Months after launching Ibiza Confidential, I'm taking a long break while I reconsider the concept amid a very crowded marketplace for gay-centric blogs. The recent bankruptcy and failure of the Washington Blade and sister businesses is but one example of the financial turmoil in the industry. Wish me luck!
I had concerns over my own safety that grew after I posted a report stating that a Gannett employee had brought a gun to work. Some people were upset. I'm gay, and I received an incredible barrage of anti-gay comments. Then things escalated -- a couple of days before the meeting one poster suggested physical violence and another said I should be stalked. So my bodyguard and I walked into a shareholders meeting with 300 angry managers who did not like me or the questions I asked.
Sparky and I arrived in the German city only yesterday, but the dramatic change in weather (colder!) and manscape (taller, blonder -- when not shaven -- and kinda surlier) makes the distance from Ibiza seem much greater.
We're staying at the Axel Hotel, the second of three we've visited in the gay chain based in Barcelona. The service here is great, but the dark interior and obstacle course-like passageways leave us missing our stay at the original in the Spanish city, an hour's flight from Ibiza. I'll write a more detailed review once we try out our second room, tonight, and I find a better Wi-Fi connection than my iPhone.
In Berlin, we recommend European and other lunch and dinner fare at restaurants Cafe Berio and More, Indian food at Amrit, and wonderful coffee and deserts at Steiner cafe, all within the main gay neighborhood.
[Photo: Flickr member Maristela O.]
To celebrate meeting 10 years ago yesterday, Sparky and I are looking forward to dinner tonight at Casa Colonial, one of Ibiza's best restaurants. It's about two kilometers northeast of Ibiza Town (interactive map, below).
The owner, Wolfgang Lettner, doesn't overstate when he writes: "Casa Colonial stands on a low hill surrounded by tropical plants. Here we will spoil you, in the best Spanish colonial tradition, with the finest cuisine in a quite unique setting. During the summer, you can enjoy our generous terrace and extensive cocktail garden; and in the winter, you can warm yourself in front of the open fire in the cosy finca."
A tip: table 511 is a choice spot for dining, and people watching.
My reply: This is the challenge of building a new blog from scratch -- one that's entering an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Now, just past summer's midpoint, the crush is on to capture business from those tourists who are making the trek from Spain's mainland, the U.K., and Germany, the traditional main feeders of commerce. The real estate market, like most in second-home resorts, appears to have ground to a standstill. A beachside condo that might have fetched 500,000 euros (about $700,000 U.S. at current rates) a year ago sits without offers today, even though its owner has dropped the price to about 350,000. An enterprising German merchant we met shifted gears, opening an outlet store to sell fashion underwear in three-for-the-price of two bargains. Servers at the popular bar Angelo move a bit slower, even with a smaller staff.
How about getting sick while away from home? And that's me, this weekend in Spain: How did I catch this awful head cold?
"Nothing is as it seems when Zsa Zsa Gabor and Prince Frédéric von Anhalt are involved,'' Vanity Fair says. "He says he's her 10th husband; she says he's only her 8th. She won't say how old she is; he doesn't want to know. Some accuse him of keeping her prisoner, but he says he's the one who's hemmed in—never mind his self-proclaimed affair with the late Anna Nicole Smith or his alleged robbery by a lesbian street gang. Welcome to a surreal address that makes Sunset Boulevard look like Sesame Street." Like: Meow!
And speaking of handsome men preying on wealthy dames: Zsa-Zsa Gabor and Porfirio Rubirosa, one of her many playboy husbands. "His suave manner and rugged good looks came with a prodigious male appendage and sexual prowess, both subjects of much gossip. Truman Capote described his male organ as 'an 11-inch cafe au lait sinker as thick as a man's wrist.' To this day, large pepper grinders are commonly referred to as 'rubirosas.'"
I'm reminded of that story every time I slip on a pair of GrigioPerla briefs because Rubirosa enjoyed custom-made underwear. Italian undies, I always say, are engineered for the special needs of the Italian male animal. (Like me. Officially, I'm 25% Italian, 25% Irish, with the rest English/Scottish. But Sparky says I look all Italian.)
GrigioPerla's sister outfit, La Perla, is the brand of choice for high-priced hookers, according to the $2,000-an-hour prostitute featured in this New York magazine story. I didn't think you could buy GrigioPerla in the states until I ran across BareNecessities. And while I know the brand is pricey, I had no idea you could spend as much as $67 each, for the Cebrione model. And the matching T-shirt is $102, to boot.
Who's your favorite fashionisto? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write ibizaconfidential[at]gmail[dot-com].
Like millions of gay men, I trace my ancestral roots to Italy -- a country better known for its treasure trove of Renaissance art, than for its out-and-proud gay life. (Francesco d'Macho, left, of adult film company Men at Play being a major exception. Visit Ibiza during late July and early August, when it seems like every Italian man descends on the White Island to be, well, gay.) So, it's noteworthy to see packaged circuit parties popping up in higher-end resorts like Cala dei Saraceni, tucked along the coast of the Ionian Sea within the sole and heel of southern Italy. There, hundreds of gay men are invited to attend Alternative Holidays' Cala de Saraceni late-summer circuit party, Sept. 6-13. Prices vary, depending on room type. Event photographer Chris Geary has more details, here.
Updated at 10:11 a.m. ET: For a 10% discount, call Lee at +44 (0)20 8902 7177 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, UK time and mention Ibiza Confidential to obtain the discount.
[Photo: Men at Play]
Despite having spent a shocking amount on my AT&T international data and calling plan since June 1, the company best represented by Lily Tomlin's Ernestine-the-operator appeared hell-bent on driving away one of its better global business customers: me. They cut me off without warning earlier today (while I was trying to pay my bill!) -- a replay of their ungracious goodbye last summer. So, I fired 'em just moments ago. And the customer service department didn't even ask why. D'oh!
We saw one of our favorite Ibiza Confidential men last night at bar Angelo, here on the Mediterranean resort island of Ibiza. And Paulo's working that tattoo with a new design! But one thing's the same: he's still one of Jockstrap Central's leading models. (Exhibit A, above!)
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write ibizaconfidential[at]gmail[dot-com].
