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A DAY & NIGHT OF FOOD & ADVENTURE IN IBIZA WITH RENOIR GUIDES TOUR 1

After meeting Jonathon Lipsin and Bernadette Mundy on Facebook through our joint love of Ibiza, Formentera and music, I invited them over to Ibiza for a day's tour of the Island for food, fun and frolics!

We arranged to meet outside the famous

Mar y Sol Carrer Lluís Tur i Palau, 22, 07800 Eivissa

In Ibiza Town. This was traditionally the first port of call when disembarking your boat or ship in Ibiza town.

After their short sea trip from Formentera, my friend Frank joined us. Once settled in our hire car, I gave them a CD I had made of their favourite music (this was to become a regular tradition), and we then set off for our tour.

Once out of Eivissa (Ibiza town), we headed to the middle of the Island and the pretty little bohemian village of Santa Gertrudis, where Bernadette had spent some time many years ago. Once we had parked the car, our first visit was to Bar Can Costa, an old haunt of Bernadette's.

She became quite emotional, having not been there for many years, seeing the changes that had taken place.

Bar Can Costa Plaça de l'Esglèsia, 07819 Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera +34 971 19 70 21

There is only really one thing on the menu at this boho-tinged village bar in the rural backwoods of Santa Gertrudis.

The Bocadillo de Jamón y Queso (known here as El Completo). A flatbread roll split in half, toasted, anointed with olive oil and fresh tomato and inlaid with slices of Jamón Serrano/Jamón Iberico and Manchego cheese. This is one sandwich worth going out of your way for.

Knowing Bernadette was a vegan. I thought the first food stop should be,

Wild Beets Carrer Venda de Llatzer, 9, 07814 Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera +34 971 19 78 70 www.wildbeets.com This is a Godsend for anyone on a restricted diet. Vegan or otherwise.

The menu features raw, vegan, and plant-based cuisine. There is no dairy, and all dishes are gluten-free. The restaurant offers a range of classic options, including a mix of raw and cooked food and excellent fruit drinks.

We had

Fresh coconuts

Tortilla Espanola (not being vegan, I did not realise it was not made from eggs!)

After leaving Santa Gertrudis, we drove down beautiful country lanes to visit one of my favourite spots. As it was early, we just had a look around and took in the stunning views,

Cafeteria Ca’n Jordi - Las Puertas del Cielo Cami des Plá de Corona, Km 1.5 Santa Agnés de Corona +34 680 96 47 96 +34 616 06 15 59

Set in a pine forest, it has fantastic clifftop views and sunsets.

They serve delicious essential Ibicencan fish dishes, paellas and fideuà's (pasta paella).

After a relatively long drive up to the North of the Island, listening to great music on the CD player, we arrived in Port de Sant Miquel. Frank stayed in the car for a little snooze. We climbed a small hill from the main beach to find the secluded Chiringuito Utopia.

Chiringuito Utopia

Caló des Multons, Port de Sant Miquel de Balansat +34 650 866 199 y 687 253 491 It is one of the most peaceful beaches on the Island and is easy to miss unless you know where the path begins!

Although only about 30m long and 25m wide, the water is crystal clear, making it ideal for snorkelling.

Although there are no toilets or showers here, they are only minutes away from San Miguel Beach, which has both.

This small, rustic beach shack serves lovely fresh food

Grilled Dorada (gilthead bream) and vegetables a la plancha

Seafood salad

There is even a sardine feast every Friday and Saturday at lunchtime and evening.

Climbing back over the hill, we got into the car. On leaving Sant Miquel, we took the scenic coastal route over the high cliffs to the famous caves of Cova de Can Marcá. The access road affords a spectacular panoramic view of the Port de Sant Miquel, Pas de S'Illa, the Walled Island and Torre des Molar.

Walking down a pathway carved into the rock, one enters the mouth of a cave 14 metres above sea level, where the visit begins. "We took the guided tour here."

Cova de Can Marcá

Apartado de Correos 25, Port de Sant Miguel, 07815, Ibiza +34 971 334 776 www.covadecanmarsa.com The cave, Can Marçá, dates back over 100,000 years. Rodent bones and fossils from extinct species whose skeletons are kept in the Natural History Museum today have been found there.

The caves are small but contain some lovely stalactites and stalagmites. From the outside, it's 200 steps to descend into the cave and 100 steps to return to the top, so you need to be reasonably fit and mobile.

Inside, there are some beautiful rock formations and fluorescent pools of water.

Visitors will enjoy a 40-minute tour in a natural setting with water, light and sound effects. Smugglers were the first to use the cave to deposit their goods. Today, you can still distinguish the black and red marks that signal the entrance and exit.

The tour ends with a light and music show where once a natural waterfall flowed, but since the caves are no longer "living," this has been replaced with an "artificial" (pumped) waterfall. You can see the show here.

After leaving the cave, we carried on the coastal route down to Cala Benirrás for a late lunch at

Restaurante 2000 +34 971 33 33 13 Platja Benirrás, Sant Miquel de la Balensat This family-run favourite has been serving up traditional cuisine since 1979! Including regional staples such as paella, fideuà (noodle paella), Bullit du Peix (Ibicencan fish stew) and a variety of fried fish. Here we lunched on,

Calamar plancha con patatas fritas,

Mixed salad for Bernadette

The seafood fideuà

Dishing up the seafood fideuà

With friendly and informal service, it's as authentically Ibicencan as they come.

After our meal and with sunset approaching, we join the happy hippy throng at the other end of the beach, firstly at

Elements & the Living Box Platja Benirrás, Sant Miquel de la Balensat +34 971 33 31 36 www.elements-ibiza.com This is a more trendy restaurant on the beach, offering Mediterranean cuisine, organic salads and exotic natural ice creams. The neighbouring bar is an elegant lounge with furniture fashioned from wood and random refuse. There are massage treatments available here as well.

As the sun begins its final descent, we move onto the sand in front of the hippies

who put on a sunset show every night in summer with masses of drummers congregating, playing and dancing as sunset approaches.

With a final crescendo when the tremendous orange ball disappears over the horizon.

You can watch the drummers here.

Once the show was over, we drove back to Ibiza town, where Bernadette and Jonathon got the late-night ferry back to Formentera. Overall, it was an excellent day trip, and we returned to it in the following years.

Returning to Formentera after many years made Jonathon relive his early favourites in music. These mixes have some of them.

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MIXCLOUD MUSIC - Mikeyb


RENOIR SPANISH GUIDES
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The reviews here are personal recommendations of places we have actually been to.

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