There’s something energising about a body of water. I think the reason seaside towns and cities have such a vibe is because human beings genuinely get energy from the ocean seeing as its the largest body of water on earth. A lake evokes a similar feeling. Perhaps there’s some real science in the fact that a human being is mostly made up of water and the fact that everything has a vibration, somewhere in both those facts there could be something about our water vibration matching that of the water that surrounds us. Either way, I just cannot help but feel drawn to a lake or the ocean and when I’m in the vicinity of the water it elevates me to a better and happier version of myself.
Our Winterberg accommodation overlooked a lake fit with small mountain backdrops covered in trees for as far as the horizon could go. Our morning workout was an early run around the lake and up into the hills, legs again thanking me for putting them through the sheer gain in elevation. My lungs were burning, my legs full of lactic acid and my smile fit snug between both ears. I need the air, the water and hills. We both headed back to the apartment where we took the time to stretch and pose some yoga whilst the sun rose higher. It was then time for breakfast and the rest of our adventure.
For breakfast we stayed true to the porridge mantra that Laura and I live by. Still sticking to a sugar detox, although Laura at this point was struggling a little. What is funny is that neither of us consume vast amounts of refined sugars. Typically we just have 50g of chocolate in our porridge in the morning and then occasionally have dried fruit or a tablespoon of Biscoff spread in yoghurt later in the evening. As the average westerner’s go, we both keep our sugar intake to about 40g per day, which is pretty low considering all the exercise we do. With this in mind, and the fact we only had a few days left on the detox, we mixed in some raisins to the oats and broke the rules a little bit.
After our naughty porridge we hit the hills for an excursion. I used my trust Suunto app to figure out a route that lead us to a peak or highest point of elevation in the walkable area. We were greeted by a delightful view once we’d hiked up a nice and slightly off-track path. Laura did the whole thing in Birkenstocks because she had blisters. It’s funny as we often take hikes and pretty tough walks in the opposite of the go-to gear. We wear casual clothes and running trainers whilst being passed by people in boots with poles. The truth is, you don’t really need all that gear, unless of course you’re tackling a particularly high peak or mountain. You’re doing as much hiking as anyone, boots or bare foot.
After our hilly adventure we headed back to the apartment and saw that a few people were gathered around the swimming section around the lake. Our plan had been to head into Winterberg to explore the town or possibly go dry tobogganing but lazing around in the sun and swimming in the lake just seemed really appealing. After a spot of lunch we headed down to the lake and took in the sunshine. We read our books, bathed in the water and dried off in the heat. Such a simple yet perfect way to achieve happiness. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realised more and more that happiness is always achieved by simplicities.
After this we did eventually head into Winterberg, as it was a Sunday our plan was to eat out for what would be the second and final time of the trip. Seeing as the last Sunday we’d ended up having pizza we decided we’d continue the tradition and located a pizzeria. The pizza’s were very average and I’d say that I’ve had better from supermarkets but again we were too hungry to care. What made up for it was that we headed to a dessert place after and both had big ice cream sundaes. The menu did contain a few hilarious dessert plates that were mocks of savoury plates including a spaghetti carbonara which was ice cream spaghetti with caramel mushrooms and strawberry ham. There were others but I forget what they were.
A lovely accomplished feeling as we headed to bed ready for our next destination. Stay tuned to find out about our stay at the Alpaca farm…
Much love.
BG
benedict. 