Adventures in the sky

Last year I gave Andrea a paramotor flight experience for his birthday. He once told me that he loved surfing as it was like flying over water and if he had to choose an animal to turn into, it would have been a bird, in order to be able to fly over things and places.
He never had the chance to do it - until now. We had been scheduling some appointments with the instructor for a month, but the weather in the Basque Country is unpredictable and we had to postpone every time. Finally the D day came, with no clouds in the sky or bad winds getting us in danger.

We drove half an hour from Biarritz to the countryside, to a Basque village named Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle. I was stunned. In just a few kilometers the landscape totally changed and we found ourselves in the middle of a mix between Tuscany hills and French lake sides. The coast was far away yet so closed, everything so quiet - a real escape for those who cannot stand the crowds of people living at the seaside during the summer season.

It was already 8.30 pm, so the dusk light was softening the atmosphere and giving everything that special aura you see only in the golden hour.

I was a bit worried about how safe a paramotor could be, but the instructor explained us all its technical features and he assured me he would have given me my boyfriend back safe and happy.
And so he was! They flown over the hills, the lake and right over the coast. He told me everything appeared so sharp and the colors were brighter than usual. I can't really explain how he felt or what he saw beyond all that beauty. But I saw that glow in his eyes and this made me just so happy to have succeeded in giving him the wings he dreamed of, even if it was just for a little time.

This experience made me think that maybe next time I could be the one flying over that scenery... We'll see!
Are there some of you out there who have experienced something similar? If not, have you ever thought about it?

xo



Credits // Photography: Marta Tomasini

Escape around the corner

A couple of weeks ago Andrea's dad came visit us in Biarritz for a little winter escape. Unluckily for him it ended up raining almost everyday of his staying, but in Biarritz you can well expect it!

Any time a friend or a family member come visit us we try to show them the beauty of the surroundings - we visit museums, take long walks on the beach, have tea in fancy bistrot or even cross the border with Spain for having some pintxos (aka "tapas") at our Spanish neighbor's.

That's for saying we play tourists at our home and sometimes we find ourselves discovering beautiful places and stunning landscapes we didn't know before, just around the corner or even in our neighborhood!

Last time Andrea took his dad and I on a little walk from our house to the lake. He discovered that path on one of his usually runs and, well, he was just right when he told me we had to go back there.

I'm a lazy one (no surprise around here! ;) ), but one of my New Year's resolutions was going out more and, most of all, take exercising more seriously. And having a walk after work counts as a work out, right?? ;)

So we took the path from the coast line to the lake Mouriscot. The landscape suddenly changed and it looked like we were in the woods or in some little village next to the mountains. Pics speak for themselves.

When we reached the lake the water was so still and everything so quiet, it made us forget about the roaring storm waves of the Ocean, so closed yet so far in our minds.

The only noise was myself trying to scare the ducks away... How old I said I was??!

It was a good escape and a sweet way to end a normal work day. 

Most of all, we learnt that sometimes we don't need to fly far away or look for the next travel adventure to discover new wonderful places and get surprised. 

Sometimes the beauty hides just around the corner - it's our job to seek it our eyes wide open and take the most of it.... And how poetic is that? ;)

xx


Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini, Photography: Marta Tomasini and Andrea Scatolero

The Dune of Pyla - Lost in the desert

During fall Andrea and I took on a weekend getaway in Bordeaux, 2 hours driving north from here. Do you remember the posts (here and here)? Well, what you don't know yet is that before driving back we decided to stop visit the Dune of Pyla (or Pilat), the tallest sand dune in Europe. We had heard it to be a wonderful place, but never been before. So, we took the route and decided it was the right time to go there, since we where just 10 km far.

We didn't expect it as one of the most magical places ever. It's basically a desert falling directly into the ocean from one side, and into the wild forest from the other. Such a stunning view, our jaws dropped open.

Unluckily for us, other people thought a Sunday afternoon could be the right time to visit the dune (not really an original idea eheh!), but the place was huge enough not to make us feel crowded.

From Wikipedia:

"The dune has a volume of about 60,000,000 m³, measuring around 500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length from north to south. Its height is currently 110 meters above sea level. The dune is a famous tourist destination with more than one million visitors per year.The dune is considered a foredune, meaning a dune that runs parallel to a shoreline, behind the high tide line of a beach. The dune has been observed to move landward, slowly pushing the forest back to cover houses, roads and portions of the Atlantic Wall."

