Relaxing Sundays: Six ingredients to success!

“Que hermoso hacer nada y descansar después” or, in other more familiar words, How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards. – Spanish Proverb

What better way to capture the mentality of a lazy Sunday than through the words of this proverb? Sundays, for me anyway, are days of nothingness. They are about enjoying what life has to offer, appreciating the simple things we sometimes, due to our hectic lives, take for granted – things like warm sunny days, strolls through the park and spending time with our friends and family . Above all, Sundays are about unwinding and disconnecting from the strains of the week. One of the best things about Sundays is that you have nowhere you need to be and nothing you need to do, you are perfectly entitled to revel in the beauty of idleness. Last Sunday was the epitome of pleasure and relaxation for me and luckily I got to share it all with one of my dear friends, who, for the propose of this blog, shall be called Alice. So sit back and relax as I share the six ingredients behind the success of our perfect Sunday with you!I

Ingredient numero uno: Arab Bath time:

We decided, after quite a few late nights in a row, to begin our delightful Sunday morning by treating ourselves to a well deserved lie in so: at twelve o´clock we awoke fresh-faced and ready to embrace our day of relaxation. Once washed and dressed we quickly packed a bag with two swimsuits, shampoo, a hairbrush and some other bits of toiletries and headed out the door with a spring in our step, destination: Hammam Arab Baths.

Conveniently located just a few minutes from my house, in the heart of the Jewish Quarter, is the Hammam Al Andalusí. The Hammam, which originally was a place in which people gathered together, provides the ideal historical and architectural setting to escape from the day-to-day stresses of life and lose yourself in its peace and tranquility!

Alice and I, feeling the need to pamper ourselves, decided to go for the bath and double relaxing massage package and  what a treat that was! We followed our circuit of relaxation contentedly moving from the largest pool – the warm pool, to the middle sized pool – the hot pool, to the eucalyptus effused steam room to our final destination which was the smallest pool – the cold pool. We did this circuit twice before giving ourself a nice little “break” in order to have a sip of mint tea and soak up the beautiful surroundings while blissfully listening to quiet Andalusí music in the background. Once our “break” was over it was time for our massage, life can be tough sometimes!

We had a choice of four different scented oils for our massage: rose, lavender, red amber or orange blossom. Having taken the time to familiarise myself with each aroma before my massage I opted for the rose scented oil! As I lay on the table, listening to the faint Andalusí music, I could feel my worries just drift away into thin air! Total and utter bliss and after half and hour of such bliss I  was devastated when it had to come to an end!

The total experience lasted for two hours and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it! I emerged from there relaxed, refreshed and feeling like I could take on the world! The only down side was that it´s forbidden to take photos inside the Hammam; so sadly I can´t share its beautiful architecture with you!

Ingredient numero dos: Time to refuel!:

After such a tough morning of relaxation we felt, seeing as it was a day for pampering ourselves, that it was time to refuel. We walked a few steps down the road to Plaza de Potros where there are a number of good restaurants. We made a bee-line for our restaurant of choice – Mueso –  where we selected a lovely table outside under the Andalusían sun.

Both famished and parched from our few hours at the Hammam we scanned through the menu and ordered as quickly as we could! I settled for a tapa of Salmerejo, a potion of spinach and chickpea croquettes and a sparkling water while Alice decided to go for a portion of Iberic ham and melon and, like me, a tapa of Salmejero, it´s just too good to pass up in this weather, and a sparkling water!

I have to say I love this little gem of a restaurant. Not only is the service amazing but the food is incredible, it´s easy to see why it has been featured in a French travel guide for the last three years!

Ingredient numero tres: Action cool down:

Once refueled Alice and I headed towards the mosque in search of some horse-drawn carriages. We thought it might be fun to indulge in something extremely touristic and cliché. However, upon finding out the cost of such horse-drawn carriages, we weren´t long changing our minds and decided to settle for a short meander through the old quarter and a quick stop for some frozen yoghurt instead! Yum!

After a Short sit down and walk through the water features at Plaza Tendillas we decided it was time to head home and relax for the evening! After all – we were after having a hard day!

Ingredient numero cuatro: Something a little fishy:

By the time dinner time rolled round we were consumed with laziness and couldn´t face the task of leaving the apartment to hunt down some food so we decided to do what any other intelligent/ lazy young girls would do – order in! I had been dying to try this new sushi home delivery service that I had heard about and figured there was no better time to try it. We were having a healthy relaxing day after all!

Alice and I, having excitedly read through the menu, settled on the 32 piece menu thinking it would be the perfect size for us! So I made the dreaded call to Sushi color, I still hate having conversations on the phone in spanish, only for the guy on the other end to ask me if the meal was for five people! What an insult! However I soon got over it, the service was amazing, the food was great and the packaging was adorable! Overall, highly satisfactory. I will definitely be ordering from there again!

Ingredient numero cinco: Embrace the beast:

Embracing the inner child in us we settled down with our sushi to watch our favourite movie; Beauty and the Beast! What more could you ask for from the evening? Relaxation, good food and a chance to be a child again. There honestly is no better to escape your worries  – believe me, I´ve tried and tested quiet a few at this stage!

Ingredient numero seis: Sleeping Beauties:

Worn out from pampering ourselves we decided to end our perfect day by going to bed early. In true fairy-tale fashion we became the most satisfied sleeping beauties in the world; completely unwilling to accept that come Monday morning the dream would be over and we would once again be back to the day-to-day stresses of the working world!

I hope you´ve enjoyed reading about our relaxing day and that, whatever you did yesterday, you had a fantastic day!

Also, thank you to Alice, without you the day wouldn´t have been possible. Good luck tomorrow as you embark on a brand new adventure in wonderland!

Thank you for reading, sorry it´s been so long since my last post, life got in the way!

Giana xoxo