My Birthday Celebrations in Spain

We’ve just got back from our week away in Calpe, somewhere we visited two years ago and vowed to return to. It was just as fabulous as it was last time, if not better. We arrived there last Thursday, the day before my birthday. We decided to celebrate said birthdaywith a late lunchtime meal at Bambero, a very short walk away from our hotel. Before that though, we spent a few hours on the beach, I mean, what a perfect way to spend a birthday morning.

Birthday outfit

I wore the Zimmerman dress I bought for our honeymoon in Crete. As I said in the blog about my honeymoon wardrobe, it’s an investment piece and one I’ll wear summer after summer. I wore it twice on our honeymoon and twice in Calpe, so the cost per wear is definitely decreasing! I love it-it’s so full yet floaty and the coloured polka dots make it a real summer party dress.

Another investment piece that I bought for our honeymoon is my Cult Gaia Alba bag. I’ve used it at least thirty times already and I still get a thrill from the chunky, jangly gold-coloured chain.

Aspinal of London sunglasses

As part of my role at Optometry Today, I make a bi-monthly video called Trend Watch. In it, I review a piece of eye-catching eyewear. Marble eyewear is very much on-trend and this pair of Aspinal of London sunglasses caught my eye. This is Palermo, in blue opal, a head-turning style with tonal shades and gold hardware.

Even though it’s a statement piece, it isn’t heavy. It’s handcrafted from the finest lightweight acetate so is very comfortable to wear. It’s also suitable for prescription lenses, either clear or tinted. This is my third pair of Aspinal of London sunglasses and they truly are among my favourite pieces of eyewear. They look and feel luxurious, the styles are timeless, they will never date, yet they look current and fresh. This is a stunning piece of eyewear.

The sides feature signature Aspinal of London branding, inspired by the brand’s iconic trunk hardware.

Palermo is an excellent trans-seasonal design; the colours will work with an autumn wardrobe just as readily as they do with summer outfits. The style is feminine and universally flattering.

Aspinal eyewear is licensed by Eyespace, and there are both optical and sun collections. They very kindly let me keep this style after making the Trend Watch video.

Bambero

Bambero is a beautiful restaurant just metres away from Calpe beach, with views of Peñon d’Ifach, Calpe’s iconic rock. It’s a very civilised place with cool, elegant yet laid-back decor. They serve every guest with a glass of Cava on arrival and bring bread, oil and grated tomato to the table to enjoy while perusing the menu. As well as table staff, there is a sommelier on hand to recommend wine pairings if so desired.

The dishes are fresh and imaginative, yet authentically Spanish. We chose four large-ish tapas dishes and had them served successively so we could savour each one.

We couldn’t resist dessert and asked the sommelier to recommend something similar to Pedro Ximénez to compliment it. He duly delivered. I’ve completely forgotten what it was and I didn’t get any photos of the dessert, because by then, I was full of birthday cheer- but it was perfect.

And as often happens when in Spain, we were given a complimentary digestif with la cuenta.

It was a beautiful meal and a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday. In fact we enjoyed it so much, we went back for dinner a few days later. I’m going to make an Instagram Reel about this visit to Bambero because it deserves more than just photos.

Birthday cheer

We couldn’t resist a paddle and a walk along the shore on our way back to the hotel so I hoiked my dress up, took my shoes off and carried on living my best life before getting back into beachwear and lazing around the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

Notes

This isn’t a sponsored post. As always, gifted items are identified as such and affiliate links are identified with an asterisk *.
*Dress: Bellitude by Zimmerman via The Outnet. Previous season but still available in the sale at The Outnet.
*Sunglasses: Palermo by Aspinal of London via Eyespace, (gift). Palermo is also available in a plain mink colourway, a true neutral colour.

Bag: Alba, Cult Gaia, previous season.
Necklace: Cara by Kiri and Belle.
Sandals: Ramona by Sophia Webster, previous season.