Stars, Spas & Whistles

Mas de Torrent, about an hour and a half north of Barcelona, was absolutely unreal. It would want to be, considering the money we spent to stay here, but the price tag was completely justifiable considering this was just about our only wedding cost. It is a high end hotel with a Michelin Star restaurant, and immediately upon our arrival it was a little bit like walking into a dream; the gardens were immaculate and meticulously maintained, the buildings were beautiful and the staff were incredibly kind and accommodating, my mate Carlos in particular. This was the sort of place where you drive up to the reception and chuck your keys to a bloke who parks your car for you. 

The accommodation we booked included breakfast, lunch and dinner at said Michelin Star restaurant, and due to the logistics of Rachael and I getting married the day after we would arrive, the hotel was nice enough to let us have lunch as soon as we turned up instead of the following day.

So. Good. 

You know how you see photos of dishes at gastronomic restaurants that don’t look big enough to feed a newborn baby? This wasn’t like that. This was actually 9 courses of a very decent amount of food, the finer details of which I’ll talk about later, but for now let’s just say that prawn ceviche in watermelon gazpacho is nowhere near as weird as it sounds. Sitting here, writing this during our 24th day in Argentina I can tell you I’ve never wanted a plate of raw prawns in watermelon juice more in my whole life.

After stuffing ourselves silly with insanely good food, we wandered over to our very, very nice private villa type situation where we’d stay for the next three nights. This place was nuts. There was champagne on ice when we walked in, with chocolate covered strawberries, we had our own POOL. It was a very special place to stay, but we couldn’t hang around drinking champagne by the pool all afternoon because we had to leave to meet our wedding photographer at a beach about twenty minutes away called Platja d’Aiguablava to scope out a spot for our vow ceremony the following day. 

Sierra, our lovely wedding photographer, Rachael and I walked on a little path up the coast from the beach for about 10 minutes into a beautiful little cala (a small, rocky bay) called Port d’Esclanyá, which was absolutely stunning. It was insane that the beach we came from was absolutely packed full of people, but a short walk up a set of stairs and a little dirt track there were only an older couple with their red kayak. Or better yet, the real shock was that Rachael scoped this place out months prior by using google maps, and just zooming in on random bays and beaches! It was a very magical spot. 

We spent the next couple of hours swimming and walking around on the rocks, trying as hard as humanly possible to look natural while Sierra took photos of us. This was by far the most photos Rachael and I have ever had taken of us, and the entire thing just felt so awkward, but Sierra somehow managed to get some really nice ones and she did try to make it feel somewhat normal.

The following morning we drove out to a nice flower farm to pick up Rachael’s beautiful wedding flowers.

Then, we had to race back to the hotel as we had massages booked in at the spa building on the property! Rachael had a great, very peaceful time with her relaxation massage while I opted for the deep tissue massage and came out of it feeling like I’d been run over by a truck! However, I did doze off at one point towards the end when old mate was massaging my feet, so it’s not like it wasn’t at all relaxing. 

We walked around the property on our way back to our room, trying to find a first look spot for later in the afternoon. Even though I’d been carrying this wedding dress around for the last week I’d still never seen it!

We then wrote our vows in the back of each other’s travel diaries while sitting by the pool. Rachael started her three hour hair and makeup ordeal and I cracked a few tinnies while just soaking in the last few hours of life as a free man. 

After slapping my suit on I mosied up to the spot Sierra and I had prearranged for the first look and paced around anxiously while talking to a few passers by. Those that know Rachael and I well know that we’re always whistling at each other when trying to get the other’s attention, so upon hearing Rachael’s whistle I turned around to look at my bride in her wedding dress for the first time.

What a stunner! 

We then walked around the property for a while, trying as hard as possible to look normal while Sierra took photos of us. She managed to capture a lot of really good ones, and a LOT of really bad ones that will forever remain for our eyes only.

The three of us then drove back to the cala we checked out the previous day to get some more photos, but most importantly, to say our vows and exchange rings. Rachael read her vows first and of course they made me tear up and laugh, and definitely made me feel very loved. Rachael wanted to go first because she is under the impression that I have a way with words, I’m not sure why, but due to this I spent a good few months chipping away at my vows so not to disappoint, and I must say that I was quite proud with what I’d come up with and I was eager to finally be able to say them to her. I’ll be completely honest, I cried like a little baby just about the whole time. This comes as no surprise, I’ve cried at every wedding I’ve ever been to, even one where I’d only met the bride and groom briefly one time months prior. Obviously standing on this rock platform and exchanging vows with my partner for the last eleven years was going to hit me like a tonne of bricks. We both laughed and cried and it was a brief moment that I’ll forever remember as being one of the happiest of my life.

We popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate and just walked around the cala and chilled out for a while soaking it all in. It was a very relaxing afternoon, even with the camera. Once we’d said our vows and I got my tears out I felt very relaxed and content, and above all, just super happy that we had our wedding day in this way. It was a simple and beautiful afternoon.

After heading back to the hotel, it was time to celebrate with our greatly anticipated wedding dinner. I had to fight back tears (more tears) with every fork or spoonful of the menu. Everything they sat in front of us was absolutely exquisite, and the wines we had paired with our food elevated every mouthful until I was incapable of not audibly groaning and bouncing up and down in my seat for the duration of the dinner. It was a really fun and delicious experience and we both had the best time laughing at how insanely good everything was. I had a few of the best espresso martinis of my life and even had one personally delivered to our room later in the night which is something I could definitely get used to.

We awoke the next day with the aim of taking full advantage of our late checkout by stuffing ourselves silly with more food and using the spa. We walked up to the buffet breakfast and commenced the eating of way too much food prior to taking one’s shirt off to hop in a spa. I’m talking five courses of meats and cheeses, fruit and yoghurts, a full English breakfast as well as pastries and sweet treats. I was there to get my money’s worth, and I wasn’t leaving until I felt absolutely disgusting. I certainly achieved that much.

We then walked up to the spa centre and spent the next three hours alternating between sauna and cold plunge, laughing and just having an all around great time together. Our entire stay here was, yes, very expensive, but absolutely next level good. The hotel staff and waiters at the restaurant were insanely nice to us the whole time. We felt very well taken care of, and it was nice to experience staying somewhere so grandiose and opulent. We did eventually have to leave as we had accommodation booked further north, so we said goodbye to the lovely staff and hit the road as a married couple, where from here on out we’d be living on the cheap. Mostly. Next stop, Cadaques! Or as I prefer, Kedackerz.