Casa Rosales

Casa Rosales

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Luna de miel

How many people do you know who took their mother-, father- and brother-in-law plus their two small children on honeymoon with them? Well, if you count me, then that's at least one!

In the intervening years, we cannot recall a single night we've had alone without children, friends or family. We have never really felt the need to 'escape' on our own, but - eleven years on - we do now feel we have finally had a little moment of special marital bliss to ourselves. On Sunday and Monday, we had our honeymoon at last! And it was absolutely perfect...

Having won a voucher for a hotel, *LateRooms, the sponsors of the voucher, did a fantastic job of booking and paying for us to stay in a hotel that I found on their website. We had never visited the natural park area of Cabo de Gata in Almeria but this is an area said to be the most beautiful and unspoilt of the southern coast of Spain. The chance of staying overnight in what looked like a very lovely hotel was too tempting to resist, especially as FR's parents have been staying with us and could be at home with the children.

So without much ado, we got up early on Sunday and had a delightful, leisurely journey through the provinces of Granada and Almeria, arriving at 'Cortijo el Sotillo' just after midday. And the hotel definitely lived up to expectations. In its pre-hotel days, the cortijo has been used in many film scenes, including 'A Fistful of Dollars', 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' and more!

Lovely big room and a huge bed - very simply decorated but with everything we needed.




We were in an annexe from the main hotel - down the passageway you see on the left of the photo.
















'Cortijo' is the Andalucian word for a small holding or a farmhouse.

Peluquero is a hairdresser...

Sometimes we have to go figure...!
I loved the 'organic' design of the hotel

The hotel also had stables and a riding school

Almeria is basically a desert - we saw lots and lots of aloe vera plants.

Spanish rustic style...

Plenty of space to relax...

Or find a sunny corner to take a coffee

We didn't spend ALL our time in the hotel!

Cabo de Gata is one of the few natural coastal areas left in the south of Spain and it is now protected. We have wanted to go and visit for a while but never have. The number of cars that can enter the area is limited but there are buses that go backwards and forwards all day and we were amazed to see people walking along the long, dusty track to the beaches - laden with umbrellas, chairs, bags and picnic boxes! It was a long way and very, very hot.


Looking back along the long track - with still 2kms to go!
But the view of where we were going looked wonderful!



Evidence of the history of the area where these windmills were used for grinding cereals - essential foodstuff in this arid countryside. 
(Now, Almeria is a sea of plastic greenhouses where a huge amount of fruit and vegetables are grown...seems a tad ironic!)

This is the Playa de los Genoveses. Stunning, perfect and almost empty.

We had picked a 'rather blustery day'...so decided to check out another beach as we couldn't actually put up the umbrella!

La Playa de Monsul. Absolutely perfect.

The rocks are volcanic and make some amazing shapes. 

A view from the beach - I was lying down at the time!

It really had been an incredibly windy day and when we returned to the hotel, we were absolutely full of sand - ears, hair, noses! We wondered if it was always like this but apparently not - and the next day was quite calm.

In the evening, after eating at the hotel, we wandered down into the pretty little village of San Jose - forgetting the camera, of course. All the buildings are very low-rise and just incredibly white! There's a lovely long walk along the front of the beach where there were stalls of jewellery, clothes, fossils and other ethnic goods on sale. But it was all very quiet for the middle of the summer season. Good for us, but probably less so for those dependent on tourists.

The next day, we enjoyed an excellent breakfast in the hotel - we ate a lot too! Well, you have to when it's been paid for, don't you?

Our journey back took us around more of Cabo de Gata and parts of the coastline of Almeria. Strangely empty of tourists everywhere - particularly in one town called Retamar, where we stopped for a while - amazed at the length of beautiful beach, the vast areas of well-maintained park in the middle of the town...and no people! Then we discovered a large (but low-rise) hotel on the promenade which was absolutely packed full of folk, in and around the large pools in the grounds. They were all Spanish families. I guess it seems easier to pass one's holiday at a place where everything is laid on, no invasive sand, no roads to cross and sun loungers in excess. Only it seemed really odd to me!


And as we continued our journey back along the coast, leaving Almeria behind and reaching Granada province, we felt as though we'd been away for an age! The last hour or so of the route was very well known to us and after the barren and unearthly landscape of Almeria, it seemed friendly and comfortable.

Our honeymoon was very special but even better than for most, we were coming back to all our family - who were just over the moon to see us again!

Seems only right to finish with my photo of the recent 'supermoon' - and couldn't it just be a moon made of honey - la luna de miel - a honeymoon.




Any honeymoon stories to share??



* This is an independent review of the hotel and is not connected to the prize I won through LateRooms. They have not asked me to publish anything and my voucher has had 'no strings' attached.


18 comments:

  1. Wow I think you are amazing but I am so happy that you and your husband got your "honeymoon" on your own ,, I cannot believe that you took your family on honeymoon with you and not had a break for 11 years ,,

    I think that if my son asked me to go with them both on their honeymoon , I would of said no ,, but then everyone is different ,, :-))

    All that aside , you seemed to have had an absolute ball , lovely hotel ,, which I would of found hard to leave , also saw some fabulous sights.

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  2. Hi Anne...well, we were taken on honeymoon by our family, rather than choosing to take them with us! Remember too, I'm married to a Spaniard! I don't remember anyone asking, it just sort of happened!
    We've had some wonderful family holidays and did spend a whole year together living in Malaga before we had the children...so it's not all bad!
    You are right - we had a ball at a beautiful hotel. I do wish we could have stayed just a little bit longer...
    Axxx

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  3. I'm glad you finally got your honeymoon. I'm still waiting.I spent my wedding night on a single sofa while my mother in law slept in our bed. I went to work the next day. The beaches look amazing. Ireally should plan a Spanish holiday.

