Having spent the last 3 years (almost!) living in the city, I learned to appreciate the city lifestyle and the benefits of having everything within walking distance – be it green parks, markets, art and culture events, restaurants…

However, when it comes to having a holiday or a short break, I find that being closer to nature helps me relax more and at the same time feel energised afterwards to continue with the daily life. In spite of this, I am always eager to visit new cities and embrace different cultures.

My husband and I were recently in Germany, spending some quality time with his family. They live in the countryside, close to the Bavarian Forest, with vast quantities of land in between tiny villages. The surroundings are so peaceful and for a person like me, coming from a tiny island in the Mediterranean, the scenery is just wonderful. Most of the fields were full of corn crops, ready to be harvested by next month.

The weather was mostly warm and dry and therefore we had the opportunity to walk around the neighbourhood and explore the nearby forest. We were lucky to forage for some wild mushrooms from the forest – thanks to one of Seb’s uncles who could identify which ones are edible! 🙂

We could also enjoy the fresh and organic vegetables from their back garden. The abundance of fresh tomatoes was impressive and for a light lunch we often ate just a simple salad with tomatoes, cucumber, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella. Both the cucumber and basil were harvested from their garden.

Trust me, we ate a lot of food there but very often I was too eager to start and forgot to take photos! 🙃

Btw… We did cook sometimes during the 2 weeks we spent there… I made this yummy pizza using my favourite pizza dough recipe! I think everyone liked it because it was gone very soon! 😀

Here are some of my favourite shots from the countryside!