We had a magical and romantic time. The sun was setting and lights started playing all over behind the sand dunes. Everyone was speechless (a part from a couple of teen age girls who didn't stop laughing and taking selfies).
Anyway, I highly suggest you to go visit it if you ever pass by - maybe during work days it'd be better, but actually it's so beautiful that it would be worth a visit every time and day of the year. And if you're living not so far from there, you could think of it as a romantic St.Valentine's getaway ;)

Even if I'm sure they don't show at the best its immense beauty, I hope these pictures can give you an idea of it.

I think we'll go there soon again.


Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini, Photography: Marta Tomasini & Andrea Scatolero

Jump into the blue - The travel that changed my life

When I think about summer, I instantly think about traveling. All of my best memories take place during the sunny season, and most of them are from my travels.

A couple of days ago, I came across some pictures I took a few years back during a trip to Morocco.

It was in 2010, and at the time I really needed to get away for a while. I had a few friends running a sort of surf camp there, so I decided to go visit them. Less than one week later I had booked my flight, packed my stuff, and was ready for a one-month Moroccan adventure!

I was soon living in a small village in the south of Morocco, and I have to admit that during the first days I found myself crying a lot, as it was quite difficult for me to be disconnected from the modern world. However, over time I slowly came to know a new universe there, and then something happened…

I have always wanted to share about this travel, not only because it is where I first learned how to surf, but also because it pretty much changed the way that I looked at the world…

Living (almost) alone, being in a totally different culture, having only limited communication skills, and finding myself surrounded by wild nature made me think about the way we "occidental people" live our lives. Everything in Morocco was just simple and genuine, and personal interactions were enriched by a deeper meaning…. Something our modern life seemed to have forgotten about.

It was there that I learned how strong and free human beings can be. I grew up a lot during that period of my life, and I finally found the answers I had been looking for.

When it was time to return back home I cried, but I left carrying my new memories with me. And even after my return, I continued to grow every single day from the lessons that I learned there. Even now, I can still feel the perfumes, those voices, those colors, and the surf.

It was a magic month. I finally found myself there.

I share this story of mine to let you know that you don't have to be afraid to just jump into the blue sometimes. Be hungry for adventure, travel, discover the unknown, and fall in love with what you're surrounded by.

You never know what life has planned for you. And all of the best experiences will always come when you least expect them.

Have you ever had some life-changer travel experience? I'd love to hear about them all!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

And happy 4th of July to all the US readers!

Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini

Backpacking - Who needs stuff anyway?

After reading about the amazing adventures around the globe of Evey from Style Spy, it popped into my mind the terrifying experience of packing before a trip. Weeks and weeks spent deciding whether to bring my fancy dress or not, whether to pay for an extra bag - but then again I won't be sure to have all that I'd need. That's why sometimes backpacking seems the perfect way to start a new adventure. So, I asked my dutch friend to tell Surfragette's readers (and me) how a backpacking trip changed her way of traveling - and of living. 

Maybe I should try myself too - and leave that fancy dress at home!

"Marta asked me to write about my experience in travelling. There are many clichés when it comes to traveling, and in particular: backpacking. Things like 'how it changes you', how 'less materialistic you become' and how you 'fall into a black hole, some kind of dromomania', after a long trip. And I must say, for me they are true. Today I will talk about this materialist side of mine, that I let go.

Surfing in Sweden

To the eyes of many surfing means walking on the beach in swimwear under the tropical sun with their board. The interesting part of all of this is that for a lot of other realities (like in Europe for example), surfing is a completely different thing!

Due to the weather conditions, to water temperature and to winter swells, surfing for me means wearing a thick wetsuit for most of the time accompanied by a good pair of booties.

So, I was pretty much intrigued when I talked to Angelica from Surfsyster, a Swedish girl who doesn't fear the cold.

Today she is telling us her way of surfing in Sweden.

Enjoy it!

"When I first started surfing in Sweden I hated it. It was nothing at all as the surfing I had fallen in love with in Bali, Tenerife and Morocco. Instead of playing around in bikini and boardshorts I had to get use to wear a thick wetsuit with gloves, boots and hoodie for most of the year. It was cold, windy and the waves were far from world class. In Sweden we don't get any groundswell so instead I have to rely on heavy onshore winds, which usualy occurs during the winter months, to build up some surfable waves for me and my fellow surfers.

Surftrip in the island of enchantment

It's freezing cold in Europe! If you're not one of the girls who love to shred the mountains and to feel the snow falling while gently caressing your face, maybe you need a vacation. And if you're dreaming about taking a walk on white sand beaches, while sipping your piña colada after a surf sesh in warm clear water, that's for you!

Surf, salsa, adventures, Caribbean, waterfalls, lots of fun, nature paradise, warm weather... What else? All in Puerto Rico!