A real gem of my summer

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?