Hello! Here I
am, full to the brim of travelling and reading impressions, willing to share
them with you. Is everyone back from holidays?
During
the month I changed a lot of localities. Cities and towns, splendid palaces and
quiet spots, crowded and remote places of interest, popular attractions and
local curiosities, all buzz inside me, demanding
for their attention. It
is not simple to choose one to verbalize. I think I’ll start with La Mozaira – the last and most picturesque place on the travel list. In Arabic the name means “a
secluded place”. It fits perfectly, as the hotel is located geographically outside
of the village of Alboraya (a 20 minutes drive from Valencia), and metaphorically
– in the middle of nowhere. It is a family-owned villa, a former farmhouse,
actually.
click on the picture for a closer view
The hotel houses only 11 rooms, each unique in colour and design. They are
named after 11 women who have contributed to creating this heavenly place. Spacious
Remedios, where we stayed, is made in soothing grayish-blue shades: a gorgeous
bed with a canopy, a wardrobe with linen curtains behind the glass windows, a
bathroom which would flatter an earl’s castle. We were fascinated by splendor and
homey comfort! Toni – the proprietor and chief designer – challenged the hotel
stereotype and made hers an exclusive place among open fields and fruit trees.
The place I was especially impressed with is the library – a stunning
area with couches, sofas, cushions inviting to nestle down with a book! A great
selection of classics and contemporary writers, too. Cervantes, Molière, Dante, Hugo, Dickens, Chekhov, you name them, they are all
there! A complete set of Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez and many others. The
majority of books are naturally in Spanish, but some are available in English,
German, French and Italian. It was hilarious to try reading “La doma de
la furia” in Spanish!
I guess, the hotel is meant for complete relaxation. It has many cosy
nooks on the patio, by the pool, and sleeping is just great there! La Mozaira
lulls you, the more so because all windows in the room are provided with inner
shutters, which we closed for the night.
The area is gorgeous, with a meticulous attention to details. But it
looks homey. Toni said she made it like her home, and you can feel it. Both Toni
and her husband Pepe are truly kind, hospitable and helpful people. Before our
first dinner Pepe took us on an excursion round the garden; he proudly displayed
the crops and picked strawberries for us! And Toni took us to Valencia hotel
when we wanted to hire a taxi. Not a common thing to expect from a hotel owner, don’t
you think? Such a warm treatment, like dear guests. And they enjoy communicating – incredible, as they actually speak very little English!
La Mozaira will certainly stick in my mind as a place of utter tranquility
and comfort. I’ll cherish the time I spent and the books I read there – two at a
time! While some places are erased from memory, washed out by new impressions. You
know what I mean?
