Internet-free Weekend

Re-discovering the silence

This weekend, I visited the country cottage of my dear friend, Anna, who lives in the heart of Rome and frequents the countryside cottage whenever her time allows her to do so.  We were joined by a friend and her husband, who also have a countryside cottage nearby and from Rome.  It was nice to finally have our usual get-together dinner - we’ve missed our chit-chat a lot; it’s been a while since the Covid pandemic.

The villa is deep in the woods, and the Internet reception is almost non-existent.  Luckily, we were blessed to be back in a world of pure nature, away from news and social networks. The only sound at night was the croaking of frogs - a perfect BGM for a humble dinner. What a treat!

On the table shown is bread ring with boiled eggs, which Anna bought from Rome, a local specialty from Campania region where she is from. Next to it is an apple tart with almonds, which I made from my Mom’s favorite cookbook. It is a fool proof recipe that I can even bake it with my eyes closed. The main dinner - it was too dark to take the photos outside, but it consisted of hearty lentil soup, big salad and lots of olives and pecorino cheese. And of course, few bottles of local wine.

My first task of the day next morning was to go into the forest and pick wild strawberries for breakfast. Anna also put home-mdae jam made with sambuca berries growing in the deep woods.

After two days on an Internet free diet, my mind and body were totally relaxed and happy - I definitely felt the need to incorporate “Internet-free diet” into my life as much as possible…