We had enjoyed an incredible week in Madrid. It had been better than what I had hoped for. We had seen old friends, met their kids, eaten wonderful food and just experienced a wonderful side of Spain. It had brought back great memories of my visit a decade ago and I felt incredibly fortunate that I had been able to experience it all again for the better.
The real catalyst for our trip wasn't just a desire for a holiday (though that was always welcome). We had been invited to a wedding and it seemed like the perfect excuse for us to pack our bags and to set off on an adventure as a new family. Madrid had been an incredible first stop. Now we needed to head towards the coast. We arranged a taxi on a wet and miserable final day in Madrid to take us to the train station. After a few wrong turns and waiting in the incorrect spot, we got onto our train just before it departed.
Our seats were assigned and waiting for us, but our delay meant it was a bit more difficult to arrange our luggage and the baby stroller. My worries about any issues with this trip were thankfully unfounded. Pickle slept the entire time and woke only very briefly for a feeding before falling asleep again. We arrived after a few hours in Barcelona to some more drama as one of the passengers getting off the train was a bit disturbed and began lashing out at a wall before being dragged away by family. We waited for everyone to leave before we moved all of our luggage and the stroller up to the concourse and to a cab.
Barcelona wasn't our final stop, not yet anyway. The taxi took us out to another location in Barcelona where there were coaches waiting for us and the other wedding guests. We were all heading out to the seaside resort town of S'Agoro. It was a short trip there from Barcelona, only an hour or so. It felt like a different world when we were there. As we drove through the town and into the resort, I got strong vibe of some of the small coastal towns I used to visit in Australia as a kid. The check in process was a bit chaotic when we arrived. With all the guests arriving at the same time off the coach, everyone had to line up as the hotel staff tried to quickly process everyone. There were a lot more guests with kids like us and we were all prioritised. With Pickle with us, all our travels had been made smoother and this would be the case again as the staff upgraded us to a larger room with ocean views.
The weather was warm, but there was a stiff breeze which had started. We dressed Pickle up in some warm clothes and went to explore the town before dinner. It was still relatively early in the year, so there were few tourists if any. Our walk through the town and along the waterfront was calm and completely uninterrupted.
The next day was the day of the wedding. We woke up early and went for a walk down to the beach and into the town again. We were lucky on this trip to be able to see Phil. Knowing we would be here, he timed his own trip to Spain so we would be able to catch up. It had only been a few months seen we had seen him in Hong Kong. It was strange that my catch ups with him always now seemed to be in a different country, a sign of how far we had both come since we were kids.
After a very pleasant lunch of paella, we took a walk along the coast pathway that stretched around the headland. This seemed to be the biggest attraction of the town. So far, everything had been "pleasant" without being spectacular of particularly special. The town itself felt like a beach town you could find practically anywhere in the world, the beach nice enough and the surroundings were all acceptable. But it wasn't somewhere that I would have necessarily sought out.
After walking down the pathway around the headland, our views of the town changed. It was a breathtakingly beautiful walk that hugged the edge of the headland and gave us beautiful views out to the ocean and along the winding shoreline. I was reminded a bit of the ocean walk in Sydney. This wasn't as impressive in the size of the Sydney walk, but it had a different refinement which was appropriate for a European country.
After the walk, we said goodbye to Phil. He was off to explore more of the region and we would see him later in the trip. The wedding would start later in the afternoon and we wanted some time to rest and to then get ready. The wedding itself was outside, overlooking the beach and the ocean.
We dressed ourselves for the occasion. Veronica made sure that even baby Pickle looked the part with a nice shirt, suspenders and a bow tie. He remained happily quiet through the entire wedding. He didn't want to sleep, he didn't want to lay down. He was more than content to sit and look out at the happy event that unfolded before us. The wind picked up as we all sat and waited. It wasn't cold, but the chill added to our anticipation. The groom stood with his friends, dressed in his tux looking very dapper. After a brief pause, the bridesmaids all entered along with one of the flower girls, holding up a sign warming the groom he still had one last chance to run. It was all silly and fun.
After the wedding, we were taken to a large terrace to enjoy some snacks and games before the reception. It felt like a true Spanish wedding now as the food and wine were provided in abundance. The weather now took a turn as the wind picked up even more. It was cold. People retreated to the warmth of indoors, but continued to run back and forth to the food tables for more snacks. They had even hired a jamon man to slice an entire leg of jamon for all the guests.
We were all ushered downstairs into the large reception hall. The wine continued to flow and the food was brought to our tables. There were jokes and speeches, videos and stories being told. Baby Pickle still didn't want to sleep, instead looking with interest and curiousity at all the lights and colours of the event.
Eventually, we needed to go. The party was still going, but we and many of the other families decided that it was time for bed and for the children to rest. It was a very pleasant surprise to see a large number of parents at the wedding with their children. Baby Pickle was the youngest there, and yet not by very much with a couple of other babies being only a few months older. It seemed to make the entire wedding affair all the happier with such a strong family vibe. We slowly made our way from the party, the music fading into the background as we walked back towards the hotel. Once we were inside, we slowly walked back to our room, but not before detouring to some of the older and grander rooms of the hotel. The evening was now quiet. Baby Pickle was asleep.
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