La Primera Sonrisa // Design Hotel, Café and a Grand Idea

When I first met the two owners of La Primera Sonrisa at the opening of their café & bar, I ended up standing behind the counter and pressing fresh lemons into the iced water for their curious new customers. People were standing lines on their first open day and I was more than keen to offer my help switching from customer to a bartender. The thing is, after two months of me living in a sleepy little village it was like an iced water splash into my face to see two young lively people with dreams, ideas and certainty in their eyes doing their own thing. Their magnetic energy kinda reached my good vibe locators and so a friendship was born.

Here are some facts. Koen and Ivo are two of those, who actually did quit their well payed jobs in Holland and decided to turn their paths into a more sunny, tropical kind of life under the Andalusian sky. Just a couple of months ago, they did what many thought was impossible - they opened a café & bar followed by a two room design hotel on a site where there's not one shop nor office nor market. But a grand view.

It's the village called Polopos in the very south of Spain, white and old like Spanish little villages are, with narrow crooked streets, big bloomy flowerbeds, clean air, a view of dry mountains and the Mediterranean sea, and countless possibilities for outdoor hiking adventures. It's very tranquil and what some might call boring, for many - me included - it's the way to unplug from a noisy city life, get relief and reconnect with the simple joys, sensations or even the own breathing rhythm. On a calm sunset hike you start feeling like a prince of the world, watching endless Mediterranean below the feet, snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the north and sometimes even another continent in the far South. It's a village with a huge potential of a tranquil kind.

The hotel offers two rooms with a unique design. It's a personal business matter for the two entrepreneurs and you feel it when you enter the rooms - vintage carpets, fossil accessories, upcycled furniture and found attributes from around the globe meet together in a hotel room with aview. In the mornings they cook you breakfast and in the afternoon there's a set of creatively homemade tapas to every refreshing drink till after the sun sets.

To book a getaway holiday at La Primera Sonrisa you can contact Ivo and Koen directly or book on the common booking websites. Otherwise, take a sneak peek on their homepage, instagram or facebook to get yourself convinced.

Good to know: best airport to land is in Malaga (120km away); rent a car with a slightly bigger engine for serpentine uphill rides; go in autumn, spring or around the Christmas period - it's good for hikes (if you are fine with melting in the sun - July and August are also great!).

By the way, the café and the hotel are the stepping stones for a further grand idea: in the following months an off the grid eco resort is in planning. A kickstarter alike project will be launched soon to collect the needed resources for this vision to come alive: you will be able to make a contribution of 500€ in exchange for a two-person ten-day accommodation in one of their Valle del Eden Tiendas that will be built on a mountain side land property surrounded only by nature. So stay tuned for more details on their media channels.

Walk - Eat - Sleep - Get Up before Dawn - Repeat

The recent weeks of my life up in the clouds of the Polopos village has been full of little pleasures. I've been out on morning hikes around the village, found a group of hikers who meet up for a days hike around the Sierra Nevada every week (age average: 65 years - can't stop admiring their motivation for the outdoors and movement), (successfully) dragged my english dad Alex to join the hikes, too, went on a spontaneous Easter road trip around Andalusia, was even photographing and working creatively on an assignment, was learning Spanish, attended even two village wine fiestas, met many new lovely people and convinced Alex to let me drive his new car (and started looking for a future dream car (current status: Citroen c15d - because it's a simple, practical van and you can sleep in it! #vanlife!)). And in between the list of events time is filled with thoughts. Sometimes a few of the negative ones. Even thought I'm having a blessed relaxing time of my life at the moment, worry about future and it's caused mood swings don't give me a break. I start questioning too much, open rooms in my head which should not be opened. Thats nothing new to me nor anyone - we all have it. But the good news is that with years you learn strategies how to overcome your biggest enemy at times - yourself.

As I feel like standing on a thick fog crossroad with the unexplainable urge to quickly choose one out of a dosen ways, first time I simply don't know which way to go. 'Following my heart' or 'going with the gut' doesn't give me the right impulse just right now. Being very afraid to fail, one amongst many reasons. For sure some might say - this girl is an ultimately spoiled Generation Y child. But it's not necessarily a bad thing!

