Blanca Fernández teaching a yoga class at the Vivir by V...
The alarm sounds. It's seven in the morning. I seem to remember that the last time I got up so early was to catch a plane to Africa, a continent from which right now, Lying on the bed in the suite with a private terrace at the V… boutique hotel in Vejer de la Frontera, **a few kilometers separate me. **
At the other side of huge window with views of the Cadiz countryside you only hear the chirping of the birds and the furious attacks of the easterly wind, which strongly shakes the treetops in Cadiz and hits the rooftops of this Andalusian white town frozen in time. A windy reason that drives Blanca Fernández, who directs the yoga and exercise routines of the Vivir by V… retreat, to** move the morning meditation and stretching class to the old cistern** of this restored house whose inner courtyard dates from the 16th century.
Courtyard from the 16th century in the boutique hotel V... in Vejer de la Frontera.
MUCH MORE THAN A SALUTE TO THE SUN
Descend step by step on the glass spiral staircase the more than ten meters high that separate me from the bottom of this underground tank that was formerly used to collect rainwater It is in itself an exercise in concentration. The same one that is in charge of capturing Blanca in my scattered and busy mind having dedicated my yoga practice to a specific purpose. My personal intention is presupposed incomprehensible, but I decide to offer him all my time and effort. I start the day in peace; and I hope and wish that marine life does so calmly (as I said, unfathomable).
The special breakfast (avocado toast with vegan cheese and homemade jam from the area, bowl with golden flax seeds and hydrated oatmeal flakes with oat milk and natural fruit and moringa tea) its measured caloric content, but also because of its enormous size, specially designed to cope with strength and energy the three-hour walk that awaits me through the natural park of La Breña and Marismas del Barbate.
Yoga and meditation class in the cistern at the boutique hotel V... in Vejer de la Frontera.
It's still a quarter to nine in the morning and Carlos Milburn, a guide specializing in routes through the province of Cadiz, awaits me at the door with high spirits and expectations. We walked through pine forests, leaving behind mills from other times and managed to enter the Palomar de La Breña, in an 18th-century hacienda in San Ambrosio, before reaching the Trafalgar viewpoint, whose panoramic view of the Caños de Meca and the towers of Trafalgar and the Tagus It leaves me without the little breath I have left. All while this environmental technician who has worked in Canada and the United Kingdom explains to me, in a didactic and entertaining way, the history of the place, as well as the different medicinal uses of the plants and trees that we find on our way.
What the lift doesn't stop (beware, it can last up to nine days), the picnic that was planned to be taken in the middle of nature is moved to the terrace of the 4Estaciones restaurant, owned by chef **Alberto Reyes, who with mastery and knowledge is in charge of designing the three daily meals of the Vivir by V retreat... **
Seasonal strawberry gazpacho, lollo rosso salad and a vegetable ceviche –in which fish is not lacking– precede a magnificent dessert based on mango and coconut milk that brings me back to life. a healthy menu accompanied by a sparkling and balanced Mahara, because here we have come to live, not to suffer.
Vejer de la Frontera
STILL WITH STRENGTH
It's time for body tonic through Vejer de la Frontera (and its steep slopes). Half an hour passes after three in the afternoon and Blanca has prepared a soft session for me where urban furniture helps me to exercise my muscles: squats with one leg on the benches in Plaza de España, push-ups against the well next to the Divino Salvador church, etc. Never has a visit to a destination been so invigorating, fun and demanding.
Back (breathless, but with much more endorphins) begins, (almost) an hour later, the class of restorative yoga and meditation, this time on the rooftop platform of the V… hotel in Vejer. Between asana and asana –and while Blanca reminds me to keep my abdomen active in each posture– I just I manage to hear the replica of the bells and the laughter of some children running through the alleys of the town.
Body tonic class in the town of Vejer de la Frontera.
I don't know if it was my thing, but the restless and dangerous sea that can be sensed on the horizon Surely today he will not have received any visit from the human being. I can rest easy... but really calm, specifically in the wonderful hands of Daniel, the therapist who practices the relaxing massages of the Vivir by V retreat… in the intimate atmosphere generated in the cistern.
