Picture a hot summer’s day with a slight cool breeze up in the mountains near Málaga, Spain. Standing on the terrace of my Grandmother’s beautiful house and looking out across the mountains. You can see the local goatherd taking his goats to graze on the mountain to the left. The sky is clear and the sun is beaming down on everything and making the water of the swimming pool, down below the terrace, glisten and sparkle. Straight ahead, between two mountains, you can just about see the sea and across it to Morocco. I could stay there forever just looking out at the view.
Even at night I like to stand on that terrace and look out. You can spot a few houses on the mountains if they have their lights on. It is cooler at night, but still warm enough to sit outside and have a drink with the family. It is a happy place. That terrace was always full of laughs when we sat together. My grandmother makes people happy wherever she goes, she has an infectious sense of humour and makes us all laugh.
The best part of all is looking up to the stars at night. The sky is so clear because there are so few lights around. When you look up you can see thousands of stars. There is hardly a patch of sky that doesn’t have a star in it and you can clearly see an arm of the Milky Way.
If ever there was a ‘perfect moment’ that was it, stood on that terrace late at night, looking up at the beautiful sky. That is my special place.