PORTINATX

PORTINATX

Placed in the very north of the island, the etymology of the word gives us a track. It is a question of a natural port, and simultaneously a tourist resort but not a crowded one, perfect spot for families. In winter as the rest of the island it is plunged in a lethargy that does the delights for the people who looks for quietness.

Althought is located at the north of the island, the sunsets have a special sheen. The small fishing crafts placed at the coast or those anchored moving with the soft waves inside the port have their beautiness scenary.

Cove Xarraca (above and below pictures) is one of several beaches that we can find in the zone. This one even with a little isle in the middle of the cove, that it is possible to reached easily.

both summer or winter the colour of the sea is just incredible.

Another cove that exist in Portinatx's zone, and below(down) the sight from Portinatx's port, where it is possible to see in the distance the silhouette of Cap des moscater lighthouse. In this point the beaches come to the end, and begin the cliffs of the natural zone wherefrom we are, it calls of Es Amunts.

CARNIVAL IN SANTA AGNÈS DE CORONA

CARNIVAL IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

In the small and cozy locality of santa Agnès de Corona was not absent the carnival this weekend. A carnival with enough expectation and accompanied of the almond-trees in flower.
From spectacular dresses of Venetian style, or the coal sellers in bicycle, the above mentioned influenced maybe for the famous "sitga" that is in the habit of doing in this village on their "fiesta" of the town at the end of January.

Fiction features are mixed with the numerous walkers that on weekend invaded the small village.

But those who really made the big performance were the adorers of the god Baco, who is in turn the god of the wine, and therefore the one who had major followers, interpreting at all time frenetic dances of all his followers, undoubtedly they were those who came without discretion....!!!

choreographic dancers and many animation they brought in this parade this numerous group. A horse, the god baco and even a Greek temple that they made parade to the whole village...



The party ended by night, and then it was moved to the social lounge of the village.... One more excuse to visit this lovely village, this time with insured animation.
Now we must wait until next year....

DUSK IN CALA D´HORT

TWILIGHT IN CALA D´HORT

The winter time offers great tranquility that everyone call feel in the whole island. This silence here comes with this rhythmic noise of the sea almost in calmness moving onto the shore. And this sensation of loneliness despite that in beaches like here during the twilight persons are coming with their tripods cameras to catch this magic moment. The "Sol post", it is a local word that only is in use in this island and indicates this moment in which the Sun already has disappeared from the horizon.

Magic as well as the images during this moment which turne into profiles. These profiles of people of all the ages seeing as the Sun falls down, and once the Sun is gone the persons and the colors are playing at transforming little by little in the horizon. In this horizon we can see the great and giant watchtower of the island, the island Es Vedrà. As a curious note, indicate that the name of this beach D'Hort (Cove of the garden) shoul be the same as Cala D'or of Majorca had to take the same name since it is an urbanization resort with names of this island, but for some reason the Cala D'Hort there it was distorted and changed to Cala D'or (Cove of the gold) ... curiosities that have some names.

ALMOND TREES FLOWERS 2010

WHITE ALMOND TREES IN SANTA AGNÈS VALLEY

Undoubtedly the most impressive natural winter spectacle is the flowering of the almond-trees of the island of Ibiza. This year maybe has not the showiness of other years, rains and overcoat winds have been part of the reasons, but anyway is enjoyable to walk around them again. In Ibiza we have no snow at all, but this white landscape remains us a bit the white element.

Besides the flower, we still have it´s nice smell, very estimated in the industry of the perfumes. The flower color is white or pink depending on the type of almond. Again the fields of the north of the island are the most spectacular, and there many persons peregrinate every day to walk between these trees that give a romantic touch to our fields. Maybe the favorite and already most famous site for this, is the rural little village of santa Agnès de Corona.

CAROB TREES ON GREEN GRASS

GREEN COUNTRYSIDE

How nice is to see the green fields at the countryside of the island. Green as the carob trees as the pine trees they keep their green colour during all year.

The field has turned into a green great carpet that floods all over, splashed with lots of yellow little flowers.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY

In few days she will celebrate her birtday. Eight decades of live, are many years, but she is a very healthy Lady as we can see in these images.

We just need to see the facility that she is dooing the hard work as a very easy thing for her... How she gather the locust-beans in the basket for later on throw tem to a much bigger sacks, and with the devote company of her cat which stands next to her.

Seeing these images to me it is turning onto my roots, my origin ... my grandmothers were dressing equally during all their whole lives, also they several of my aunts, but with the time they desisted, due it was a slightly inconvinient and uncomfortable.

my question is how many twenty-year-old girls or young people would be capable of doing the lwork that this woman does daily? It seems that no backache at all to her...

Slowly but without pauses, calm in occasions, but steadily, little by little she is filling the sacks... This happens one day that I stay with another blogger, and we decide to approach and asking for the corresponding permission, she allows us to approach, we start talking, and with courtesy she allows us to photograph her, she continues doing the withdrawal the fruits simultaneously that attends to us very spirited and charming.

From here I want to wish her a nice HAPPY BIRTHDAY, she celebrate it at the end of January.

or as we say here MOLTS ANYS I BONS and I hope She will could for a long time be still so animated and with plenty health.

