Sunset Strip - Daytime

Yesterday, in my afternoon's free time I decided to head down to sunset strip with the intention of checking out the world-famous Café Del Mar. Pretty much everyone i had spoken to who had any experience of Ibiza told me that, in fact, Café Mambo next door was far better, but I wanted to see for myself... Turns out Café Del Mar doesn't actually open until 5pm (it was half 4) and also, at first glance the decor at Mambo looked far better. So, Mambo it was.

Café Mambo

This place is built around 2 things: 1) Relaxing to the point of being SO relaxed, you slip into a coma, and 2) the utterly beautiful Ibiza Sunset...

Since I was there in the afternoon, sunset wasn't on the cards yet, but relaxing SO was. A glass of coke on the terrace (which finishes about 10 metres from the sea) and spending my time not really doing anything.

Mambo (and Café Del Mar too, although I have yet to experience it first-hand) specialize in chillout music, which I adore and I was pleased to see that, even at half 4 in the afternoon, Mambo had a DJ spinning for the punters... when I arrived, California Soul by Marlena Shaw was playing out onto the beach. There couldnt really have been a better song to sum up the mood - Everything seemed very cool and funky, while at the same time very chilled and soulful - And the set stayed in that vein - So much that I didnt even bother getting out my book (my original intent). I just sat, looking out to the tiny island to the west of San Antonio Bay and letting the tunes mix with the noise of the sea. For a short while, I was alone in a bustling Cafe - Ibiza had never turned into a tourist attraction, never become a clubbers Mecca, never even been colonized. I was the first person to ever discover that view and the sea's rhythmic wash included a bassline and a sax solo...

It took quite some time to snap myself out of that trance.

On a side note, Mambo had it's own little quirks of attention to detail that just added small cherries to the delicious pink icing of the location I was gorging myself on.

Branded Straws, PR's and waitresses who actually seemed to take interest in you rather than see you as a big walking Euro sign and as i mentioned already, DJ's in the daytime who seem to know EXACTLY what song you want to hear EXACTLY when you want to hear it.

Perfect.

I went back to Sunset strip at sundown yesterday to watch the world's most famous (or so the bars claim) sunset, but we missed it by about 30 seconds - we heard everyone's reaction to it as we walked down the last street. We did stick about to soak up the atmosphere that all the bars there lay on, but it just wasn't quite the same without that view of the sun disappearing playing and replaying in my mind. We're going back in about 4 hours, and we'll be in plenty of time tonight!