A week in Javea, Spain

Posted by Wendy McCarry September 18, 2022

A week in Javea, Spain

We had one week in Spain as our holiday within a holiday. Andy’s best friends brother was getting married which was the perfect excuse to have a holiday within a holiday. We’ve been to Javea a few times before to visit Andy’s second family - his best friend Lee is one of four brothers, and Lee's parents have lived in Spain since Lee and Andy finished high school. It’s a very easy place for us to visit… a quick 2.5 hour flight from Gatwick to Alicante, and then an easy hour drive from Alicante to Javea and you're there!

My parents flew with us from London to Spain which was a fairly easy trip. We were anticipating long queues as was the norm all summer in airports all over the world. However we arrived nice and early and dropped our luggage and got through security fairly quickly, leaving us time for a leisurely airport breakfast. I also relished having two other adults around to help me with the kids, so compared to my flight from Melbourne with them on my own, this flight was a breeze.

We rented a townhouse right next door to Lee’s parents house. It was great being so close to Lee’s family, plus the communal pool located within the townhouse complex was very convenient. Lee's brother, Craig, stayed int he townhouse across the street with his wife and three kids, so there were lots of friends around for Ella to play with.

My brother Mike, his wife Ashley and their son Camden also joined us from California on this holiday which was so fab. Having family all over the world means that we often have to choose between which family we see, so we felt so lucky to be able to see all of the important people from both our families on this trip, especially after the two years of travel restrictions imposed by Covid. This was also the first time the kids got to spend a large amount of time with their cousin Camden. Despite an age difference of almost two years, Ollie and Camden got along and played together really well once they got past the initial getting to know each other phase.

Our first day Ollie was pretty hesitant about going in the pool. He’s been used to his swimming lesson pool which is heated to about 34-35 degrees. This pool was much cooler (although by no means cold) and he kept repeating “I’m never going in the pool. Never never never. I want to go into the warm pool!” Needless to say, by day 2 he was in there for hours at a time. The great thing about this pool is that it’s got a very shallow end (Ollie could easily stand up in it) which is separated by a bridge from the deep end. So there is no way Ollie could get into the deep end without getting out and walking around to the other side. It made it much safer for the little ones.

Ella is super confident in the water now and can swim pretty well. She was in the pool everyday and there were a lot of other kids around for her to play with.

Andy finally joined us on our second day in Spain. The kids were so happy to see daddy!

We spent a few mornings at the beach. Ella loved being in the water, as usual. Ollie not so much - he’s more of a pool boy! The water was a bit chilly when first going in and as I mentioned above, he takes a while to get used to cold water. He much preferred playing in the sand!

My parents generously offered to look after all three grandchildren on multiple occasions so that Andy, Mike, Ashley and I could get some adult time away from the kids. The four of us had a parents night out at La Siesta. We had a gorgeous beachside table and indulged in cocktails and tequila shots… pretty wild for all of us!

Andy and I also had a wonderful night out at The Beach Club where there was a welcome function for the wedding. The function was on the rooftop with a gorgeous view over the sea, and I really felt like I was on holiday at this point!

We actually ended up taking Ella with us to this, as she had made good friends with Lee’s niece Izzy who was the same age. Izzy, being the niece of the groom, was a flower girl at the wedding and thus included in all the wedding festivities, which of course Ella was insanely jealous of! It was so great that she managed to make a friend for the holiday thought, especially as her younger brother and cousin weren’t always her ideal playmates!

We ended up going back to the Beach House with my family for brunch one day and it was one of my favourite times. The kids were able to play in the play space together before and after the food came and we had yet another fabulous table overlooking the water.

After brunch we went for a swim at the rocky beach next to the restaurant. It was nice to be at a different beach but Ollie again was not happy to be in the water, and this time there was no sand for him to play in!

This place was a few km from our holiday house, my parents and I decided to walk back with Ella. This was a huge walk for Ella and I think she only made it due to the promised ice cream at the end. She did well though, or actually I should say my mom did well keeping her amused throughout the long (and hot!) walk.

The wedding we attended was such a lovely day. We started with a church ceremony (with a slightly contentious priest who told the groom he was now the boss of his house and kept mentioning they should have kids soon! It was impossible to know if he was serious) followed by a coach ride to the venue. On arrival we had a welcome drink up on a high platform, overlooking the water and the town below:

Next we moved to another space on the grounds of the venue for a second welcome drink and hors d'oeuvres and then finally moving into the gorgeous space for the wedding dinner. The weather was absolutely perfect, we were outside the whole time and there was no breeze, and it was not too hot or cold... just right!

The day after the wedding was Ella's birthday. There was also a wedding after party at this tennis club/bar/cafe place with a pool which was excellent. We did some presents for Ella before going to the pool party, and then managed to get a cake and some kids together to sing happy birthday. Ella spent her birthday playing with her new friends in a pool all day - pretty much her ideal way to spend a day!

All in all it was such a lovely trip and it was great to spend time both with old friends and family. Here are a few more of my favourite photos from the holiday...