RETREAT TO SPAIN!
There are no rules on this relaxed Pilates break by the toasty coast
RETREATS; they’re for those envy- inducing, de-toxing, tee-totalling yogis, right? It’s all 6am starts, expert level classes, tiny salads and bed by 9pm, right? You have no time to explore, loll on the beach or drink rosé and eat crisps? Wrong!
I’ve just returned from the pilot week for a brand new retreat, Costa Cálida Spanish, organised by Pilates supremo Fran Brown and I’m a convert. It’s held in Mazarron, a popular, but still modest, resort on the rugged south- easterly coast in Murcia.
It’s home to a few thousand expats, the Madrileños in August, and the Scandis and Germans who park their mobile homes in the caravan parks on the outskirts to bask in the mild winters.
The Costa Calida — ‘the warm coast’ — has its own microclimate. The sunny season arrives early and stays late.
We’re a small group and we’re all staying in an apartment block a few minutes stroll from the beach. You can chose whether to have the apartment to yourself, share it, or share a room, depending on your budget.
It’s spacious and everything works. I’m sharing an apartment with a woman who’s using this week to kick start a two-year fitness plan so she can take part in her dream trip; the Seattle, Panama Canal, New York leg of the 2020 Clipper round-theworld yacht race.
Every morning after breakfast, we’re ferried a few minutes along the bay where we set up mats on an open-air terrace. The church is behind us, the Mediterranean sea is in front. It’s a world away from a sweaty gym where all you can see is your unco-ordinated self in floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
Instead of air- conditioning, we’re warmed by the sun and instead of music, we hear the sea gently swooshing onto the beach below. Exercising outdoors is such a treat for the senses that it barely feels like exercising.
We start with 90 minutes of a mix of Ashtanga and Hatha yoga, which is a little too gentle for me, though it gets harder through the week and is clearly a hit with glamorous expats in the class.
After a coffee break, we begin an hour of Pilates. Fran gives us three levels for every exercise, depending on our fitness. She takes account of everyone’s posture and ability.
The next day a couple of us notice the pleasing sensation of our abs having been gently awoken and called into service.
As part of the relaxed daily routine, we eventually find our way to lunch, courtesy of Antonio, our tour guide and language teacher. One of the best is a beachside place in the tiny fishing village, Faro de Puntas.
Over fresh swordfish and chips (and, yes, rosé), Antonio teaches us Spanish. Not the formal and convoluted stuff that makes baffled locals cock their heads, but more the ‘Hey, two coffees’ style.
He says that greeting someone is as important to the Spanish as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are to us.
LuNCH is long and leisurely, included in the price, and a generous ‘ menu del dia’ with a couple of courses and wine. Then we take an afternoon’s excursion in Antonio’s minivan. Perhaps to the local favourite Percheles, a sheltered 300 m beach framed by palm trees with a solitary beach cafe, or it might be sightseeing.
Cartagena, around 30 minutes’ drive from Mazarron, is beautiful; with a history that dates back to 218 BC when Hannibal set off from here for Rome with his elephants, famously dismissing the naysayers by declaring: ‘I will either find a way, or make one.’ The amphitheatre, built by Emperor Augustus in the 1st century BC, was only discovered in 1990 and its magnificence is slowly being revealed and restored.
The narrow streets and port filling up with cafes and bars are ideal for strolling and people watching.
The days end with a casual dinner. But nothing is compulsory. Between us, we all miss a yoga class here or a meal there, with no guilt at all.
Some of us meander in the port, or saunter barefoot along the beach or lunch. Two friends who are here together love it because they’re single and don’t want to holiday alone, and they appreciate the personal touch of the organisation; someone’s done all the homework for you.
It’s a retreat for people who don’t do retreats.