Life lessons: if you’re going to try out a sports car… you may as well do it in Spain

Look – if you’re going to try out a brand-new set of wheels, you may as do it in another country.

Yes (and as you may have guessed from the above line), we’ve gotten fierce fancy-pants around here at Her. Our mother would probably call it ‘notions’. We just refer to it ‘moving on up in the world’. Certainly, the opportunity to drive the brand-new MX-5 RF from Mazda (it’s gorge) – AND in Barcelona (sure why not) – was not to be missed. The Her crew + a sports car = a kid before Christmas level of excitement. So following a very early start we arrived into Barcelona airport to be greeted by the smiling Mazda team – who promptly thanked us for bringing the rain with us… typical! We were also greeted by an array of those new, fancy-pants MX-5 RFs, which were lined up in front of us (swoon!). By now we were, of course, envisioning a Hollywood Boulevard type scenario: us driving in between the palm tresses; paparazzi taking snaps. Standard, like. Getting behind the wheel, we were actually a little nervous setting off: unknown streets; driving on ‘the wrong’ side of the road; that rain, and the fact that we didn’t want to damage such a slick machine. Thankfully, however, the route was pre-programmed into the built-in GPS. That and the new hard-top and heated seats were the perfect protection against the inclement weather. Oh – that’s not all: an alarm sounded if we drifted across into the other lane, or if anyone appeared on our inside. So all-in-all pretty reassuring stuff – meaning we could REALLY enjoy the drive. We headed down the coast towards Sitges, along a winding and scenic mountainous road. As an aside for anyone who has never ventured to this part of the region (and most tourists won’t) this is definitely a must-see list on any Spanish holiday. Our afternoon was spent experiencing a traditional Japanese tea ceremony (natch) where we learned for the first time that the ceremony is an act of meditation rather than just the standard putting on a cuppa. Indeed, afterwards we definitely found that our busy minds had been soothed, and we were relaxed and refreshed. Later we spent time at some local stables watching an impressive display of horse riding to illustrate Jinba Ittai – the philosophy which refers to the harmony between horse and rider. And that’s what Mazda is striving to bring to motoring too; with the bond between car and driver, and building the car around the driver. It was certainly a unique, unforgettable experience – and our only moment of sadness was having to hand back the key to our gorgeous MX-5 RF. Suffice to say, this is ALL the #cargoals right here.