Ibiza Days: from the diary of a holiday-hungry Fashionista

 

To make sure Summer 2017 kicks in well, Sue and I decided to head down to Ibiza for couple of days before the whole fashion week circus starts and make sure we get some rest and tan before Paris, Milan, London and New York. 

Her story is already online here, now here is mine... 

Well, now have a look what happens if you send two fashionistas on an island, give them a Range Rover each and award them a thing they are not used to dealing with: free time! Instantly this turned into such fun and made us both discover Ibiza a whole different way. 

Let me tell you something about my part of this Ibiza story: 

If you are expecting special hints on how to sneak into Pacha or Amnesia or Ushuaia or some other mass-trash-places, please stop reading now. 

In terms of this Ibiza trip of mine, it ran under the motto "Julian against the (boring) island establishment".

During my Ibiza days, I went more after sensing the beauty of the island, after a handful of rather not party-crowd-spots, where one can actually have a good rest and reload the battery for the upcoming fashion week season or any other stressful post-holiday horror. 

The perfect reason for me to slow down and consider a short escape to Ibiza was the birthday party celebration of a dear friend, Chris Class, who happens to be just the right person to ask about any good-life-vibes and discoveries all around the globe, so how could he not know the greatest places on the island to party at?!

With far too much couture squeezed in my far too small Rimowa suitcase, I landed on Ibiza on Friday eve. 

Thank God it was just before the season has properly started, so it was a whole new experience to not fight my way through the airport, the parking lots and the island in general. 

My Ibiza time started just the right way - with drinks by the water at a place far away from loud tourist crowds, called CALA BONITA

Hidden in a quiet and totally private bay, the place is everything you need if you are up for a nice dinner with friends by the water and under the moonlight. 

Tasty food, good drinks and a setting to take your breath away and make sure any work-related stress is pushed into another galaxy. You can spend a whole day at Cala Bonita beaching and simply wait for the moon to relieve the sun and just stay on for drinks and food. 

Totally worth it, so give it a try!

Another awesome place for dinner is LA PALOMA - a fairly new restaurant near Sant Joan, with a huge garden, loads of herbs around and a food to make any foodie's Instagram feed explode. Freshly picked veggies are being prepared right away, the menu changes every couple of days and it all never gets boring. Sue loved it as well, which is a good sign in any case.

Mark this spot and make sure to call in advance, as it is getting a lot of attention not by fashionistas like Sue and myself, but also by this whole more dangerous species of Foodies hitting the island :) Not that I am up for it, but if you are into planning a romantic boho-wedding, this might be your place.

If you consider yourself a real sunset-hunter and are so over that Café del Mar thing (I can't stand it, personally. To me, even an airport Mc Donald's has a cooler crowd), you should definitely make your way to a place called HOSTAL DE LA TORRE - a veranda on five levels, overseeing a cliff and painting the most beautiful sunsets you can think of. On top of sunsets and and cheering, they serve delicious food and suber cool drinks, mixed by some super skipped bar tenders, who even make their way to the tables, asking guests if they like their drink and bring along some new creations to taste. Oh, and on top, they have some really cool music, also available on iTunes, I just discovered. 

At some of your evenings on the island, you might feel like getting among more people and so I did, but making sure there are basically no tourists around.

Meeting my nearly local friends Erik and Anabel (creative power-couple knowing all secrets of Ibiza after holidaying here for over a decade) helped me escape the drunk Englishmen and dragged me into a pretty unimpressive from the outside place in Santa Gertrudis, called BAR COSTA - pretty small and visually not too inviting, i must admit, but hell of a fun place to be. This is the bar where all locals + everybody working in the restaurants around meet up after work for a glass (or multiple ones) of wine and some delicious jamon - basically the only two things that place serves, besides cool, friendly and loud-laughing locals, celebrating the after-work hours. 

Just round the corner, you can also try the newly opened healthy-food place (and most probably the only hipster hot-spot I found around St. Gertrudis so far) WILD BEETS

A basic, but welcoming place, specializing on smoothies, detox-meals, gluten-free stuff and green-shakes. I thought it is a great alternative to sugared ice tea and chips at the beach, so this is where i was picking up some yummy take-away for the beach time. 

Another place in the very heart of St. Gertrudis worth a dinner-stop is LA PETITE TABLEvery romantic, very bohemian-chic and basic, serving just a couple of tables in a flower-filled yard right in the heart of town. Come-as-you-are is a great dress code for here, but that counts for all of Ibiza in general, I believe. Pay a visit, if you are looking for a quiet spot to chat over dinner. 