So, instead of crying around I'm doing one thing - getting a bus ride throughout Spain from the very South to the very North, to the city of Oviedo and starting the Camino Primitivo, one of the St. James Way trails that leads to Santiago de Compostela. Length -  approx. 300 km. It's one way to go - straight on to the West, always following the yellow arrows. Walk, eat, sleep, get up before dawn, repeat. And that for a couple of weeks, hopefully with least possible crossroads ahead.

You gotta break the circle of your own habits and routine, through a stone in a vacuum full of thoughts, to roil the water and bring in some good vibration. By walking. This keeps my mind clean. And I'm looking forward to discover and report.

Here's a little collection of life recently in and around the life in the cloud.

A few things I came across during the last few weeks:

new old music even better in a concert

great new blog to follow along

a podcast for my preparation for the Camino - will be following this one for sure

Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart - a very personal and inspiring book I'm on right now

And just before you close this tab - my Instagram - will be documenting my trail over over there, if I don't decide to disconnect completelly

Hello Spain, I like to hike you!

It's been two weeks since i came to Spain and I have no return ticket to anywhere. I got here with two bags full of clothes to wear for every different season, same with shoes, my trekking backpack, my sleeping bag and a backpack full of technical devices - I don't know where I might end up after this exciting period of time! And I have quite a few ideas. Now what has happened? Helgoland became a place too far away from some people I care about, in this case my english dad Alex, with whom I wanted to spend more quality time as long as I'm less bound to responsibilities. It so happened to be that he lives in sunny Andalusia in Spain. To be more precise - in a mountain village around 750 m above the sea level, which quite often ends up to be caught in a layer of clouds. The mediterranean sea is seen for my eyes delight just outside the bedroom window. And on a clear terrace evenings Morocco is saying good night at the far end of the horizon. It is an off-beat location, but as long as I can take a hike around the Andalusian Sierra Nevada - I'm more then happy with that. So I tend to call this time as 'My Life in the Cloud'.

What's next - I can't tell yet. But if you need me at least as a photographer for any kind of memory or have a suggestion for any creative activity - hint me a message. In the meantime I'll be watching some TED talks and looking for the next trail to day-hike.

My first long hike around the 'hood' was a week ago. I asked a wonderful lady from New Zealand called Amanda if I can join her on her hiking day up along Mount Lújar. It was a warmer day than expected, vitamin D could float all over my bare leg and arm skin and made me overall happy after months of sunless german winter. In combination with my new favourite activity hiking and lots of fresh air - hallelujah! Bless the active holiday feeling and ecotherapy! We started at Amanda's place just a couple kilometres away from Castell de Ferro hiking the red rocky path along a bed river, flourishing with moisten greenery down on the left side of the path and occasional rock caves on the right side. Up in the village Lújar we had a little stop for sin-alc cervecita with tapas on a bar terrace. Out of the village the path became much more steep, narrow and at times not really seaming like a path at all. But I was surprised to see how good the trail markers where located - almost everywhere at the doubtful trail turns. I need to note here that the hiking world is new to me - I have so little experience, that every white-yellow trail marker is a very much of a happiness reminder that I am actually doing this.

Getting towards Mount Lújar we saw a deer family of around ten animals climbing up towards the peek probably after seeing us coming their way, even though we could hardly see them. The Landscape around the village right now is pretty bare, there's not too much green yet. In July 2015 a violent fire has burnt down many trees and partly peoples properties along the valleys. Even though some bush and grass had grown out again, most of the trees - almond, cork oak, olive - are still cole black. But when we reached our highest point to cross the mountain pass to the other side of the valley for a further hike to the village Lago a completely new scenery opened up. Green bushed with all colours of wild mountain flowers flourishing at their best, herbs and blossoms with wonderful scent. Luckily the fire did not reach anything on that side of the mountain.

The bar in Lago was open so we could have some icy cokes and tapas to cheer up the body after an up and down trail of 7,5 miles. After that we turned around and went all the way back up and down to Amanda's, a slightly different route. It was deep dark when we reached home and the stars were seen brightly in the rural countryside with almost none light pollution.

Challenge of the day: 15 Miles, around 25 Km, of a pretty rocky and steep hike. I slept very well that night and was overall happy to feel my lower leg muscles hurting for two days again.

So what's next expected on the blog? Hikes, sunny Spain and Andalusia impressions an a few abandoned photoshoots from the past year that haven't been aired yet.