After free time, it's time for dinner. The 'simple' creativity of a pumpkin cream, some grilled aubergines with arugula and a melon-mojito tastes like holy bread to me, or rather Artisan sourdough bread that they bring every day from Daniel Ramos' workshop in Chiclana. Before going to bed I decide to share my practice today with Emilio Fernández, head chef of the restaurant. He certainly deserves it.
Seasonal Strawberry Gazpacho served at the Vivir by V...
SECOND DAY OF THE LIVING BY V...
The alarm sounds. It's half past six in the morning. I seem to remember that the last time I got up so early… The thought escapes me. What I can't remember is the last time I was so sore. Blanca waits for me with her best smile at the bottom of the cistern. I can't say the same but I put energy into my morning yoga and meditation practice, that this time I prefer to dedicate myself to a more specific purpose just in case that helps reduce the effort: **loving myself more, or at least enough to face the day. **
Behind the healthy breakfast –in which there is no lack of a seasonal fruit salad– I meet Carlos again at the hotel reception. Today we have to leave earlier, at eight in the morning, since the route through Bologna is expected to last around four hours. It's not the first time I've seen the natural monument that is its huge dune with more than 30 meters of height or the remains of the Baelo Claudia archaeological complex, declared a National Historical Monument, but this time I will observe them from above, from the top of a mountain in the Estrecho Natural Park.
Views of the Cadiz coastline.
This circular hiking trail He gives me images to remember, like the flowering of a field of irises, rocks where you can climb and hang down, impossible geological shapes and cows, many black cows grazing. Because of the strong easterly wind we cannot go up to the archaeological site of the Pope's Chair, but nature compensates us in its own way by showing us an elusive deer for a few seconds.
We return to the starting point half an hour earlier than agreed. The last hills have been about to be able to with my morale, but I have taken it as a challenge that Carlos is able to complete this walk in three and a half hours. If he can, so can I. The fight between my body and my mind has been intense, but finally I managed to get both of them to work as a team.
Porch where the lunch of the Vivir by V...
AND WITH THIS AND SOME CAVIAR LENTILS...
lunch takes place on the porch of a family home belonging to Jean van Gysel, owner of the V… hotel in Vejer, in Bologna. Alberto surprises me with a caviar lentil salad, an avocado and seaweed ssam and a memorable rice with coconut milk.
While I enjoy the views of the sea with a glass of organic wine from Cadiz in hand, I just think about how simple it would be lie down on this sofa and take a nap… but Blanca intrudes on my thoughts. It's unfair to her, but right now I'm afraid of her. In half an hour the body tonic class begins in the town And all I want is to quit “What if I quit now?” she echoes recurrently in my head.
I do not do it. I zig zag up the narrow slopes of the Jewish quarter, I throw my fists against the wind at the Corredera viewpoint, I run under the arch of the Castle, I look at the windmills in the distance... until Blanca, who has taken my pulse since the first day, but the metaphorical pulse, decides to go back to the hotel and lengthen the yoga practice before my body collapses. I am sure that her measured high intensity exercises will work my metabolism for hours.
Daniel practicing a massage in the cistern of Hotel V... in Vejer de la Frontera.
I catch my breath in the restorative yoga and meditation class; and the shoulder thanks to Daniel's massage, who has noticed the muscle problem that I have been dragging for months and has worked hard on the area to heal me. He also puts me to sleep with a comforting head massage that includes pressure points in cervical areas that leave me K.O. in a matter of seconds.
I'm not sure I've achieved my purpose of loving myself a little more, but at least I feel satisfied for having faced this complete health and wellness retreat , which ends with three new culinary creations by Alberto washed down with an organic Merlot-Petit Verdot Crianza 2016 by Sancha Pérez. Because, as I said before, We have come here to live (by V...), not to suffer.
Address: Calle Rosario 11-13, Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz See map
Telephone: +34 (956) 45 17 57