Years and years I have been skipping the ritual of going to church on Sundays, but that particular Sunday i made it to SA CAPELLA - a very cozy restaurant in St. Antoni, occupying an old church. It sounded pretty odd to me to lock ourselves inside a former church on such a gorgeously warm summer night, but their outside area was really nice too. All meat-lovers at my table were more than happy; as for veggies, I can say they were pleased with the salads and all the sauced and marinated goodies the hot waiters kept on bringing. One more thing I really like and was so present here: male best-ager super skilled waiters, reading your wishes right from your eyes. 

Although I barely ever made it to breakfasts at all, as I was compensating my chronic lack of sleep, I peeled myself out of bed to make it to breakfast at THE GIRI (serving breakfast only until 12.00) - a cute place near Portinatx serving home-made and home-grown food in a very beautiful back-yard, with only hills and greens in front. 

I spent the AM part of the day on a bed-table, surrounded by friends, granola-yoghurt, smoothies, coconut-pancakes, omelettes and other goodies to treat my sleepy soul. 

I really loved the nature here, but somehow I am neither the type that goes for empty wild beaches, nor the one liking scene-beach clubs (Nikki Beach?! I would rather die!), but I got to find a possibly good fit - very stylish, classy enough, but still not show-off, super clean and away from exactly that sort of Ibiza cliché I want to escape from. If we are like-minded, then go to EL CHIRINGUITO - a beach club / restaurant with shiny sand and fabulous food away from mass-tourists and all that Havaianas slippers-people. Since getting there is quite hard (you either need a cab to drop you OR a proper SUV to park in the dunes and salt-fields), think of some arrangements before you head there. 

Reflecting the whole trip, i can not put up in words how happy and pleased i am to have met the possibly coolest birthday crowd one could wish for and spend some time discovering sides of the island, far away from drunk teens and what we all know of Ibiza.

Although nearly perfect, this travel would have been a gift, if i had stayed at LA GRANJA - the detox farm heaven each and every one of us should possibly go to at least for a couple of days. Hidden on a hill, overseeing the sea far in the horizon, this place is a temple of sleek design, pure perfection and just the right spot for a getaway from the crowd, from stress, loud voices and people's eyes. Spending a day there, at first i could not coop with the silence and the peaceful atmosphere around - it was so unknown and new to me, but i totally loved it. The place has a couple of rooms you can stay in, a pool and 10 hectares of garden area just like probably only paradise has. No fuzz, no useless glamour, just pure beauty and essentials comfort. 

It took me quite some effort to find a cute place to stay (considering that all the fabulous ones i was able to find were over 600 Euro á nigh - a cash amount I would rather invest in more new shoes or bags), but i scouted GATZARA in Santa Gertrudis - offering a good combo of a city-hotel / holiday spot - and Vera's Place in Cami de Can Taulel a Forado, being a great villa with separate studios, i got recommended by my local friends and guides Erik and Anabel. 

I did not shop too much as I wanted to take a break even from this and feel sort of disconnected from all that island-chick thing people pull off here, but lovely Sue could not resist the markets and the charm of all local boutiques on the island.  

Über den Autor:

Julian Daynov ist ein wahres Fashion Victim, ein Serien-Netzwerker, eine ganze Welt für sich. 

Er arbeitet als Trend Scout, Einkaufs-Consultant und Kommunikationsstratege für Marken aus den Bereichen Fashion, Art und Lifestyle und reist ununterbrochen um die Welt auf der Suche nach spannenden neuen Brands für die Sortimente seiner Retail-Kunden. Zur Zeit arbeitet er für den US Kaufhaus-Giganten Saks Fifth Avenue und der Einführung seines Premium Off-Price Ablegers Saks Off 5th in Deutschland.

Als guter Freund und treuer Fan von So-Sue schreibt er hin und wieder als Gast-Autor für uns und kommentiert alles rund um die coolen Dinge des Lebens.  

Tagged: 505, Julian Daynov, Ibiza

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  • Kommentar

    <p>Ach, richtig süß geschrieben, schön mit Pfeffer und Humor. Ich mag seine Interviews, bitte mehr davon. Marie</p>

  • Kommentar

    <p>Hi Julian, i will definitely follow your steps. This really helped me plan my stay - thank you for all the good examples and recommendations.<br/>Can't wait for your next trip.<br/>Stacy</p>

  • Kommentar

    <p>Sieht super aus - ich folge mal einfacj seinen Sritten im Juli. Coole Tipps. Daumen hoch</p>

  • Kommentar

    <p>Liebe Katharina, danke, dass Du meine Stories liest und die Ibiza-Tipps mochtest. Tatsächlich sind dies sie Hot-Spots der Insel, wenn man fern von allem Rummel und den &quot;plakativen&quot; Ibiza-Erlabnissen bleiben möchte. Try the places out - you will love them. Happy holidays. Julian</p>