Time goes ridiculously fast doesn’t it? Well, not time – the perception of time. This exact day last week I was on a plane home from Spain, but it already feels like an eternity has passed since I was sunbathing on a beach in Lloret de Mar.

I’m worried that I’m losing all the wonderful memories I created there. I haven’t even unpacked my suitcase yet, but I’ve already forgotten what I ate on my first day. Thank god for journaling – am I right? *fellow journaling nerds nod approvingly*

Anyway, I thought I’d share some of my trip with you all. This is predominantly for my benefit, but you also get to take a peek at a ridiculous 1 litre cocktail that took me two hours to drink – you’re welcome.

It all started with a train ride to Gatwick Airport, where Alice (best friend, Hufflepuff, natural red-head) and I spent a good hour playing Pokemon Go – once we realised that almost every train station we passed was a Pokestop.

Our flight was delayed – standard – so we relaxed in a bar with a glass of Prosecco and watched the world go by. Why are people always in such a rush at airports? There’s a mad dash to get to the front of the queue to board, but you still have to wait for everyone to get on the plane till you can leave. Surely you’d rather stretch your legs in the lobby than sit in a cramped seat next to crying children. Silly tourists.

Our plane arrived in Barcelona close to midnight, then we had to get on a coach to Lloret de Mar which is just up the coast. I say just up the coast – we didn’t actually arrive at our hotel until about 2am. I was shattered, and if it wasn’t for Alice, I probably would have slept the entire day away in my glorious queen sized bed.

Instead I went down for breakfast at 9 and ate as many pastries as I could fit in my stomach. Breakfast was this huge buffet filled with EVERYTHING, seriously, you could have fruit on your eggs stuffed into a croissant covered in yoghurt and ham and cheese, in a bowl of cereal. That is not what I ate, but I could have.

 

We spent the rest of the morning on the hotel’s rooftop terrace, where the sunbeds overlooked mountains circling Lloret. In the distance you could see the ocean and hundreds of people, but you couldn’t hear anything because you were 10 stories up in your own little oasis.

The roof pool was amazing; turquoise blue and refreshingly cool. You could swim up to the bar and order cocktails right there and then – which I always spilt everywhere because I’m an excitable clumsy fool – but I was wearing a bikini and I was in the water, so who cares.

 

We ended our first day with dinner and more cocktails on the beach, but these weren’t like the ones we had in the pool. These bad boys were 1 litre each. I have never seen such huge drinks in my life. They were topped with fresh fruit and flowers, and some came with scoops of ice cream inside.

It took me over two hours to drink one, and by the end of it I was well and truly tipsy. Alice had to part carry me home, with my lei in hand. Yes I brought the lei back home with me. It’s my new cocktail drinking necklace!

 

The next day we had a bit of a roam around town, and came across lots of interesting statues and extravagant churches. Mosaics, banners and flags lined the streets, leading us to a princess castle right on the beach – however it was guarded by Pokemon so we didn’t go inside, also we’re lazy.

We even passed a quirky little cat museum with added cat door, but unfortunately it wasn’t open. I would so have been all up in that place, getting my cat lady on.

 

In the afternoon I tried something I’ve been wanting to do for a while – Scuba diving. Getting my PADI open water licence has been on my bucket list for a few years now, and although I didn’t have time to do the course in Spain, I did have time to try it out. Boy was I nervous.

It sounds strange, but I’m the kind of person that likes being good at things, so the thought of trying Scuba Diving and failing miserably made me feel rather anxious. I know, we are meant to learn from our mistakes, but that’s not always how my brain works – it likes to be right about stuff, and it likes to succeed.

So yeah, I was nervous that I wasn’t going to do well, which was stupid because scuba diving is AMAZING, and after freaking out a little at the beginning – because it is actually quite hard NOT to breathe through your nose – I took to it like a duck to water. Pun intended.

 

We managed to do quite a lot of other activities as well. One morning was spent at the Botanical Gardens, which were absolutely stunning. They were so immaculate and everything was a luscious bright green. The statues reminded me of Rome, and there were mermaids throughout that reminded me of Disney – only much darker because they were actually quite terrifying with two creepy tails instead of one.

We also stumbled across a nudist beach at one point, and ended up spending an afternoon there because it was so tranquil. Yes, everyone was naked, and yes, I saw more genitals there in three hours than I’d seen in my entire life, but it was peaceful and golden, and well – when in Rome. I didn’t strip off completely, but I took off my bikini top and felt safe in the knowledge that no one was a creeper. Everyone was very respectful of one another.

 

Kayaking in the ocean on our last day was probably my favourite thing of the whole trip, and allowed me to cross something new off my bucket list – Number 207: Go Sea Kayaking. We started in Blanes and went about 4km up the coast, past coves, cliffs, rocks and private beaches.

The water was bright blue, and the beaches were covered with fine, white sand, and when we stopped for a break on a secluded rocky island, we got to snorkel amongst shoals of multi coloured fish. I took so many photos of this excursion – but I’ll do a separate post about it all at a later date so you’re not bombarded with selfies of me and my kayak.

 

It was painful having to get up at 6am on our last day to go home. If I could, I would travel forever, but England was calling me and I had to return. Lloret de Mar was very lovely, but I think I’d like to check out Barcelona next – however, now that Spain has been crossed off my ‘attempt to visit every country’ list, I think I’m due a trip to Asia.

Have any of my fellow nerds been to Lloret de Mar? What about Spain? What did you enjoy the most while you were out there?