Diary 16. Spa-aahhhh

Well, goodness gracious me, we lucked out with this one! We've just crossed the border from France into Spain, and it's felt like quite a long week. We went from Le Dune Du Pilat, to Mimizan, to Anglet, to Biarritz  (where you can pretty much smell the money everybody who lives there is rolling in!) to Urrugne and FINALLY, into Spain and parked up at San Sebastián. We did all that in 5 days, and had been struggling a little with the journey, both physically and mentally. 

Matt was looking for somewhere we could park up the night after sleeping in an old arena car park just outside of San Sebastián. He showed me an image of the parking, and it was another paved over car park, looking a little baron, but it had a water and waste facility, so I agreed. A little while later, Matt turned to me and said "ooohhhh, there's a spa nearby". I was sold, and couldn't wait to get there. I didn't care how much it cost, or what was on offer, I needed a wash and a relax. As long as there was a sauna and a shower, I was happy. 

The website of the Arrate club really didn't give much away, and of course it was difficult to navigate the site on our English phones where everything is written in Spanish, and not mobile friendly. Matt did manage to find out that entry to the spa circuit was only €15 per person for a 2 hour session. 

From the second we pulled up in the parking space, which was opposite what seemed to be some sort of monastery and was stunning, I was itching to go into the spa. Natural beauty of our surroundings could do one. I was ready to relax. Of course Matt had other plans, and the slow pacer he is, we had lunch, and a drink, and a sit down, and a smoke before finally heading towards the sports centre to check out if we even could use the facilities without being members. 

The young receptionist was lovely, and despite thinking she wasn't doing very well, spoke amazing English. We could go in, for €15 each, we just needed our swimwear and towels. Back to the van we ran, packed up our bits and basically flew back into the reception area, credit card in hand, begging her to take our money. 

It was a little interesting trying to work out where we were supposed to go, as we had cards to swipe into the spa section, but the door that clearly said SPA was operated with a key...... We wandered around a little, and had a guess that it must be accessed via the pool area, where one very lonely looking lifeguard was trying to keep himself entertained while the pool was deserted. "God," I thought, "please let the spa door be this way, I do not need a lifeguard watching my cellulite strewn, not quite ready to be seen, body waddle back and forth while making a fool out of myself". 

My worry was uncalled for and the spa door opened with a swipe of the card, and the view I was greeted with was as if I had just swiped to go through the pearly gates of heaven itself. It was completely empty, the wellness pool had a waterfall tap and two massive jets, and to the left, the sauna and steam room looked absolutely delectable. I couldn't actually contain my excitement, and yelped out to Matt in pure joy. Into the nice warm pool I descended, and proceeded to rush around it like a small child in Disneyland, discovering all the nooks and crannies with their hidden secrets. Volcano jets, back jets, leg jets, little silver loungers submerged in the water with all their own jets. I must admit, I was a bit of a child, and did press every single button at once, and it was bliss! 

In the other room, the heated loungers welcomed us to relax in them before we got our sauna groove on. I must've had about 5 rounds in the sauna by the end of the day, and apart from not having had a full body massage, was pretty darn relaxed, and best of all, clean! I couldn't even tell you how long we stayed in there, but it was certainly more than 2 hours, and we were only joined by a couple of gentlemen right near the end. In fact, it's a good thing we were, as we had gotten back into the pool to use the jets for a little massage, and Matt got a little too relaxed, forgot he was in water, and proceeded to attempt drowning. I was in bliss, facing the other way getting my calf muscles massaged by one of the huge taps, and saw a chap in pink shorts lightly jogging to where I had left Matt, who was currently bright red, wrenching into the drains. Oops, bad wife alert! (He's fine, and hopefully has learnt his lesson, and won't disturb my relaxation in future. Priorities, right?) 

It was exactly what we both needed, and we returned to the van, clean, smiling, and a lot less cross with each other than we had been in the 5 days previous. 

If I had my way, every single stop we make would have a spa circuit thrown into the middle. I am adamant that we will have one just like the Arrate club in Araba in whatever establishment we choose to live in when the journey is over. Any spa builders, please come forward, I'll engage you in an early contract. 

J x