A Lovely Lazy Holiday

We are just back from a week's holiday in Spain.  The weather was gorgeous - it was hot, bright and sunny every single day and I'm now happily sporting the slightly crispy look of a girl who has spent too long in the sun.  My hair feels (and looks) like a haystack and I have some unfortunate tan lines around my neck but my eyes haven't looked so fresh in months.  It was the most relaxing holiday ever.  We stayed in a villa in the mountains in Frigiliana (near Nerja) and the only time we saw anyone else was when we had to make a trip to the supermarket.

The terrace outside the kitchen door.  We ate all of our meals here.

The villa had a lovely rustic feel to it with wood burners in all three bedrooms, exposed beams everywhere and an open fire in the living room.

We spent 12 hours a day outside, breakfasting at 8am on the terrace and finally coming inside so that Andrew could watch the football at 8pm.  We had planned a quiet holiday but expected to have one or two meals out.  In the end, we didn't eat out at all.  I had bought two lovely jersey maxi dresses and a gorgeous jersey jumpsuit for our 'date nights' and didn't wear any of them.  I took an enormous suitcase full of a variety of clothes, just in case, and I brought almost all of them home unworn.  Over the week I wore five bikinis, two swimsuits, four t-shirts (three of them oversized cover-ups), a short black jersey dress and a pair of khaki combat shorts.  Each evening I wore a fresh pair of PJ shorts and a loose cotton top.  That's it.  I must remember this for my next trip because my case this time had a 'heavy' sticker slapped on it the second it was checked in and we had to pay £60 in excess baggage.  

It was quite liberating to wear so few clothes.  I didn't wear a smudge of make-up all week and didn't style my hair, I just washed and went.  

The front door of the villa.

The view from the villa.  Complete seclusion.

We slipped into a lazy daily routine quite quickly.  Coffee, yoghurt and magdalenas for breakfast followed by a couple of hours reading by the pool.  Come midday we'd move to the shade and have a little nan nap.  A late lunch, typically of fresh bread, cheese and salad, would be followed by another doze in the shade and more reading.  Ice cream time (!) was 5pm and I made a point of swimming continuously for an hour at the end of the day before heading up to shower, pop on some fresh PJs and have supper.  There was a built-in barbecue at the villa so we made the most of it.  We ate really well and, of course, managed to squeeze in the odd bowl of nibbles and several glasses of something boozy.

A pretty little spot for reading.

It was seriously quiet and seriously lovely.  I loved every single minute.  We both needed the rest and have come back refreshed and revitalised.

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Jake is with us this weekend and we've nothing much planned so I'm going to get the washing done, potter around the house and watch some films with my best boys.  I'm also going to catch up on some blog reading.  I couldn't access the internet properly in Spain and I've missed you all lots! :-)

Have a great weekend. 

Nicki 

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