Today it's about the place where some of our latest memories were created and which made us appreciate more every memory instead of blaming the pandemic for being greedy keeping us away from what we love doing the most. A place close to our hearts where we can't wait to get back to as soon as possible, and a place which each one of you has to discover for a better living.

We often run away just for the sake of some destinations we've discovered in someone else's posts or pictures from the social media accounts, forgetting to pay more attention to what is surrounding us.
The good part is that nature is (mostly) everywhere. It can be just a tiny forest, a valley, a land of flowers, a small river, or just some rock formations - nature is loving us no matter if it has sightseeing attractions or not.
But it's right there. And right here - next to you, and next to me.
And it's really sad what we always search for a specific place which most of the time ends up with a bunch of people and tourists, instead of going a few hundreds of meters, or a few km away from your house and enjoy the same environment, but just a little bit less populated and with fresher air.
I and my family always had a favourite spot to get closer to nature whenever we didn't have the chance to travel, no matter where we were living. At the beginning, when we were living in the hometown, we often opted for Bistrita Gorges which were the closest mountains to us and where we were going almost weekly, even if we were spending around 2 hours on the road. There we have some of the most memories because we've kind of grown up in that place and it's also one of the main spots which made us love nature so badly.

After we moved to Bucharest where we graduated the college, our favourite place became IOR Park. Of course, it might sound tricky thinking what's so nice visiting a park over and over again? Well, living in the capital it's not an easy thing for someone who loves nature and silence, and that park was a real oasis of silence with lots of colourful trees, a big lake, some islands, and lots of spots where you could hide from the urban chaos.

But after we graduated we decided it's time to move on and begin a new stage in our lives in a different place - in the heart of Transylvania, Sibiu.

Of course, over here we are talking about way more places from where you could pick a favourite one to run to, but where also the simple living has brought us closer to the mountains, being able to stare at them right from the windows of our houses or from the balcony.
Though, the one that had steal a little part of our hearts is called Valea Ștezii and it's located at the foothills of the Cindrel Mountains.
We are talking about a valley located just 16 km away from Sibiu, on the same road that leads to the overpopulated mountain resort Păltiniș.
There is no doubt that Păltiniș gained all the rights to be so visited by lots of people, especially during the winter where many slopes are waiting for all kind of winter sports lovers, but there are way more things to discover before reaching it.
For example the valley I told you about.
We used to go there pretty often just to do a BBQ or to simply get connected with nature and forget about daily routines, until a while ago when the pandemic hit Romania pretty badly, talking about lots of lockdowns and restrictions which I totally agree with even if I miss that kind of lifestyle.

It's just the feeling that something is missing: the tiny river making its space between the rocks, the sound of the rain gently hitting the leaves, the fresh green grass and trees, the BBQ in the middle of the rain, and many other simple things we all would love to feel one more time...

Valea Ștezii doesn't represent just the gate to where most of our memories were created in the last 2 years, but also the place from where many other mountain routes are starting, bringing you in front of some other hidden gems of nature.
We are talking about three lakes, one peak of the Magura Mountains, two valleys, and countless monasteries, museums and citadels due to the tiny villages which are surrounding the place, that are very rich in history and important stories from the past of the country.

Happily, after a while since we were frequenting the mountain path accompanied by the Steaza River we discovered that people invested a little bit more, arranging a special location before joining the valley with lots of tables, chairs and grill accessories which is free to use by anyone who comes by.
So our last stop was in this place, even though there weren't really too many visitors just because it was raining outside.
But how else to enjoy the fresh feeling of the woods if not when it awakens after rain and the green nature becomes... well, even greener?
We've never been scared by rain, neither sleeping in the tent when it was storm outside or when we were holding an umbrella above the BBQ to enjoy some tasty food in the middle of nature.
Because we do love nature not only when it's sunny outside or 30°C, but also when it's raining and there are only clouds outside, with lots of fog and cold temperatures.
Because this is us, some real nature and adventure lovers who never get back from anything we had in plan for that day, even if the things seem like not working in our favour.

Unfortunately, the time has passed, and the year it's almost over and it's been a while since we really connected to nature due to the pandemic which lasted a few months and the summer was gone in a few seconds, being followed by another lockdown we recently had due to the big number of infections we registered in Sibiu.

But now, after a few months since we have last seen the sun shining on the sky, countless days spent behind the window not even feeling the spirit of holidays approaching, and after seeing a few family members infected with the damn virus, I don't even care anymore when or if the pandemic will ever be over. I'm just trying to stay more positive and learn to be happy for the nice moments that appeared in my life and focus less on the future and what it could be or when we will be back to normality.

There is no wonder that this year was a rough one for all of us - no matter what occupation or responsibilities we had because it strikes hard in all domains without really caring about what is coming up next, but it was also a year full of lessons from which I learned to appreciate more the present and what I have (not talking about material stuff), a year which showed how important it is to see the sky every day and feel the fresh air, a year which made me think about each tear falling down as one of those amazing sounds created by the raindrops hitting the leaves, a year where every human is important, no matter if we talk about people or simple creatures of nature, and a year that I hope will come to an end smooth and clean, the sun rising again in everybody's life very soon.

I hope everybody has nice and safe Christmas Holidays, and I personally feel like I received some of the most beautiful Christmas gift with all the attention and interaction my last couple of posts has received from you guys, so thanks for being here and making this world a better place!

Take care and Merry Christmas! ❤️

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾

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