Finally another Post!

So I have definitely been lagging on the posts lately.  June flew by so fast and there were so many great experiences on Ibiza.  I'll try to hit the highlights but I don't think the blog could ever quite do it justice.  Ibiza has so much too offer from the landscape, to the people, to the nightlife, to the food.  I feel like I barely scratched the surface over the last month.

Cliff Jumping at Cala Salada

View of Es Vedra from Louise's patented sunset spot

Puerto Del Cielo from Liz's patented sunset spot

Well I mentioned before that I tried going vegan for a week.  It went well and was not even really that hard thanks to Clay's amazing cooking!  Anyway it's something I would recommend everyone try if you haven't done so already.  A lot of the locals on the island are really health conscious so we even attended an interesting raw food workshop run by one of Liz & Clay's friends.

Me, Liz, & Clay at the raw food workshop

So after my parents left, a group of us went out to the opening party for Cocoon which is one of the biggest nights at the Amnesia club.  Its more of a locals night with awesome minimal electronic music and super impressive lighting and decorations.  They had giant jellyfish hanging from the ceiling of the club...impressive.  Anyway Liz, Clay, I and one of their best friends Louise and her sister Ika had a blast that night until the club closed down at 7am.  If you haven't been to the clubs in Ibiza you have to make the trip.  Especially for Cocoon!  All in all a great 28th birthday celebration.

Louise, Liz, and me at Ushuaya Beach Club

Hanging with Jesus, Jesus, and team Sweden

So speaking of b-day's, my sister now hosts an annual b-day bash every June for her birthday that's called Lizbiza.  She knows how to celebrate...each year the party lasts for a few days (or even weeks sometimes) where locals from the island and friends from abroad come to celebrate with live music and great food.  To accommodate everyone they have a tipi and a jaima (a huge Moroccan-style tent) constructed.  The Jaima is decorated with tons of pillows, beds, and carpets so after the party finishes people can spend the night inside if they want.  Anyway, both the tipi and the jaima are super fun.

Jaima Time!

Unnamed Pole Dancer in Jaima

Chocolate Hedge Hog for B-Day 

Band playing in the Chill-Out for the party

I could write pages more about the amazing time I had in Ibiza but I need to get some sleep to catch my flight to Bangkok in 6 hours!  Ibiza and friends will be greatly missed but it won't be the last trip and maybe Ibiza will someday be a second home.... ;)

Off to bed...I'm going to try my best to make more posts next month but shorter.  Hopefully I can still post pics from internet cafes.  Bangkok here I come...

Finally Ibiza!

So I've been lagging on posts to my blog lately because I have been having too much fun in Ibiza!  Me and the fam arrived here about two weeks ago and are staying at Liz and Clay's house in the middle of the island.  Their house is a traditional Spanish style villa set back in the valley between some large hills covered with trees.  Gorgeous pool and amazing views of the valley from the roof.  It's a large property where there are a couple of orchards where you can pick the fresh fruit that grows - figs, plums, oranges, etc., over 10 kinds.  There are also some animals on the property with some chickens and even two baby lambs named Jesus and Jesus.  I like to call them J Squared.  They're hilarious.

So seeing as my parents were only staying in Ibiza for a week and I amt here for the whole month of June, I promised that I wouldn't go to the clubs so I didn't sleep the entire week while they were here.  We had a super great time checking out some of the over 80 beaches on the island and having some tasty food along the way.  Clay is a phenomenal cook and lucky for us he cooked quite a bit.  Most delicious vegan dishes.  Seeing as Clay is such a great cook, Liz and Clay even inspired me to go vegan for a week!

We had a BeerBQ at Liz and Clay's friend's house one evening with chicken wings, pork, and even a little jungle juice.  The sunset looking out over the pool was amazing.  The house was also host to the 1st Annual Ibizan Cannonball Contest.  I gave it my all but in the end I lost to three kids aged about 8-12.  They were pretty fierce competitors.  

Site of the 1st Annual Ibizan Cannonball Contest

Probably one of my favorite things to do on the island is to go out on Liz & Clay's small powerboat and cruise from bay to bay and jump off the boat to swim in the turquoise waters.  The water temp is already pretty warm at about 75 degrees.  One day we went out on the boat and Clay's friend Mitch challenged me to go waterskiing since I had never gotten up before.  After a bit of coaching, I got up on my first try.  Lots of fun and I hope we can go out again.

