Hello dear readers and/or learners of English,
Because the summer is coming to an end (have you been suffering this chilly spell lately too? Here in Northern Germany it certainly feels like autumn is around the corner) I would like to share some of my warm holiday experiences with you.
I went on a yoga retreat in Spain with my two children, around the beginning of August and that was the most awesome place I have ever been to. It’s situated in the mountains between Malaga and Ronda in a nature reserve.
This is is a picture of the main building, called Hermitage San Juan, surrounded by almond and olive trees:
Almonds happen to be my favourite snack so I was in my element from day one. Only they weren’t ripe for picking yet 😦
I never knew (as a typical city girl) that their outer layer looks like a soft, velvety, light green pod (see picture below), did you?
We were surrounded by tree-covered mountains and ruined monasteries. I actually climbed one of those mountaintops with some other guests one day and waived to my daughter down in the valley, who took a snapshot of it. 
From up there the view was magnificent. All very lush and green despite the average midday temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius. Now this week was really back to nature to the extreme. We slept in tipis, took outdoor showers and swam in the ‘bolsa’ which is a watertank that holds the water that runs down the mountain rocks. This was the most refreshing water I have ever tasted. The container we swam in looked like a pool but was actually just a water reservoir, storing the water to irrigate the olive groves in times of drought. (drought= period without rain)
While there was a children’s programme consisting of arts and crafts, swimming, hiking and other play opportunities, the adults did a long yoga session every morning on the sun-shaded roof terrace of the hermitage.
After that we had a wonderful vegetarian breakfast made up of either local or organic produce, you could tell the difference from the usual supermarket-bought groceries, very tasty. (groceries=foodstuffs)
We also went on some trips to the nearby river, which was so picturesque that I thought I was living in a fairytale.
Another highlight was the trip to Ronda, such a beautiful mountain town with a huge gorge running through the middle. (gorge=A deep narrow passage with steep rocky sides; a ravine)
I will defintely want to go back there one day.
That’s all for now folks!
Yoga & English: your perfect antidote to stress 
Oh Christa it’s just lovely to read these blogs and to see what you and the children have been up to. We miss you! Please tell me more about the sweetners I should avoid – very interesting! When ate you coming to visit us? I am back to school now so busy again. Beth has some friends coming round tonight for pizza and chocolate cake and a DVD! Not very healthy you will not approve! Anyway more soon love heather x
Hey Heather, honey, so good to read your news. I miss you loads and I seriously looked for flights to Scotland at the end of August but then it was so expensive after the time we had already spent in Spain and Holland that I didn’t want to risk going broke for the sake of pleasure. Maybe I should have ignored that Calvinistic trait of mine and just splashed out but it’s ingrained too deep, I guess. It is still on my to do list though. We will get there eventually though, no doubt in my mind. In the end it seems I must have had a premonition that both our fridge and tumble dryer would break down this month….and I really need to replace the latter because this week someone came home from school carrying lots of uninvited guests on their head….. so I’ve been doing the laundry as if there’s no tomorrow!