I live in a small town surrounded by hills, vineyards and forests, I can hear birds singing in the mornings and smell meat being grilled in the evenings. It is a lovely place with towers and walls left over from medieval times that are long gone. The aura still remains and reminds me of knights and lords.
I always thought Germany was a country obsessed with beer, but here, in South it is wine that people are making. Each hill next to the city is taken over by grapes, lines and lines of them. We have some in our garden, too, and they have almost come into fruition. There are hundreds of private wineries in the cities around ours and even more people to visit them. Then there are the festivals that seem to never end, popping up in various locations.
I came to think about all those wonderful things today, because me and my boyfriend were going for a picnic. We packed our bags with snacks and sandwiches, books and blankets, and set out to have an adventure. It is a hot, sunny day today with a light breeze in the air and our way was uphill. I must admit, at first I let the complainer in me take over, because the bag was heavy, and my shoulder would not stop irking me, but after a while, I kicked myself in the butt for being such a crybaby and actually started enjoying the view.
The town we live in is next to a river and on the lowest point of some hills, so right from the start we were walking up. We passed the houses, the wineries and the vineyards, all things that I had seen before. Then we turned onto a dirt road. That is when I stopped annoying my partner and started actually admiring the view. At this point we could still see the town beneath us which was already beautiful, but not long after we were enclosed by trees on both sides of the road, I was informed that there was a forest not far away.
There is a beauty in being surrounded by greens, a calming notion when you see and hear the leaves of a tree gently swinging in the wind, wild berries, birds and animals somewhere in the distance. And on a hot summer day forests are the best places to be. They provide shadow and coolness, a blanket of leaves not blocking all of the light, but keeping the air refreshing around you. And the old leaves under your feet, the smell of trees, the quietness, it is all so calming.
I haven't had a lazy day out in the nature for a while, but today was amazing, something I needed for a while now. I enjoyed it a lot and got to clear my mind, a breathtaking day to prepare me for the days to come... And there wasn't even mosquitoes, double win!