Ibiza Rain Stopped Paco

Fate rarely steps in to spoil our Ibiza fiestas. The only catastophes I can recall befalling our little San Jose shindigs have been entirely man made. The year that the band arrived but their equipment didn't springs to mind, we all had to stand around drinking for hours until the next plane came in from Barcelona.

Well, what a turn up for the books when it rained last night, not that fine rain that soaks you through, but a good old Ibiza deluge. The evening should have featured Paco Fernandez, Can Raia and The Black Onions but no sooner had Paco taken to the stage when it started spitting.

Forty-five minutes later, he had to leave - safety reasons were quoted, even in Ibiza we don't like seeing people electrocuted on stage - never to return.

Shame. I took a few photos before he went though.

You can see the rain in the last photo. And now, a video.

Ibiza - Palma - Soller

Chalk it up. We're off on holiday when it's sunny! Thanks to the Old Lady who volunteered to look after Marli, Floyd, Spook, Charlie, Mouse, Tillie and Flossie (sounds a lot when you name them all) we're off for a break in May.

First stop Palma, where we've got an apartment just off the Born, where our favourite cafe bar franchise - Cappuccino - is opening another place in March. Three days of shopping, site seeing and generally dressing up for grown up evenings out should ensue. We might do a bit of dining out too - here's one we fancy - Fosh Food.

Here's our pad

and here's a link to the site Owners Direct

Then we're off on the train ( I love trains) to Soller and then to Puerto Soller for a sunshine seaside holiday for a couple of nights where we're staying at the Hotel Aimia

I've got to get my lad's holiday out of the way next week first though!

San Jose, Ibiza: The Big Bottle

If it's March in San Jose, it must be Flower Power! As always, the village was decked out in flower power related decs, the church was illuminated by a Pink Floyd style light-show, there were bars, food and drink stalls everywhere, a live band on in Raco Verd and thousands of people thronged the streets.

So you'd think, would you not, that local teenagers would relish the opportunity to do a bit of cavorting to music in this explosion of life in a normally quiet village. Well, they didn't. Where were they all? At the top of our dark (not enough power for the street lamps) and freezing cold lane having a 'botellon' away from all the action. I know this because of all the bottles, plastic cups, ice bags and vomit I saw this morning left all over our neighbour, Mr. Maffin's front.

A botellon (augmentative suffix) means a big bottle, and is used for the growing problematical situation in Spain of kids hanging around in vast groups, boozing out of supermarket bags, turning into alcohol fuelled vandals, and not tidying up after themselves. There's now a new word in Spanish to describe the place where they all meet, un botellodromo, (a bottledrome) which I've seen used in the Alicante press for the area at the side of the Melia Hotel and Volvo port when hundreds arrive on Friday and Saturday nights to make noise.

Don't you just love kids?