A New Year for all ages31st December 2015

These are the days in between. We made it through Christmas, just. OH is barely speaking to me because I let slip to our 8 year old that Santa was a creation of Coca Cola. Apparently I’ve stolen her childhood. It turns out that the paucity of readily available replica Santas in Ibiza means that children here believe for longer; the cynicism that creeps in by seeing a Santa in every supermarket and on every billboard is kept at bay in Ibiza. I can’t help it, honesty is the centre piece of my parenting. It’s hard not to be honest raising kids here in Ibiza. We don’t separate kids and grown-ups like happens in most places.  Our children turn out a unique meshing of innocent but worldy. They are protected by the purity of their surrounding physical space but they are given guile by understanding some of the dynamics of a party island. Let me assure you, it works out well, this combination.

Most occasions are approached with both adults and children in mind.  Even KM5, one of the coolest restaurant/bar/club venues of the South has a children’s section printed in  their menu. We have taken our off-spring, from babes in arms onwards, to the opening of the Blue Marlin, dinners at Bambhudda Grove, drinks and snacks at Nagai and countless other places. Noone looks at you like you’re behaving out of turn. If it works for you, go for it, is the message.

So as we head towards the end of the year, me full of my relective thoughts and my unrealistic resolutions, we plan our New Year, not in a frenzy of finding a babysitter on a double rate, but as a group of families with 16 children, ranging between the ages of 5 months and 14. We decide on Atzaró beach at Cala Nova. A spot as magic in December as in the mid-summer, on the North Eastern coast, just past Santa Eulalia. The beach, lets face it, like all of Ibiza’s beaches, is stunning and the restaurant is run with the same charm, elegance and homeliness as the main Atzaró hotel.  We will eat salads and fresh fish and the kids will literally frolic in the sand. They will run out of sight and no one will mind, no one will worry. The big ones will take care of the littler ones and as the sun goes down we will gently welcome in 2016.  We probably won’t make it till midnight but we would have seen out 2015 as a large extended, like-minded family. It occurs to me that the Spanish call New Years’ Eve ‘Noche Vieja’ or literally ‘Old Night’, as though the out-going year is the one to reflect one, not the one approaching. Like true Ibicencos this is how we will be rolling.

I should add that we do this, of course with love, care, a sense of nostalgia and eyes firmly on January 1st and DC10*. This is where I would love to be typing one of those winking emojis….

* DC10  – where every self-respecting resident can be found from 4pm on New Years’ day

References:

So much more on these later but for now:

KM5 http://km5-lounge.com A totally relaxed but impressively cool venue. In the seasonbook a few days in advance but expect great food, amazing cocktails and good tunes.

Blue marlin http://www.bluemarlinibiza.com The poster-restaurant for Ibiza. Much more of a club than it used to be, but still a great spot for lunch, dinner and awesome people watching.

Bambuddha Grove http://www.bambuddha.com Again gets a mention. Amazing that this party destination is also a nice option with kids!

Nagai http://www.nagairestaurant.com – In my opinion the best food on the island. I am a sashimi junkie (no carbs, good oils) but I have eaten Sushi in Nobu in London and LA and hands down this beats it!

Atzaró Hotel and Beach http://www.atzaro.com This agro-hotel is one of the best on the Island, now open all year it has beautiful grounds with always in bloom orange trees, a funky boutique, a spa and a great restaurant. The hotel experience is fabulous too. You get the the glamour and luxury touches of a 5 star hotel, combined with the friendliness of a guest house.