Amazing Hidden Places Of Ibiza - A Royal Birthday Week - Travel With Me #1 (Part 1 of 7)

Before I start this epic journey and tell you all about the amazing hidden places of Ibiza, I just want to celebrate the fact that I just hit 30 followers here on Steemit. This after just a couple of weeks and I couldn't be more thrilled. Thank you all for such a warm welcome and all the amazing comments. Truly humbled! - Now let's get this journey started!

One of the hidden gems of places to travel to is Ibiza. I know what you might be thinking, - "Isn't that the place where celebrities and teens go to party their butts off?" and "I've heard the song..." - That is the place, however, there is another side of Ibiza that not many people know about. The REAL Ibiza, if you will.

My first time visiting was last year, in July (2016), and I too was expecting to see an island entirely riddled with enormous clubs and drunken teenagers at every corner. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The thing is, my beautiful girlfriend (@makeupbykili) is actually from Ibiza and she knows pretty much everything there is to know about the island. The places that I was shown during our week-long stay could only be described as heaven on earth. In this series of 7 posts, I will try to show you the amazing places that we visited and why you too should, at least once in your life, experience the real hidden beauty of Ibiza.

(1. "Me" and my girlfriend, @makeupbykili, getting breakfast at the airport before boarding / 2. Ready to board our flight / . 3. Closing in on the island of Ibiza / 4. Ibiza island)

Day One - After touching down on the landing strip at Ibiza airport, I was first struck by how small the airport was. It's tiny! Definitely modern, but tiny.

We taxied into the gate and as soon as the airplane door opened I was hit with a blistering heat wave that could very well have come from the Saharas. It's a fresh heat, a reminder that you are now in a more tropical location closer to the equator.

A short cab ride to San Antonio from the airport (it feels way longer than what it is in kilometers) and you are right smack in the middle of where the action is. So is this what Ibiza is all about after all? Definitely not, but it is the place where everyone goes to get a first glimpse of the island (and where most people stay to party).

(San Antonio in the evening - forgot to take a photo on our walk during the day)

We checked into the hotel, a modest yet amazingly placed hotel called Tagomago not too far from the center of the action. Located directly by the ocean and with a view that would make anyone jealous, it's a place close enough to be able to walk into the center of San Antonio, however, far away enough to get away from the chaos that erupts basically every night, 7 days a week.

At this point, I had seen enough to know that I already wanted to come back next year. Yes, after just an hour in Ibiza, the crystal clear water and the warm breeze from the ocean had lured me into a dream state in which I was spellbound by the entire concept of Ibiza. Yet, I had only seen that one side of Ibiza that most people see. But, the adventure had not even started yet.

(1. The hotel lounge at Tagomago / 2. The view from our room terrace / 3. The view from our room at night)

After having unpacked our bags and familiarized ourselves with the hotel, we took our "flippie-floppies" and started to walk. With a smile on her face, my girlfriend took my hand and said that the first place that she wanted to show me was a hidden gem right in the middle of everything.

Getting there was actually a bit tricky and we had to go through small paths over sharp ocean rocks right by the sea before we finally came to a place called El Chiringuito Cala Gracioneta.

Located in a hidden cove, this tiny beach has its very own little restaurant and chill-out beds and they served everything from great food to delicious smoothies. To try and escape the 35-degree (Celsius) heat, we decided on a couple of delicious strawberry and banana smoothies.

(1. Chillaxing at El Chiringuito Cala Gracioneta beach restaurant with our two smoothies / 2. Cala Gracioneta beach cove)

During the remainder of the day, we relaxed at the pool by the hotel and also at the beach just beyond the fence to the hotel. it was the perfect end to a day filled with first impressions, traveling, unpacking and walking.

That pretty much concluded our first day traveling and getting familiar with the surroundings near the hotel where we would stay for the week.

STAY TUNED, next chapter (Day Two) will be posted tomorrow!

/R. Darell

IMAGES - All images © 2016 Richard Darell / Google Maps images © 2017 Google.