Eleven ladies gather in Ibiza to celebrate the 70th birthdays of old friends Annie and Ann-Marie. As the latter lives in LA this is a carefully choreographed and coordinated meeting. Here they are celebrating with AM’s lemon drops cocktails (she’s shaking them in her profile) with Janet who gave the oration ‘toast’:
Annie and Ann Marie the birthday girls we’re here to see
Dynamic is a word I’d use to describe them both…
They light the fuse
Dancing on tables or planning club nights
We can count on them to party until it gets light
Do they seem like they’re 70, no they don’t!
They are determined to rock that boat
We are grateful for their friendship of many a year
That is why we are all gathered here
To say thank you to Annie and Ann Marie
For being such good friends to you and me
The First 11 – rogues gallery top: Annie & Ann-Marie; second row Jenny, Mackie, Anne & Diane; middle Etty, Christine;Janet; bottom Janet, Huguette and me
Our villa is in the north part of the island, overlooking the sea, but high up on a cliff. It is quite hard to find but eventually we are all assembled. It is modern and has plenty of rooms and bathrooms for all of us, although Christine and I are sharing a room with a shower in the middle of it (see photo below!). We rather meanly nickname it the black hole of Calcutta as it is very dark and has a drains problem – soon alleviated by the owners providing scented candles!
There is a massive storm on the first night and then rain, but we sally forth for our first lunch at the fabulous Paloma restaurant (that’s a carpaccio of amberjack with aubergine and pomegranate). It is a shame to be stuck inside and to see the pool area slick with rain and Christine in her raincoat!
Ann-Marie and Janet treat the ladies to a soundbath on Sunday morning; we love the bowls and vibrations, a little less sure about the singing!
Then the highlight – for some – of the week! Clubbing – for those of us need to prove ourselves young at 70 (and those of us who are not yet 70 and need to prove our eternal youth). A few stalwarts set off after 10pm for Akasha, on the other side of the island. Anne D bravely drives ‘as we wont be staying long’; others cab it. It is family night and Nido is creating a great atmosphere in the free-for-all outside. At 11 pm sharp we enter the cavernous and empty dance floor, completely minimalist. We find a concrete bench and wait for things to get going! None of us really want to drink so we sip water until we can honourably discharge ourselves at about 12.30. All agree its not our kind of music as we emerge completely deafened!
So after all that excitement, time for a beach day! Serried rows of sunbeds and topless boob jobs not my idea of fun – but hey! Just to show I am no wimp, I join Anne in the sea for a good 20 minutes, and I like it so much I go back for more. Not intending to swim I do an interesting change on the beach, feeling rather like a matador! (Portinatx beach in case you ask)
Then to a wonderful seafood resto recommended by both Diane and Janet’s daughters, Xiringuito at Cala Xuclar. And to think we cancelled it when it was raining! Amazing fresh sea bass, ceviches and fine wines.
From there, still full, we go to watch the sunset at Elements Bar in Benirras beach; here we have cocktails and sit on the baeach while African drums pound away in the back ground. There is a Spanish guitar player looking rather put out as she struggles to make herself heard against the rhythm of the drums!
The weather is improving so the fit and healthy decide to go on the postponed San Gertrudis loop walk (7.4 kms). Annoyingly I have to download the Alltrails app to find it as no-one knows where it is (thanks Etty for disabling it later!). As we discover all over Ibiza there are no locals here – only mainland and foreign workers! It is a godsend, in fact, as we would never have found our way – there are so many paths through the scrub and woodland, but it is lovely to be out and about and there are some fine views of the red iron-rich fields, interspersed with olive groves.
The walk is disturbed by a couple of serious crises – the first is Christine’s credit card being scammed and she has to spend ages trying to sort out the bank and cancel her cards; the second is the most unwelcome news that the concierge has grumpily forbidden us to have our centrepiece of the weekend – the birthday barbecue. He says they are banned in our area because of the risk of a forest fire – and indeed a house on the estate had been burned to the ground and the owner fined Euros 30,000!
So the resourceful Steve, our Belgian chef, has only a few hours to come up with an alternative, which he does! We start off the party with more lemon drops – of course – by the pool, Janet reads her toast, we enjoy a fine sunset.
And so to dinner! A seafood BBQ on a gas plancha, improvised after wood verboten. The food is delicious! Langoustine, scallops, giant prawns, monkfish, tuna and roasted veg. To finish a chocolate cake he gifted us, and washed down with fine Sancerre (AM’s favourite – serendipitous choice!).
The next activity (all planned and coordinated by Anne, with her able assistants Christine and yours truly) is to Dalt Vila, or the old town. After much difficulty parking, and a big squall (check those black clouds), we arrive and wander round. It is beautiful but really a bit sterile. So we repair to the newly renovated parador, which is peaceful and have a rather mediocre lunch – albeit in nice surroundings!
When we go to pick up our car, we stumble across a nudist beach where we admire the sausages and tomatoes on display from a distance. And in the evening we go to a farm-to-table restuaruant nearby, Aubergine, where after a long day and a couple of drinks, much to the amusement of all, I try and squeeze a potato over my seabass thinking it is a chargrilled lime! It must be the end of the holiday…
For a grand finale on the last day we have a wine-tasting at Ibizkus. A couple of Danish guys are in charge and imbibe us with both wine and facts! The wine not to everyone’s taste, but I thought the rose and white rather good. As you can see I’m paying attention and Annie is asking a serious question. Huguette, as a former winemaker, asks in-depth questions and we all learn a lot
A very fine way to end a wonderful week of wine, laughter and, above all, friendship
