SITTING BY THE FIRE
Recently, I took a couple of days off. In this small country of mine, one hour's drive was enough to leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind and dive head-first into the tranquillity of a countryside area not far from the beach.
Two days, one night. Might not sound like much, but when you really commit to being fully in the moment, it's enough for your body and brain to shift gears and get some much-needed rest.
I was also lucky enough to have my Mom alongside me for this short escapade, which made the experience even sweet. In fact, the whole thing was a birthday gift from my family, for which I was truly grateful.
The hotel we stayed in was not over-the-top luxurious, but it was definitely a few notches above the average place I go to on vacation. The rooms were actually little flats sitting on the garden, with large windows overlooking the greenery. And if you strolled around, you would easily find a restaurant, a pool, a greenhouse, a vegetable garden and even a library with books from floor to ceiling for you to enjoy.
In the morning, you could sit outside your room having breakfast amidst the green, though we chose to enjoy the communal eating space, which even with all the safety requirements of Covid times still feels like an integral part of a hotel experience for us. Buffet-style breakfast are not allowed at the moment, so with masks in place we watched a nice lady from the staff come around in what looked like a golf cart to deliver our breakfast in a picnic basket filled with deliciously-smelling and gorgeously-looking food. Even better than buffet, if you ask me!
But the best part, I think, was the fire pit outside each room, complete with lounge chairs where you could sit after dark enjoying the sound of crickets and burning logs, watching yellow flames lick the darkness and, at the end of it, the embers leaving a red glow on the black surface of the night.
Yes, you might have guessed it by now: this was the place where the first clip in my The Music of Nature video was recorded.
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