When we were thinking about what holiday to go on for 2016 we were back and forth about whether to go on an all-inclusive trip like we did last year, or whether the time had come to return to a destination that meant a lot more. From being the age of eight until eighteen my family and I visited a quiet fishing village on the Costa Blanca every year, sometimes more than once, and my parents eventually bought a place out there. It was where we spent time with our dad, who worked long hours, and wiled many an hour away splashing in the pool and running on the beach. I spent six weeks out there after my A Level's and met my first boyfriend out there. I have hundreds of fond memories of different places in that small village, yet before this year it had been thirteen years since I stepped foot out there.
 |
| My sister and I some years ago |
We decided that this year was the time to return, and of course we had to do it with my family or it wouldn't have been the same. So this Easter the four of us, along with my mum and dad and my sister and her boyfriend, made the trip back to what was once regarded as our second home, the quiet village of Moraira in Spain.
 |
| The villa we stayed in this time |
 |
| Moraira Town |
Despite it being thirteen years later, that place has barely changed. The same bar was there, its owners slightly older and now parents themselves, but apart from that exactly the same.
 |
| Back then |
 |
| Now |
Our favourite restaurant has now moved, but still served the incredible food we remembered. We visited the beach and I watched my own children make their footprints in the sand, just like my sister and I once had, and we walked around the harbour and I sat there in a place I had often come to just think, my daughter now sitting beside me.
 |
| Holly on Moraira beach |
 |
| My sister and in exactly the same place |
 |
| At Moraira harbour |
 |
| Walking on the harbour side with daddy |
If you are ever looking for a quiet family holiday I would recommend Moraira hands-down. It has everything you need, and yet is unspoilt. It's building have a height restriction so it will never reach the level of nearby Benidorm, and it has four beautiful beaches all within walking distance of each other. If you prefer getting out and about, it is within an hours reach of many towns including Calpe with it's shallow, turquoise waters and freshly caught seafood displayed outside harbour-side restaurants, Javea, where new meets old and a tapas bar is just around the corner, or the old town of Gata known for its traditional craft of basket weaving.
 |
| Benidorm beach |
 |
| Calpe beach |
We didn't have the most amazing weather whilst we were there, but Spain in early April is never going to reach the scorching temperatures it does in the summer months. To be honest, though, it didn't phase us as we still got out and saw everything we wanted to as well as sitting in the sunshine enjoying lunch and an ice cream or two.
The pool was pretty cold, but the children embraced it with glee, particularly loving pushing daddy and their uncle in there!
We only spent a week out there but by the end of our trip we all wished we could have stayed for longer, and I'm sure it won't be our children's last visit to this special place.
