As the Summer holidays drift off into just a memory, we thought it would be good to look at what our friends have done on their holidays. We’re running a guest post series on our blog about your Best Family Holiday Ever. Today we’re sharing Steve Rickelton’s Holiday. Steve started blogging as Big Stevie Cool in Early 2016. Originally looking at Films and TV shows, he branched out into Family Life, Men’s Lifestyle and Food.
Tell us a little bit about your family:
I’m 36 from Wallsend in North Tyneside. I met my wife Samantha 17 years ago when we both worked at a Motor auction in North Shields. We dated for around 6 years and were married in 2006 not long after the birth of our first child, Harry. We lived in Wallsend for a few more years and added Heidi and Jack to our family. We Moved to Samantha’s home town of Cramlington in Northumberland 6 years ago.
Where was your Best Family Holiday Ever? Calella de Palafrugell, Spain
When Was it? Summer 2016
How did you get there? Bus (for an epic 30 hours)
What did you do on your Family holiday and what was it that made it
your best one ever?
Our best family Holiday was the one we had last year to Calella de Parafugell in Spain. We decided to travel by Bus which added a nostalgic element for me and Samantha as we both travelled by bus to Estatit (which is not far from Calella) with our families back in the 80’s. It was a long journey (30 hours!), the bus ride wasn’t too bad though as we each had an entertainment system built into our seats. I even managed to watch some films I had been meaning to watch but could never find the time to. The kids really enjoyed it too as there was loads of kids shows and we all enjoyed watching the English, French and eventually Spanish countryside go past our window.
We stayed at Camping La Siesta in Calella de Palafrugell in a lodge that was pretty basic but still had all mod cons, being self catering we were left to our own devices with no rep pestering us for trips and such like and that was perfect for us. Camping La Siesta is a camp site but it does have a lovely restaurant/bar on site, there is also a bakery that makes fresh bread and pastries, perfect for breakfast (or brunch if you manage a lie in). The staff are fantastic, even if they spoke limited English (still far better than my Spanish), and there is a great pool that the kids all loved. We’re a bit of a foodie family and most of our trips and holidays revolve around food. Our kids can sometimes be fussy about food but they are starting to be a bit more adventurous (especially Harry who loves a bit of Calamari).
It was only a short walk to the beach and there were loads of great restaurants that me and Samantha loved, all the restaurants were unique and there was not a chain in sight. The people of Calella are so nice and really make you feel welcome, especially the waitress in one of the restaurants who gave the kids a blanket each when it was getting a bit chilly one night as we ate our evening meal al fresco.
One of the other things we love to do as a family is go for walks. There is a great walk along the coast to the next town of Llafranc, the scenery on the walk is incredible and we took the walk home during sunset which was stunning and watching the moonrise was something I had never seen before. Again we found a really nice restaurant in Llafranc and it was right on the beach so the kids were able to play on the beach as we finished our meal (and a cheeky bottle of Cava).
The reason this was our best ever family holiday was that it incorporated everything we love to do as a family. The kids (big and small) loved spending most of the day playing in the pool or in the sea and Me and Samantha loved the food. We’re quite a chilled out family and the relaxed vibe of Calella de Palafrugell really makes us want to go back (We’re planning another trip to Calella next year).
I’ve posted about this holiday on my blog at
http://www.bigsteviecool.co.uk/2016/07/y-viva-espana.html
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