Travel Diary: Spain - 4 days in Alicante, Xabia, and Calpe

Hey lovelies! It's been a while, but I'm back with my newest travels..

Hello lovelies!! Finally back with a new post. With wedding season fully in motion, it's been a busy month so far!

In June, for our anniversary, we decided to take a vacation with our friends to Alicante. I'd only heard of it before in Spanish class back when I was studying, but didn't know much about it. We had seen that there were cheap flights into Alicante, so my days of research began. We ended up staying in Calpe, about an hour's drive from Alicante. We actually only managed to make it to Alicante on our last day!

So on our first day, we arrived in the evening and had a beach-side dinner in El Campello. I put the camera down for the night (sorry!) and we had a beautiful stroll while the waves crashed before dinner (although my tummy was growling!!). We arrived back to our villa quite late because it was kinda hard to find! The next day, we decided it was just going to be a day to chill by the beach. We made our way to Playa La Fossa o Levante in Calpe, the one right next to the big Peñon de Ifalch. There was talk about us climbing the big rock (of which I was terrified as it was the highest place I never imagined I would climb - halfway up you will do a lot of grabbing on ropes. I had a fear of falling off) however everyone eventually decided against it due to the heat (just after I had convinced myself that I had nothing to be afraid of and God was with me - talk about timing! Haha)

So on that lovely hot day where the sun was in and out, we chilled along the beach and as Nathan and I walked up, I spotted Surf beach restaurant. It was adorable in its beach side decor, but more importantly their queso dip was so on point! Coming from America to London, they're not as big on Mexican food, meaning I hadn't had queso dip in years! I can't recommend this place more. I would LOVE some more of that queso dip!

After we had done some swimming and tanning, we got dressed and ready and hit the Old Town. Oh how cute it was! Cobbled streets with adorable balconies, restaurants boasting gorgeous greenery on their walls and windows. We heard some music and everyone danced away and we ended up at the restaurant we ate at. There was some crazy lightning that night and we made our way home just before the rain started pouring.

The next day I prayed that it would be super wonderful and sunny and indeed it was! I had scoped out La Siesta online, about a 40 minute drive away in Xabia. It was a gorgeous beach club restaurant lined with sand & white beds, and I felt like I had momentarily walked into Greece. Blue and white decor found all around this open air restaurant, overlooking the gorgeous waters. Unfortunately they took down their bar swings, but it was still worth the trip. We then made our way to what we renamed "Bruce Willis beach" - more commonly known as Playa La Granadella. We named it this because Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver filmed a movie here years and years ago. It's this beautiful hidden rocky cove at the bottom of a gorgeous hill lined with picturesque villas and their infinity pools. As soon as we arrived, I spotted the palapas and crystal clear waters. I looked to the right and saw the most gorgeous rocky stairs leading to more turquoise water and I immediately fell in love with that beach. It was very rocky & stony - but there was nothing quite like it. We laid out our towels on a huge rock and after several pictures and videos, we began to have some fun. Cliff jumping (only because we could see the clear bottom was safe to jump into!) and lots of fun playing. Later that night we celebrated Ina's birthday as well, and the sunset over the Peñon de Ifalch was just gorgeous.

The day before our last, Nathan and I got up at sunrise to take photos by the beach (what a great hubby I married!!). I bought this flower crown from Aisha from Pebblexbambams so I could do a Moana inspired shoot. Oh how gorgeous the sunrise was! We had the beach basically to ourselves except for an elderly couple or two. I always love sunrise, especially by the water, where we can watch the world wake up. We then attempted to head to La Muralla Roja (a gorgeous building filled with pink) but unfortunately there was no way in as it's residential. But my husband was incredible to bring me there and get up so early in the morning on his vacation for me. Brownie points for him!! After the sunrise shoot, we made our way back and later on, we all decided to go to El Portet in Moraira to soak up some sun rays. What a gorgeous beach, but nothing quite like Playa La Granadella.

I did some photos of one of the couples that was with us at El Portet & Calpe.. aren't they just gorgeous?! You can check out more on my Nataly J Photography website here.

And finally, on the final day, we headed over to Alicante to see some of it, but we didn't actually have much time there unfortunately! I wish we would've stayed longer to see a couple more of the sights. Anyway, we checked out San Juan beach and Nathan and I had so much fun as we used the donut float in the water - Nathan would push me out into the waves and vice versa and I felt like a little kid. So much fun!

Anyways, that's about it for now. I'll be back shortly with some more super cute and fun things!

Nat xx

Psalms 59:16, "But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For You have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress."