We’re going to Ibiza!
Pack your suitcase, we’re going to Ibiza! What should you bring? Well, it’s June, the sun is shining and temperatures rising, so I suggest packing your prettiest, funkiest summer clothes. But don’t bring too much, because the boutiques are filled with temptation, and if you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to resist!
I first went to Ibiza about ten years ago. It was late April, and I was recovering from surgery on a badly broken leg. I was still on crutches, and feeling a little giu di morale, which is Italian for down in the dumps. I’m trying to think of what that would be in Spanish, but my linguistic talents seem to be failing me this morning. Never mind, you probably get the picture. My right leg was stick thin, my blood circulation was on strike, and the scars where the surgeon had inserted titanium rods were taking their sweet time to heal.
I arrived at the airport, clad in boring old jeans and a tee-shirt, and was greeted by my friend Victoria, looking like she’d slithered across the island on a rainbow, soaking up colors on the way. Her thick, dark brown hair was long, wind-teased and sun-kissed, her bright blue eyes sparkled with joy, and her embrace was filled with love and enthusiasm. My spirits lifted on impact.
We boinged back to her house in her bouncy old Citroen 4L, the interior of the doors refurbished with pink and white gingham, travelling along picturesque country roads flanked with dry-stone walls. The fields sang with multicolored, wild flowers. Fluffy baby sheep teased their mangy mothers, dancing through almond orchards and olive groves with their best buddies. We meandered across pine-scented hills offering smile-inducing views of the sea. Okay, so she took me the scenic way, but I can assure you that the other way isn’t bad either!
At the time, Victoria had recently moved from Geneva to Ibiza with her husband and their little boy. They were restoring an old farmhouse located inland, and meanwhile, were living in her mother’s holiday villa, located in the west of the island, high above San Antonio, home of the world famous
Café del Mar (incidentally, their CD compilations are amazing, my personal favorite being No. 4). The view from the villa? Stunning!
Victoria has always been extremely creative and had recently started designing clothes and bags made from silk velvet. As my bulging wardrobe can attest, she has since done extremely well and now offers a mouth-watering collection of fabulous, boho-chic clothes, bags and jewelry from various outlets all over the island, as well as from her farmhouse studio. Back then, however, her creations sold mostly by word of mouth, but also from a tiny, Aladdin’s cave of a shop, owned by a couple called Dario and Valeria, located up on a hilltop in the village of San Miguel.
“Wait until you see the clothes in Dario and Valeria’s shop!” gushed Victoria as we lay by the swimming pool, chatting. She oiled her nut-brown belly with a delicious smelling concoction made on the faraway Caribbean island of Saint Barts, looked up at me and winked. “You will go mad!”
Did I go mad?
I did! And I think you might too when I take you there tomorrow…
Hasta manana!
xx Francesca
June 2009
Francesca Prescott
"MUCHO CALIENTE! - Wish upon a Latino Superstar"
An effervescent romantic comedy
LASR: Best Long Book of the Year 2008 : "Laugh out loud hilarious!"
NOR: Reviewer Top Pick : "A seriously fun book with more twists and turns than expected"
CRR: “Hard to put down”
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