Day 5 and 6 - Travelling and Ibiza

"If you don't have a paper ticket, you will have to Terminal 1," said the guy at the wicket.  "Your flight leaves soon.  You will have to hurry."  

"Is there no place to print a ticket here?"  I asked.

"No.  Maybe you can go and talk to Ryanair."

There was a lineup.  I had already read the Ryanair fine print, and there is a lot of fine print.  An electronic ticket I thought would be allowed.  But there could have been something that I missed.  And indeed when I got my turn, the Ryanair rep breezed me away.  And the moment of slight panic was gone.  

Ryanair is the discount airline in Europe.  And indeed their fares are enticing.  I saw some flights that were between 15 and 30 euros which is about $21 to $42 CDN.  We need Ryanair in Canada!  

There was a massive lineup at the boarding gate.  Eventually I found out that we would be travelling in a 737.  That seemed like a lot of people for an island. 

I said hola to the woman next to me.  She spoke English (Italian, Spanish and French).  I said "Ibiza is an island, is it not?"   "Yes," she said, "you are going there and you do not know that?"  

It really was one of those second guesses that prompted my question.   What if you just totally got something wrong?  

This day was a major travelling day.  I caught the Metro to the central plaza where there were buses that went directly to the airport.  Except there are 2 terminals.   It actually was relatively easy.  Once upon a time when Monique, BJ and I travelled to Mexico, we joked about how much more it cost to arrive somewhere than leave it.  

My arrival from the Barcelona airport to my host's place was $26 Euros paid directly to one taxi.  On the way out of the city, I paid about $7 euros.  

Here we are disembarking our plane, getting onto a shuttle to the terminal.

The next travel was to find the bus that went from the airport to Sant Antoni, a community on the other side of the island.  The bus leaves every hour.  We only had about 15 minutes to wait.  And then I arrived at the bus station.  Once I got off the bus, I realized I had no idea where to go.   My decision was to hire a taxi, and I was there in minutes.  I would have walked around in circles because the Apartamentos where I am staying is on a street with no cars and it is very short.  

And the cost of the taxi exceeded the bus ride.  

That is the story of travelling.  

I arrived early, early enough to walk down to the sea.  Except I was pretty much done with closed-toed shoes.  I stopped at a store and bought a pair of flip flops for $4.25 Euros.  

My first view of the Mediterranean on Ibiza.

It was time for a swim!  It was a bit of pondering how to take care of my things.  I got a safety deposit box and packed my key and driver's licence in a plastic bag which I stuffed into my swim suit.  This was Aimee's suggestion, clever girl.  

What I wished for was a secret pocket with a zipper.   The plastic bag didn't feel that secure.  So I swam with one hand on my chest.  I wonder what the observers on the beach thought.  I know what they thought.  Nothing.  They were watching the girls who were on the beach topless.  

On my second day in Ibiza, there was a rainstorm.  So I stayed close to home and watched The Lego Movie.  Late in the afternoon, the sun came out so I got that bathing suit on and went directly down to the beach.  Not one to miss out on an opportunity.  

So my routines have been - beach, back to the room for a shower because salty and sandy bodies are not fun, back to the beach for the sunset.  This last one has been accompanied by a sitting at the Golden Buddha with a Pina Colada in hand.