Our own bubble …

Lavinia, Friday, January 22, 2021

Source : Duurzaamheidskompas

For the first time in roughly 3 years, we had the chance to completely ‘disconnect’ from Lavinia. And that thanks to the generosity of Comunidad Valencia. They are doing an incredible gesture to revive tourism in their region, in a very original way. Every permanent resident of the Region of Valencia could register in the “Bono Viaje” program (= travel voucher). Because it soon became clear that it would be very difficult to receive foreign tourists, and knowing that tourism is the major source of income here, they came up with this wonderful initiative. The outcome is a win-win situation for everyone. The promised codes for a voucher with a maximum value of 600 euros, had to be used to pay for a stay within the region of Valencia. And this through an intervention of 70% of the accommodation value. In this way the money continues to circulate in the own region. Despite their reduced income, people can still travel, and the local catering industry gets its full booking amount. Nice is not it?

Source : Justmovie

To be honest, it seemed too good to be true, but we saw a double opportunity in it. So we registered Lavinia as a participating catering company, and personally we registered ourselves as a possible user of the holiday voucher.

The registrations took place in October, and in no time all the provided codes for the last quarter of 2020 were assigned. We were assigned the number 2000… and so much. So we were in the queue to get to the first quarter of this year. I didn’t really have that much faith in it, and actually it had faded a bit into the background due to the busyness with the renovations. Moreover, we ourselves had not yet been given any perspective to receive guests through the Bono Viaje program.

Source : viajesparanoparar

When we suddenly received an email with the code in question in the beginning of January, I was overwhelmed. To be honest, we both really needed we-time without Lavinia. I can already see you thinking: “why would you think it necessary to exchange such a beautiful place for another place, you are always on vacation if you can live in such a paradise, day after day?” You know, it’s just like your child, it never lets you go, you love it dearly, and yet you want to be without it for a while. For three years now, Lavinia has been what keeps us busy, day and night, 24/7. I especially had the feeling that I needed to be able to refuel a bit, and that this could not be done by staying at home. So basically this was a godsend. However, the code was only valid for 7 days, so action had to be taken very quickly to like something that was especially not far away. Because the “Beast Corona” could otherwise throw a spanner in the works if there were regional lockdowns.

Source : i2clipart

I didn’t want to wait too long to be able to leave, so as usual it was again a race against time to finish urgent matters to really let go of everything completely. Last Thursday we were – from our living room – a guest in the online ‘talk show’ of Naked Wanderings , in the meantime the petanque court was still completely finished by our loyal gardeners, we had to deal with problems with a second-hand seller of professional kitchen furnishings… And much more. The need only became more urgent to relax, to become Zen again.

Source : verkenjegeest

It even became a dime on its side, when it turned out that a regional lockdown was suddenly declared near the place where we would be staying. Fortunately, Jinona was not one of them. In full confidence we were able to leave our resort in good hands with Marta and Sergio – our cleaning couple / friends. Another win-win situation. They did not have the opportunity to go on vacation, and were now offered this as an opportunity in exchange for “house sitting”. It didn’t cost them a cent, and we were absolutely reassured that everything here would be under control. Everyone happy, right?

Source : stayathomemum

We got there anyway, which was quite a relief. However, it was not a “normal” stay that we booked. A little sarcastic perhaps: it was literally and figuratively a “bubble”.

We slept, as it were, under the bare starry sky, in the light of the moon, but in a glass dome. An incredibly unique experience. The view of roughly 300 ° from our bed. We thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet, the fact that we could not be “disturbed” every moment of the arrival of a courier, or of a workman, or of anyone or anything. We did not need a mobile phone, computer or e-mail or whatever. For hours we have been watching the sunrise and sunset from our bubble, in the warmth of a thick duvet. Waking up at night and not falling asleep for a while, but enjoying the clearest starry sky; for us this was what we needed. It really couldn’t have been better.

Because we ultimately only had to pay for 30% ourselves, we naturally got everything we could get out of it, and we were served deliciously with both breakfast and dinner. Eating together by candlelight, in “our” bubble, cozy with just Wim and I, and me and Wim.Of all the resolutions we made – reading books, learning Spanish, watching videos, finishing urgent matters … – we have not delivered on anything. But most importantly, and that was: “let go and enjoy”. Oh so difficult, but so enriching. Both to relationship and to renewal. We chatted for hours, just plain, but oh so cozy. We have brought a ton of ideas and a lot of renewed energy.

Source : iculture

Especially when we got back home and saw that Marta and Sergio had also had a wonderful 3 day trip, and just as we had been able to leave their worries behind for a while, our trip was so successful. It gave us just as much satisfaction. And we saw that it was good …

Hasta Luego,

Ana