To Cala Talamanca

12th-14th June

Alistair and Gill wanted to go to Ibiza town. They had bought tickets for the opening night of one of the clubs and it would be easier to get to it if we were in Ibiza. It was time to go to sea once more.

We anchored for lunch in Cala Llonga and spent the afternoon on the beach. Summer had arrived, yet again. The beach at Cala Llonga is an excellent place for a little girl to spend the afternoon. Sand, gentle waves rippling the shore, and even a play park. What more could anyone want? Ice cream!

It hadn't been possible to find a marina berth in Ibiza so our plan was to anchor in the bay just outside the port. Once again, when we got there, it wasn't like the book! A new sea wall has been built since our last visit and it is no longer possible to anchor in the bay. Instead we motored back to Talamanca: an open bay with a long beach, hotels and restaurants at its head, On one side the headland and sea wall that separates Talamanca from the bay of Ibiza town, on the other side, rock and pine-clad hill with scattered dwellings. It looked like a good place for a morning walk. I never did get round to it.

It wasn't quite so easy to get Eva to bed that night but eventually she succumbed to sleep. We had dinner and then Alistair and Gill went out to play. Tony took them ashore in the dinghy: the arrangement was that they would phone us when they got back and Tony would then collect them. The phone call came at 7.30 the following morning. Needless to say, all they wanted to do then was sleep.

We took Eva into town. From the Bay of Talamanca it is only a short walk over the hill and down to Marina Botafoch from where it was easy to find a taxi into town.

What a surprise we had when we arrived. Ibiza town is so pretty, like an old fishing village, the houses are mainly painted white, the streets are narrow, the shops interesting. And what's more, there were plenty of bars and restaurants to tempt us. A perfect Mediterranean location. Eva was having a wonderful time: she obviously enjoys shopping and led us into one shop after another. We, doting grandparents, thought she was wonderful. We stayed in the lower part of town, wandering aimlessly, resting when necessary. We hadn't brought the pushchair and little girls get tired.

Did we choose wisely for lunch? Well, the food was... okay... not good enough to make a return visit but okay. It was the wait: they weren't serving lunch for another fifteen minutes when we got there but Nonno Tony had had enough walking around so we settled for a drink and a short wait... that eventually turned into a long wait. You know how it is, by the time you decide that you have waited much longer than expected, you think, well, it must be soon now... and wait a bit longer... and a bit longer... until in the end the wait is over an hour. I know, we should have moved on. And by now Eva was tired and crotchety and beyond eating.

An ice cream and then the trip back to Ganymede soon put her right. Instead of taking a taxi back - she didn't want to go in the car again - we found the ferry that goes between Ibiza town and Botafoch Marina. What could be nicer. A short trip across the harbour, looking at the sea and the boats.

We spent two days at anchor in Talamanca Bay. More visits to Ibiza, time on the beach, at the play park and taking advantage of the cafés and restaurants, especially those that offered a WiFi service. It seemed like the best of all worlds with the family atmosphere of the beach on the Talamanca side, the hustle and bustle of Botafoch Marina and the town of Ibiza just a short ferry ride away.