"Portal to the Sky" where you can drive the boat through

A stop at a bay for a swim

Florence Day Trip

Our first day trip from Bologna was a 40 minute train ride to Florence.  Wow...we hit Florence on possibly the busiest day of the year...it was the 150th anniversary of the Republic of Italy.  It was hard to find an Italian in the city...the tourists took over and were from all over the world.

Entrance to the Duomo

Our first stop was to the Duomo which is the 3rd largest Catholic church in the world.  Pretty impressive.  We waited  In a 45 min line to hike to the top of the dome.  It was about 475 steps straight up through narrow medieval stone spiraling staircases.  People were definitely struggling by the time they reached the top and it is not a trip for those who are claustrophobic.  The ceiling of the dome had a massive mural painted on it that had super creepy images of the devil and demons eating humans from the Rapture.  The views from the top were amazing and well worth the wait.  Panoramic views of the entire city.  Florence is what I imagined an old historic Italian city to be with all of the original buildings well preserved.

View from top of the Duomo

Next we checked out a few plazas, one of which had an exact replica of the statue of David.  From there we walked along the river across the Ponte Vecchio which is a very famous old bridge crossing the river with outrageously expensive jewelers hawking gold on the street.  Seemed like the epitome of a tourist trap.  Later we went across the river to the famous gardens on a hill overlooking the entire city.  The gardens themselves were pretty weak, totally unkempt, but the views back on the Duomo and the city were incredible.

After wandering the streets for awhile longer it was time for a frosty beverage.  My parents knew of one of the only rooftop bars in the city where we took down a few drinks and watched the sunset.  Overall, one of the most beautiful and authentic European cities I have ever seen but it is literally impossible to get away from all of the tourists.  Definitely check it out if you haven't already done so but be prepared for the lines.

View from the bar

Bologna - Food Capital of Northern Italy

So for our next stop we headed back to the boot of Italy and stopped in Bologna in the Northern region.  It is a good sized city that is very central to other popular cities such as Venice and Florence so it is very easy to make day trips to check out other areas.  Many of the old buildings of the city have been well preserved despite bombings during WWII.  Bologna is also home to the oldest university in the world which dates to the 12th century so the city is taken over by college students at night looking to party is some pretty cool and very old pubs/bars.

Piazza Maggiore

Since Bologna is not as popular as many other destinations in Italy, it was great to be able to experience a city without all of the tourists.  We checked out all of the sightseeing spots which included some very old plazas and castle-like buiildings and lots of torres, or towers, that actually lean dangerously like the leaning tower of Pisa.

Leaning Tower

What's best about Bologna though is the food.  We would just wander the old winding streets and each side would be littered with tons of great restaurants.  I wish I had more photos of the food but they are all about fresh ingredients for the local specialty dishes.  Guess what their claim to fame is...Bolognese sauce!  Anyway the pasta and regional meat dishes were the bomb and Bologna is definitely a place to check out if you want some good food and an escape from the tourists.

Local Gourmet Market

Ha no idea what was going on here but worth posting

First Stop Sardinia

So for all of you that have given me trouble for remaining a ghost on Facebook, I think this Blog is as close as I'm going to get.  For those of you reading that I haven't told my plans to yet for the summer, I'm spending the month of June in Italy and Spain and then heading to Southeast Asia for the month of July.  I'm going to attempt to update it as much as possible but it may more sporadic sometimes due to spotty internet over here.  Feel free to post comments, email me, or catch me on Skype.  Really looking forward to hearing from all of you and catching up with everyone at the end of the summer when I get back.  Here we go...

The 'rents and I are spending the first week in Italy, beginning in Sardinia which is an island off the Western coast of Italy in the Mediterranean.  First off, the island's have some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen...up there with Ibiza.  It seems like a playground for Italians with not as much tourism as the mainland.  LOTS of expensive yachts and awesome houses overlooking the sea on the surrounding cliffs.  There are also lots of ruins and Stonehenge type relics from thousands of years ago.  Overall all though there is not much sightseeing compared to the mainland so it is definitely a place that's geared for hitting the beach.  The food is pretty great too.  Mostly traditional Italian but with more seafood especially squid, shrimp, and other shellfish.

It's also possible to take a short ferry ride to smaller island off of the coast of Sardinia where they have some amazing beaches that are totally untouched by civilization.  Overall, Sardinia is an awesome place to enjoy the summertime weather and water as an alternative to the standard Italy trip to the mainland.

Next stop Bologna Italy...