Ibiza ( pronounced Ibetha) Thursday, April 27, 2023

Ibiza  is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands.  Ibiza is well known for its nightlife and electronic dance music club scene in the summer, which attract large numbers of tourists. The island's government and the Spanish Tourist Office have worked toward promoting more family-oriented tourism.  Though primarily known for its party scene, large portions of the island are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

A notable example includes the Renaissance walls of the old town of Ibiza City, which were awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1999. They are one of the world's few Renaissance walls that were not demolished, and part of the medieval wall is still visible.

View from the top of the Dalt Villa (Upper Town) and 

the stairs outside the wall that it took to get there....

the landscape is much like San Diego's.

You can see the cruise ship off to the right.  We took a shuttle around the bay to get us closer to the Dalt Villa on the other side of the inlet.  We passed many, many condos and high rises - which will apparently accommodate the incoming hordes of summer tourists for the night life.

I really liked these rooftops

and the simplicity and symmetry in the inside of the old church

in contrast to the old church outside

This is an interesting fact about the history of the island and the role it played in the salt trade:

Going back down we walked inside the old walls to fun and 

well maintained residential and shopping areas

Love those old crumbly walls - pretty amazing that they are still standing after all this time - about 500 years.  Apparently UNESCO agrees with me (or I agree with them - yeah, that's probably right):  

"Though primarily known for its party scene, large portions of the island are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  A notable example includes the Renaissance walls of the old town of Ibiza City, which were awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1999. They are one of the world's few Renaissance walls that were not demolished, and part of the medieval wall is still visible"

A couple of modern takes on windows and doors in contrast with the old...

 Found a fun little spot to stop and get a pina colada tasting smoothie to refresh from the up, up, up climb to get to the top of the Dalt Villa.  Quiet now, but we were there shortly before noon and then it filled right up with locals and tourists.

This is the main entrance that we missed when he headed up initially.  Our route took us around the outside of the walls and this would have entered us into the main gates and walkways of the Dalt Villa.  

But we got to walk out the entrance so that was impressive.

Fun walkway pattern around the bay