W for Weekend, Wild, Whole

With a short delay, here’s my past weekend post as promised!

After an approximate 4 hour drive, we finally arrived on location.

Situated in western Peloponnesus right across the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the area is surrounded by long golden sand beaches dipped in turquoise waters and by deep forests adding harmoniously a dark green background to the landscape.

Although most part of the weekend was spent on the beach I still didn’t seem to get enough of it. The sounds of nature such as water washing the shore, birds, insects or even the mild wind made me experience moments of pure serenity. The crystal clear sea, calmer than a huge swimming pool, was the ideal place to cool myself every once in a while as the sun was sometimes unbearable especially around early afternoon. Regardless of my oil’s sunblock factor, a sunburn was unfortunately inevitable after so many hours of exposure but it was still worth it.

On Sunday, I came across a horse on the beach. Yes, no illusions, it was a big black horse. It was held by its owner and headed in the direction of a nearby hotel where they would probably provide horseback riding. Beautiful sight to see it gallop on the coast although it didn’t seem to fancy the water too much…

Other enjoyable moments included a night encounter with a wild fox in the middle of the road which was obviously not as afraid as I would expect it to be. It stood there right in front of the car, staring at it and eventually deciding to slowly move aside and let us pass. Strange perhaps, but still a cute little creature I must admit.

Other less enjoyable moments yet inevitable when you’re this close to nature, included mosquitoes (or other similar flying beasts) which were literally sky diving on me at night time. Fortunately they couldn’t get indoors so they only had their chance on me when I was outside the house.

And since all good things must come to an end, so did my little weekend.

The drive back lasted quite longer than our trip going there.

A total of 6 hours was spent on the road due to the heavy traffic congestion we encountered right before entering the capital.

But I didn’t mind. I guess subconsciously I didn’t want the weekend to end and the traffic was really helping postpone my return to the city.

Feeling whole again and with my personal batteries fully recharged, I’m now back. (Perhaps more in flesh than in spirit)