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    1. I'm smiling broadly at your wedding night, Annie! I certainly hadn't been complaining about no honeymoon - but it was very nice to feel we were having one at last. You've been gadding around so much recently that it would be great if you could pucker in a Spanish holiday - do let me know! I'm not a serious beach person, but I do know a good one when I find one and the Playa de Monsul was wonderful.
      Axxx

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  4. That sounds and looks like it was worth waiting eleven years....almost.

    The holiday resort you came across bore out what we saw in Turkey...people lying on the hotel beach like sardines or sitting round the hotel pool when there was so much to discover outside the barbed wire entanglements surrounding the place.

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    1. It was lovely, Helen. And last night, the kids watched 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' and we saw 'our' beach! With Sean Connery and Harrison Ford on it! And lots of seagulls...

      As for the masses - definitely sardine mentality! They're quite at home on those flights too.
      Axxx

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  5. Beautiful photos of a beautiful area. The hotel looks amazing. My husband and I never had a honeymoon. In fact we have never had a holiday together. He is working all summer and somehow it's not too appealing in winter.. Now we have 5 dogs, I doubt we will ever find anyone to look after them so that we can get away.

    So glad you had a lovely time xx

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    1. Thank you Ayak. We did have a lovely time and the hotel was super special.
      It's a shame that you and Mr A. haven't had a holiday together. I know you're not with each other all the time - and so getting together again can always feel a bit special - but to go away sometime and be on your own is a real luxury. The 5 dogs are as tying as 5 children would be....and they don't grow up to look after themselves either. Perhaps you could find a housesitter who would come and live at your house for a while and look after the dogs...? If I was a bit nearer, I would, so you might be surprised.

      Thanks again,
      Axxx

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  6. What a lovely post, so glad you enjoyed your break, lovely to have quality couple time. Great to be able to explore a new area too. The hotel looked good very inviting. Cxx

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    1. Yes, Chrissie - that's exactly what it was - couple time. I like that phrase. We had a wonderful time in a beautiful little corner of the world and the hotel really was super special. Thank you! Axxx

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  7. It looks wonderful Annie, and possibly, well worth the wait. Our honeymoon was one night in Chester.....and we left Jess with my sister in law over night....I would have been much happier if she'd been with us. I think Mark and I have, however, made up for our lack of special times together since then....and believe me, the time when the children are doing their own thing does come around all too quickly. What is great though, is when they do their own thing, but still want to have holidays with mum and dad too ! Best of all possible worlds.
    So glad you enjoyed it so much. Lots of love Jxxx

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    1. Thank you Janice - actually, I think it's much better to do things in a less than conventional manner..had you noticed! I think we have all definitely made up any lack and have had some very special times - with and without our children.

      And I have noticed that Jess is a traveller in her own right but that she's also often with you - and looks very happy about it.

      Hope you're having a great time with all your visitors - certainly looks a great deal of fun.
      Axxx

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  8. My second honeymoon was a bit like yours except with three kids & one very nearly ready to pop out!
    It's rather poignant that we've now, for the last few years, felt able to go away on our own AND able to trust the youngest with the house! I miss the old days - I love the company of children.

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    1. A lovely comment, Nilly - and I do agree that having the children around is the best thing! We missed them after a very short time..it all felt far too easy!

      Glad you enjoy that poignancy of going away on your own now - and that's the word exactly! It is poignant to find yourselves alone and together. I shall remember your words.

      Axxx

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  9. Oh, super, Annie! You obviously had the most wonderful time in a really beautiful hotel and area. I reckon you've made quite a few very happy memories in two short days. :-) Our honeymoon was three months after our wedding - a few days at MOH's grandmother's hotel in the Lake district, which we spent house-hunting in the Cumberland coastal strip. Happy days....

    We did have a memorable weekend in Paris some 14 years later while his mother looked after the children for us, which should probably count as our second honeymoon. :-)

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    1. Yes, Perpetua - I think that trip 14 years later sounds like our recent one! A weekend in Paris should always be memorable, don't you think?
      Special memories are laid down all the time - on our original 'honeymoon' we had a wonderful, if rather damp and cramped, week in Cantabria and I remember some of the things so vividly and with such fondness that I wouldn't have changed it for a week in the Caribbean for anything!
      Axxx

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  10. Seeing your family and in-laws at your home, eating, enjoying the outdoors - what more can one ask for in life. Beautiful, Annie.

    And your honeymoon! Who cares who came with? You had a good time, I'm sure, and the accommodations look wonderful.

    Our honeymoon? Ha! We only had money for one night at a hotel near the airport. In the middle of the night, the cork blew off of the bottle of champagne. For a few confused seconds, we both thought we were "goners". Come morning, room service, me in my peignoir set (it WAS 1973) looking quite bride-like, at the table on the 12th floor, Tom in a robe, the drapes open to set the sunlight in - sweetly romantic - then, a big pair of boots, liquid all over the windows, and a man grinning at us! We often have a good laugh at the window washer who crashed our honeymoon! (I should do a post on that).

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    1. The original, family-included honeymoon was 11 years ago, Penny - and in nowhere near as elegant settings as this recent one! We had a great time and I wouldn't have changed it for the world!

      As for yours! Well, I definitely think that one deserves a post of its own! What a shock...what a hoot! They do say that window cleaners see it all....!
      Axxx

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