Ibiza
So tick, we’ve done Ibiza. Pronounced Ibitha, our kids told us that they read somewhere that one of the Kings of Spain one time decreed that all Spaniards needed to start pronouncing their S’s with a ‘th’ sound to ensure that his son, who was born with a lisp wasn’t made to feel abnormal due to his speech. And so, henceforth, the Spanish language evolved to accommodate all those who speak with a lisp….allegedly….as I write this we are currently on passage from Menorca to Sardinia and we’re in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea around 100 nautical miles from land where there is zero internet so I am unable to verify whether that is true or not but it makes a good story!
Ibiza Old Town
Ibiza is one of those places that you kind of feel like you should have it on your bucket list if there’s even the slightest thing cool and hip about you and so it felt right to be making the journey there and spending some time exploring it. Ibiza is a large island with a central town of the same name so you have to get your head around the fact that you can use the name to be at different parts of Ibiza the island, but also use it interchangeably to reference the actual town. Famous for its parties, clubs and all-night festivities I have to say that because we were tucked up in bed by the time the faithful club-lovers started to emerge the reputation of Ibiza for us has stayed in the realm of songs, travel blogs and Pinterest boards.
That said however, we did have a lovely day exploring the old town and doing a spot of shopping alongside a couple of 18-year old sweetheart girls (one is the niece of some dear friends of ours) who we had previously agreed to meet and have on board for a few days. Glenn, always super keen to get out of the busy spots and head to the picturesque, and hopefully less populated anchorages was keen to give the girls a taste of boat life away from the activity of Ibiza so we set off to the island of Formentera which is a lovely island full of sandy beaches ( a rarity in the Med!) only an hour or so sail from Ibiza’s old town.
Quaint little shops of Ibiza
That was the day after we had picked them up and because the girls had already been travelling for a week or so by the time they came to us I thought a nice big family-favourite meal of my Spaghetti Bolognese(recipe below) would hit the spot and make them feel all lovely and welcome and included ….somewhere along the way either I had been told but had forgotten, or maybe the actual conversation didn’t ever occur but whatever it was, it was about 10 minutes before getting ready to plate up my vast and belly-satisfying bowl of pasta goodness that I learned that one of our guests was in fact a Vegan! She very kindly said….”don’t worry, I can just eat salad”….ah, no you can’t because then my dream of giving you that warm, welcome-to-my-family, squishy feeling of pasta goodness in your belly will die! A panicky dive into my trusty pantry to grab hold of my jar of pesto and a separate bowl of Basil Pesto Pasta with chopped mixed grape tomatoes, fresh basil and toasted pine nuts was placed in front of said Vegan guest and my culinary shame was kept at bay. Not my best work but at least I could look at her across the table and swallow my delicious Spaghetti Bolognese!
Mojito time!
All around the coastline of Ibiza are these very cool little island bars and resorts so we asked our ever-eager BarUberdriver (Baruch Uber), Kye, to run us into said cool little island bar so Glenn and I could get a cheeky cocktail. Well, the cocktails weren’t the only thing that was cheeky at the bar – wall-to-wall berry brown bottoms and glorious bosoms every which way you looked so because it’s actually impossible not to look, Glenn and I took our drinks and started a running commentary on what shaped bottom suited which cut of bikini and whether side boob was more flattering than under-boob. We have some firm opinions now established which is obviously extremely important for the rest of our journey….not really but it was fun.
3-days of swimming, snorkelling, skurfing, sunbaking and more beautiful anchorages later and we waved goodbye to the girls (who were leaving us to go to the must-do all-night Ibiza party) and we were off again to explore Palma, Mallorca.
Unexpected highlight: the 25 minute midnight fireworks display put on by the lovely town of Ibiza while we sat happily at anchor watching the amazing show!
“Baruber” into beach bars
Fireworks from our anchorage
formenterra Sunset
Liane’s Bolognese Recipe
This is an almost weekly go-to recipe for our family and again, quantities can be adjusted to suit the number of hungry mouths you need to feed and it freezes brilliantly. It also works well as the meat component of a lasagne if you’re feeling like you want to kill some time throwing a lasagne together. Respect and love to my girlfriend Peta who I think originally gave me the secret ingredient of using the Big Red Tomato Soup for the tomato base.
Ingredients
500g good beef mince (this provides enough mince base to feed 4-5 ppl)
At home I use a large can of Big Red Tomato soup but overseas any good quality passata will do
Grated carrot
Grated zucchini
Finely chopped onion
Heaped tsp of minced, chopped garlic
About ¼ cup good quality pesto
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Lots of chopped fresh Parsley
Method
Lightly fry off the onion in some olive oil in a deep frypan / sauté pan. Turn up the heat and quickly cook off the mince (don’t overcook it), add the garlic and mix through and cook a little more. Add the grated carrot & zucchini, stir into the beef mince mix and then add the pesto and mix it through. Now add the can of Big Red or tomato Passata, mix through thoroughly and allow it to simmer away and get fabulous over a low heat for about 20-30 mins. Stir it intermittently to ensure it doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom of the pan.
Add plenty of salt & pepper to taste, a good glug of Balsamic Vinegar and the parsley. Don’t even consider serving this without a good sprinkle of quality, finely grated Parmesan cheese.
