“Throw your dreams into space like a kite,
and you do not know what it will bring back,
a new life, a new friend, a new love,
a new country.”
— Anaïs Nin
This weekend officially marked two years since José and I crossed paths for the first time at the top of the world — in a red wooden artists’ house on Norway’s Lofoten Islands. And to celebrate such a momentous occasion, we set out of Montevideo the minute José finished work on Friday night and made our way to a hilly region of Uruguay with an all-too fitting name: Edén.
Our destination in such a paradisical-sounding idyll was a boutique hotel and horse ranch known as Haras Las Tordillas, which proved to be just the adventure we were hoping for.
As promised, there were a dozen gorgeous Arabian horses:
There was a horse ride — or cabalgata, as I learned to say in Spanish — down the long dusty roads winding through Edén’s picturesque countryside:
There was even a tiny, precious puppy named Fermín:
And because I feel one can never have enough puppies to get us through the beginning of the week, here’s just a little more of darling Fermín:
Now — let me stop myself before I give away too much of Edén’s magic too soon.
Our escape this weekend will be the star of a new micro-story on Instagram in just a few weeks, and so the task before me today is to share my latest micro-story with you, which was all about how José and I celebrated our first anniversary this time last year — with a trip to another storied and rustic corner of Uruguay known as Cabo Polonio.
The snowy world of Lofoten where José and I met two years ago was more than just a beautiful backdrop to our story. I think it also cemented something fundamental between us — a love for simplicity and remote places, where life feels a little more like how it was meant to be.
Our journey to Cabo Polonio was a chance to return to such a place, and I hope the following story and sketches send a little sunshine, sand, and solitude your way today, friends.
Hi Candace-
Oh my God I want that puppy!! And congratulations!! I’ve always thought that finding a partner
is almost as hard as finding a good travel companion- I’m so glad you’ve found both in Jose. Your
smiles really light up the world. I also loved it that it appears that you’d been drawing for 40 days
of Lent- a challenge I’ve considered but have not yet tackled. All very best, Karen
Good morning, Karen! It’s so lovely to hear from you here — and even lovelier to hear that darling Fermín brought you as much as joy as he did to me 😉 And thank you so much for your kind and wonderful words! I truly couldn’t agree with you more about finding a partner…I even told José this weekend that our life together feels so natural now, that I sometimes have to stop and remind myself of how impossible it once felt to me. I never want to take that for granted, most especially — as you say — since we even travel so well together 🙂
Also, yes! I loved tackling the challenge of drawing every day during Lent (as it was definitely a challenge indeed!) — I actually did it last year, and thought you might enjoy seeing the post where I rounded up all of my sketches and shared eight lessons I learned through the experience:
https://www.candaceroserardon.com/2017/05/40-days-of-moments-2/
Thank you again for your beautiful note here, and I hope all is going well for you in Atlanta so far! <3
Excellent Lenten pictures! I may have to re-schedule Lent or just pick another month to fit drawing in everyday instead of just the weekends. (Kind of like choosing to pay attention to your life everyday instead just on the weekends) thanks for the inspiration
This was such a gorgeous post! Thank you for starting my day off with a little magic.
It sounds like a wonderful destination where you can get away from the craziness of life and be with the person you love doing the quiet things in life. Love the story.
Thank you, Joan! And I couldn’t agree more about the beauty of sharing the “quiet things in life” with the person we love — it’s one of the things I’m most grateful for in my life here in Uruguay 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!
Dear Candace,
Your destination for your second anniversary looks beautiful – Eden is the perfect name! I look forward to seeing more. That puppy! So gorgeous, makes me homesick for my princess pooch. You would have loved having cuddles with him.
Cabo Polonio is a special place – ‘where life feels lighter’ is a beautiful way to describe the feelings you had. A place for ‘love, light, light, and laughter’. And home is always where you are with those you love, isn’t it? I’d love to go there.
Congratulations on your two year anniversary. I’ve had so much pleasure following your story here and seeing you go from strength to strength in all your endeavours. Best wishes to you and José.
Dear Colleen — as always, your kind words and insights mean so much! What you wrote here especially resonated with me: “Home is always where you are with those you love, isn’t it?” Yes, yes, and yes 🙂 I have always believed that, but I’ve come to experience that on an even deeper level these past two years with José.
I so appreciate your well wishes here for us both, and I also can’t wait to keep following along your own beautiful journey in Italy! Hope you’re feeling back to full health and that this week continues to be full of beauty and inspiration for you <3