Write me if you want to join me for a hike around, follow my blog/ photographers facebook page (readers support mean so much to every blogger!) and stay tuned ♥

Walking the St.James Way Part 2/3

People in their life paths are looking for home. A place they feel comfortable and safe in. There’s many things, places or sounds, that make me feel home. Like music - I am always overall happy discovering music to which listening I feel connected to the divine, making me feel absolutely safe, enjoy the present moment, and actually feel home, with and in the music. Like this calm morning on the last day of the year with a candle listening to Clem Leek.

Then there are places, call it countries, cities, seasides, countrysides and forest, a place to have a base for. For me I’m still working on that one. Or rather I approach my search by letting the right base place find me rather than me intensively (and frustrated) looking for one. I rather hope that my life paths will bring me to the right base place for me, the little vagabond soul.

Then there is travel. To be more precise - the way of travelling. The views we love and feel absolutely inspired with. Moreover, views that make us feel once again connected with the divine. The path becomes the goal of the travel. And here, my friend, I’m happy to say I found a path which is a goal itself. A road that can feel like home in a very strange way when approaching it on your own two feet, step by step, always to the west.

I only had one week of time to walk a tiny part of the spanish St. James way, the less known route in the North Spain. And here we go - walking, sleeping in a sleeping bag, showering in a different bathroom every evening becomes something me and many travellers are aiming for. At the walk, a good nights dinner, a mild weather, the possibility to refill your bottle with drinkable water are just a few things which quite often depend on a coincidence or simply good luck. And it’s never the same diner nor café nor shop, as the path keeps on going and your feet keep on walking always towards the sunset land. All you have and need fits in a backpack and weights less then 10 kg. You travel and hike light. You feel light in your soul and get to see, how little a man actually needs to get a feeling of light and sweet happiness.

It is not something extreme to walk the path, but it is something where you have to have a flexible mind and needs. And once you let go and take things as they come, the comfort is all yours. You notice that there’s always a way - just let go of planing and the circumstances will provide what’s needed. For me all this and walking one direction is the ultimate comfort zone, travel with a direction but without a strict day plan is my comfort zone, my feeling of home, for now.

Here are some impressions of how my path went on with a few comments here and there.

When I entered this eucalyptus forest above I couldn't resist but start my little self portrait series of the way. No man was passing for around 45 minutes so i had the chance to locate the camera in a few different positions and try out the remote control app on my phone, as the Fuji camera has a Wifi option. When i reflect back I can say it was probably my most intense photographic trip yet, combining landscape, mood and self portraiture. On the way to Santoña you have to cross a lagoon with a little boat. It's just a 10 minute ride but it was overall amusing, I was smiling to myself as the mono speaker of the boat was roaring all over the shore some 80s music, "She's a Maniac" to be precise. Mind the super cool officer of the boar.

On the right side of this photo you can see the edge of the albergue i was staying that night. Three people all together, the easiness of the not overfilled North Way of mid November.

that morning i woke up at 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise and make some early hour photography.

A little café in the harbour area of Santoña for an espresso. A slightly weird mood, yet very filmic.

Other than expected it was a very cloudy foggy cold morning when i reached the empty beach after passing a prison on the way. But I enjoyed the arising feelings inside me - i could do what ever i wanted on that empty, still asleep space. So I started singing 'Hallelujah' to myself.

The yellow arrows of the St. James Way - even on rocks, hidden in very narrow jungle like rocky paths. Once in a while I was making jokes with my self that I could be the Dorija (Dorothee) fallowing the yellow arrow (brick) road :-)

To the East..

..and to the West, the path direction.

My loyal Deuter Backpack, patiently and without any complain waiting there for me to get finished with the self portrait experiments. A backpack, especially a good one, might become ones only friend on a long term trekking. Mine pretty much became my best friend. Carrying all the necessary stuff (and unnecessary stuff of a not yet experienced traveler) and my camera equipment, she (she's a female to me) didn't give me any sort of shoulder or back pain at all. At all! What did start hurting were my hips, then my leg muscles, some other deep muscles in the inner knee and after all my feet with three big blisters at the same time. But that was the last day of the hike, and that's a completely different story. Yet after all - it was all a nice sweet pain as a reminder that I am actually walking on my own.