions during the holiday, but the award to the entertainer in my opinion goes to Darryl. He certainly provided numerous laughs and I especially like the performance on the beach one night where he was talking to some randoms who were laughing at him dancing like crazy and asking him questions. Dave and I were laughing at them laughing at him, very, very, funny! Finishing off that night with Darryl trying to be helpful whilst severly mashed, he took some glasses back to the bar at Mambo even though we told him to leave them because something would happen...and what do you know it did, he dropped the glasses on the top and they smashed! pure quality!

I used four rolls of film during my time in Ibiza and you can view all of the photographs I took by clicking here. I hope you enjoyed reading my report, there is so much more I could talk about but I'd go on for years as there were so many moments! A huge thanks to everyone that helped make my trip what is was! I'm going next year, are you?! If so...see you there!

Jason Marcus