One of my favourite things about the weekend is that it usually means we head out on a little trip. Whether that’s somewhere close by or somewhere a little farther afield, we tend to make the weekends a time to explore.

We do try to not revisit the same places over and over, unless it’s to either visit one of our favourite restaurants, like chabada, mex y go, the beach house or another one of the Javea company bars, or to explore somewhere slightly different in the same place.

Whilst Marley was in Spain for a while, I wanted to get some photos of Marley and Rio together in some of our favourite spots.

Last weekend, before the Gota fria arrived, we took Marley and Rio on a little road trip with my mum. Just a short journey north from Benidorm are the beautiful towns of Moraira and Javea (Xabia). Moraira is slightly closer to Benidorm than Javea, but both are reachable on the same motorway, which is now toll free.

The first place we stopped was the gorgeous town of Moraira. We’ve been back a few times, but it’s always so fun to take a walk along the promenade and by the castle. The wind was starting to get up, but once we got into the sun at the bar, it was such a sun trap.

We visited Gelateria Venezia opposite the port and had a drink, I opted for a hot chocolate. Topped with whipped cream, it was just like the cream we’d had a few years prior in Rome. The cream was the thick, whipped cream which doesn’t disintegrate when it touched the drink. I’ll certainly be back for another!

I noticed they do loads of different ice creams so we’ll be sure to visit another time to try one of the sundaes. I did see they do a spaghetti ice cream, which I had wished I’d tried in Rome, so I’ll need to go back and give it a try!

The car parking at Moraira is currently free at the moment because it’s off peak time. They do say to limit the parking to 2 hours, to not cause disruptions to others who may wish to visit. So, after a short time we were back on the road.

By midday we had started to get hungry so it was a trip to Chabada. We’ve been many a times because we love the tapas there. It’s relatively cheap, always of a good standard and comes quickly. We were a little disappointed in the meatballs this time as they came out quite cold. But, the patatas bravas were tasty as always and the mussels are delectable! They’re not too expensive either, it ended up being around 10€ each for quite a lot of tapas and a drink each. I had a rose wine which I’ve been opting for over white wine more often recently!

By the time we had eaten and had a short walk along Xabia front, we headed back to the car. The promenade was filled with dogs all on long walks in preparation for the storm which was coming. Speaking of which, Xabia had built its dyke along the front in hopes of making a bit of a barrier against the ferocious sea that would be on its way. We now know it wasn’t a successful as it had been before.

It’s so sad to look a videos and see what a difference a couple of days has made to the Xabia coastline. Bars that we had sat in are now flooded and windows smashed. Hopefully, with a bit of time, sunshine and money, they businesses will be able to repair and come back stronger.

Our final stop of the day was at Cala de Portixol. We’d been a few times in the past, mainly for the blue door and the beach. But this time, we were aiming to give the bar a go. Unfortunately, by the time we got there it had already closed up for the day. Rio did love having a run around on the beach though. Marley was pretty sceptical about a pebble beach.

Have you ever been to Xabia and Moraira?

L x