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Our holiday to Spain was planned last-minute and
thrown together in haste. We were actually on our way to Los Angeles to
visit my brother, but bizarrely we could only get a visa for Luca and
not Maya and didn't have enough time to sort our her passport-issues.
Whatever their reasons may be, the Americans are extremely strict about
letting small children into their country on holiday, but there's no
point in arguing with them about it, so we had to face the facts and let
the trip (and the tickets) go.
To our rescue came Pete and Claudia and their villa in Spain.
Villa Begur was at our disposal
for the whole week. We've never been to Spain and was grateful for the
opportunity, so without delay we packed our bags and our cold medicine
(yes, all 4 of us were down) and were gone.
We could have flown, but decided to drive the 950 miles + ferry trip. We
spent 4 full days in the car there and back, which really brought home
the distance we were from home. We nearly got lost in Paris on the way,
what a nightmare that was, driving around in circles around Versailles
with no way out! It was no consolation that I've always wanted to go
there. We'll laugh about it one day, but the navigator had some
explaining to do! At the hotel I tried to get some dishwashing liquid
from the receptionist who thought I was asking for serviettes! (Does the
word for soap sound like serviette in French?) Eventually I was standing
there with dirty baby bottles in my hands, making washing motions with
my hands, and he translated it into 'big serviettes' (towels). Luca's
bottles were washed with shampoo that night. With the trusty portable
DVD player, Maya was entertained for a few minutes at a time on the
road, and Paul and I now know the full versions of a whole bunch of
nursery rhymes. Luca fortunately slept most of the time. Our last night
on the road driving back we were so tired we all went to bed at 7:30 and
woke up 12 hours later.
You can read about the villa and the Costa Brava on the website above,
and also see it displayed in it's full splendor.
We had rather bad weather, but warmer than the UK, and being the
beginning of winter there were no water-sports to enjoy, but the views
are magnificent and there's something about being really close to the
ocean that brings instant relaxation. There was nothing much going on
there at the moment except for new villa's being built, and that's just
what we needed. We had such a tough year that coming to a complete
standstill for a few days and taking stock in a quiet, beautiful
environment was perfect for us.
With the happiness and the new memories we were making as a bereaved
family, also came the sadness of going on holiday without Otto. I
suppose every day without him brings home the finality of his death, and
going on holiday is no different. We definitely got a sense of being a
family of only 4 living members now. The time away from home also taught
us about our new roles, especially for the kids since Maya is the eldest
now. And it's always lovely to play with the kids without the normal
day-to-day drudgeries.
All-in-all it was a great holiday with lots of lazing about, good food
and wine and DVD's and the ocean and stunning scenery.
Go home
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