ES PUJOLS (FORMENTERA)

ES PUJOLS

I must have summer nostalgia, now in the middle of winter the cold have arrived to the Pitiuses Islands. Yesterday it was snowing (though without becoming set). So this evening I am remmembering the days I spend in Formentera last summer. These images have come to me as " memory flashes", and therefore I have decided to find those photos that I had somewhere and finally I found them.

So with almost three months of delay and expecting not to pass cold seeing them now, here I hang them, and this way to see and to remember again that special light of Formentera.

Es Pujols is the most tourist zone of this small island. It fills with bicycles and "motorinos". But also the little houses - shipyards of the fishermen coexist with the tourism where they guard their small boats "llauts" creating a place where old ways of life coexists with another most modern side that is the tourism.

The tourism leaves not so charming pictures, but it is necessary to admit that they have their merit. They are able to improvises a street market in his promenade walk or put modern art in the decoration of certain tourist business.

In the early morning or the last hours of the evening the streets fill with people. During the central hours the heat days, the people disappear either to the paradisiac beaches or to sleeping a bit and this way to bear a bit better the heat of the central hours of the day.

Es Pujols offers the best choice in hotels and restaurants of the island, bars, shops, rent of cars, motorcycles, buses with diverse destinations to other points of the island, and even Es Pujols offer a nice white sandy beach may be more crowed than others but very nice anyway with amazing blue sea colours. Also Es Pujols can be a site to isolate a bit in winter where the tranquility in the island is general.

JANUARY 38 YEARS AGO. AIRPLANE ACCIDENT

JANUARY, 7 th, 1972. 38 YEARS AGO


Here where this chapel was build, 104 persons died in Ses Roques Altes, in this point is where the plane SE-210 (Caravelle) of Iberia, EC-ATV named as" Tomás Luís de Victoria " on January 7 th of 1.972 around midday, hitted against one of the tallest mountain of the island (called " ses roques altes ") the aircraft came from Valencia. Most of the passengers were from the mainland and came for back to work after the Christmas Holiday. 104 names are distributed in four different tablets resembling each of them. there are a big quantity of equal surnames, because entire families, or part of them they remained in this accident where there was no survivors. At that moment it was the biggest plane crash for a spanish airline. Unfortunately this "record" was improved in less than one year time, since on December of the same year in another Spanish island (Tenerife) another plane was smashing overcoming the number of victims of this one (155) and only it would be overcome again by other one in the same airport five years after, in 1.977 staying as absolute world record when two Jumbo jets crashed (583 fatalities).

It is incredible as in a site with such a cruel event, just behind the Chapel, exists a beautiful views of the island, maybe some passengers were look at them from their windows, when they were thinking that they were just almost arriving to their destination. But sometimes unfortunately the destiny is very capricious and cruel....

ISLANDS FROM THE HEIGHTS

ISLANDS FROM THE TOPS OF THE ISLAND

Raising s'Talaia ó S'Atalaiassa of Sant Josep that is the highest point of Ibiza with 475 meters of altitude there can see this image of the islands of the West area of the island. The giant Vedrà with his impressive silhouette at the zone South, and in the north zone, not such a high but equally big called island " s'espartà ó espartar " (for the quantity of "esparto" that exists in it) and behind this great island a series of smaller so called islands of "Ses Bledes" (the spinach beets, will it be for that these vegetables exist in these islands?). Views seasoned with the branches of the pines in these heights and in the whole island.

CHURCH AND ALTARPIECE OF NUESTRA SEÑORA DE JESÚS

CHURCH OF NTRA. SRA. DE JESÚS

A few weeks ago I had the chance to pay a visit to the Church of Jesús, very near of Ibiza City and then, i could enjoy the magnificent of the altarpiece, a unic and most appreciate art piece in the island. It´s considered " the jewel of the crown " in art.

the Annunciation, Birth and Adoration of the three Kings, I want to take them as my personal Christmas Card and with them to wish you a Merry Christmas and to wish you the best for the new year 2010.

It seems to be that is not known certainty who is the author of this altarpiece but "is suspected" that it was realized by Osona in Valencia. It is not known neither when, but it is believed that between the XV and XVI century.

The style is indeed a mixture of styles, predominating over the Flemish style and the Renaissance, but with Gothic clear shades that also are present in the altarpiece.

The central body as we see below it is centralized in the figure known as Ntra. Sra. de la Llet, that is the Virgin feeding the child.

This temple was raised as Convent by the Franciscans in the 15th century, though today it belongs to the municipality of Santa Eulalia, this church in her origins was using as a religious temple for the people specially fishermen and familys living out of the walls of Ibiza, since this zone belongs to the called " pla of Vila ". The convent in 1.580 passed to the Dominicans, who founded a confraternity in honor to The Virgin Mary. This Order (Dominicans) went due to the insecurity of the frequent assaults to the Pirates' island indoors part of the walled zone of Ibiza City, in the Building that today is the church of Santo Domingo, and that still people knows popularly as "the Convent" (today the cloister belongs to the City hall).

The interest of this church in art continues with an interesting linen of Saint Clara that is dated on the XVIth century.

Also the image of the Virgin Mary is a work of Antonio Saura realized in the XVIth Century (image down).

This church, totally in white front as a rural church from Ibiza´s architecture, it was raised to the degree of parish by the first Bishop of Ibiza in 1.785.

Detail of the Calvary (up) and of the porch or "porxo" in the image of below that as in some of the churches in Ibiza it is not at the main entry but aside. It consists of four round arches and is a construction of the XIXth century.