{"id":23,"date":"2012-08-02T01:05:10","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T01:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moxieq.com\/?p=20258"},"modified":"2018-07-29T04:16:41","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T04:16:41","slug":"for-the-love-of-spain-formentera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/for-the-love-of-spain-formentera\/","title":{"rendered":"For The Love Of Spain: Formentera"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"M-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay so before I begin to wax poetic about my love affair with Spain, here\u2019s a little truth. Yes, I have broken a limb and been hospitalized in Madrid for nine days (and yes the limp is finally gone thank you very much). And yes, it is also true that I was once evacuated from the airport in Ibiza because of a bomb scare and nearly struck down by heatstroke. And yes, there was that one time I barely survived an open air tour of a bull farm in 110-degree temperatures in Sevilla before touring a bullfighting ring in similarly sweltering conditions. But, all that aside, I can honestly say that I not only need Spain, I love Spain!<\/strong> And that says so very much, does it not? It\u2019s all because Spain is an enigmatic destination with experiences tailor made for every personality from diva to homegrown crunchy granola girl. And now I\u2019m going to guide you through some of my favorites.<\/p>\n

As I type this missive, I am literally raising a glass of Cava (that\u2019s Spanish sparkling wine to the un-initiated) to inaugurate this month-long series of posts about Spain, a country that I have developed a very special and chummy relationship with over the last several years. Like most memorable relationships, my affair with Spain has been simultaneously complicated and tempestuous, but clearly never boring or lacking in adventure as the myriad of experiences I described vividly illustrates.<\/p>\n

The first stop on the \u201cI Need Spain\u201d tour is Formentera<\/a><\/strong>, one of Spain\u2019s beatific Balearic isles and one of the places that ranks high on my list of Spanish treasures you might never have heard of. My first experience with the island came after a night of raucous hard partying in Ibiza. On the hungover morning after surrounded by friends, I steadied myself long enough to board a boat over to the shockingly unspoiled isle of Formentera which is located just 11 miles off the coast of the clubby Ibiza. Legendary architect and interior designer Philippe Starck has maintained a residence on Formentera for over four decades wile supermodels ranging from Elle MacPherson to Kate Moss have also developed an affinity for the island in recent years. An hour or so after I arrived, I can honestly say I shared their enthusiasm for the place. It was the salve my party weary body craved.<\/p>\n

\"Es<\/a><\/p>\n

After a quick bike ride and visit to the one of the island\u2019s white sand beaches, my friends and I headed out on a boating expedition for a \u201cdiving baptism\u201d. While my friends all suited up and dived overboard to explore the Mediterranean, I made note of my queasiness and took the opportunity to kick back on the boat with the latest issue of Vogue and a pair of binoculars that came in handy for spying on the sexy European tourists sunbathing nude on the sizeable boat floating nearby. With a cool breeze blowing over me and sun dappling the sea surrounding me, I experienced a little slice of bliss (and coincidentally the best hangover cure in the world).<\/p>\n

Later, the boat transporting me and my party pulled right up to Es Moli De Sal<\/a>, a restaurant with breathtaking views situated in a converted windmill high atop a jagged corner of Formentera. Not only was the experience surreal, but Es Moli De Sal\u2019s signature dish Fideau, a paella made with noodles and fish stock was life altering. I could have sworn that for an hour or so I had been transported back to a simpler time.<\/p>\n

\"es-moli-de-sal\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maya Angelou said \u201cWhen you know better, you do better\u201d. So now that you know about Formentera, you owe it to yourself to experience it. Si? Bueno!<\/p>\n

Find out more about Spain at www.Spain.info.com <\/a>and be sure to follow me all month on Twitter @TheDuaneWells<\/a> and on my blog on MoxieQ<\/a> for more about some of my picks for the most calliente spots all over Spain. And don\u2019t forget to follow @MoxieQ <\/a>and @Spain<\/a> on Twitter for a chance to win some great prizes during our month-long \u201cI Need Spain\u201d program.<\/p>\n

This blog sponsored by Spain Tourism Board, who also provided the items for the \u2018I Need Spain\u2019 giveaways.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Okay so before I begin to wax poetic about my love affair with Spain, here\u2019s a little truth. Yes, I have broken a limb and been hospitalized in Madrid for nine days (and yes the limp is finally gone thank you very much). And yes, it is also true that I was once evacuated from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,1555],"tags":[1175,1185,1186],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-travel","tag-beach","tag-europe","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1358,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/1358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}