So it began that we found ourselves in a completely non-English speaking village on a mountaintop in Italy. We had all prepared for the hike ahead… but finding where it actually began was the first of a few tricky steps.

I know this sounds insane, but I seem to find a lot of donkeys when I travel and often in strange places. Here, this one was fairly normally situated, but slightly inconveniently blocking the tiny path which bordered a potentially deadly cliffside and a hill too steep to climb. We befriended it, after a little conversing and the offering of some carrots, and after some time we each went on our way.

There were such beautiful ruins, old trees, and small cottages along the mountaintop. I really felt as though we had stepped into another world and somewhere that would exist completely on its own without any human intervention. There was an imprint of times past that rang over its surface – yet as we walked through these ancient artefacts of nature it was as though the space sighed… returning to the state of ease it had been resting in for all of time before this.

To think of the same view… one that rendered even the super-yachts into tiny insignificant dots… seen by so many people over time was a really humbling experience.  The name for this short hike had at first seemed a little dramatic, but being up here I saw where the weight of the words came from and why they are still relevant.

So often during travels I seek the cities, museums and conversation with new people. These things are all lovely and important – but just for once it was absolute bliss to simply stand on a mountaintop and gaze beyond to the earth and seaside far below. Moments like these really influence the way I travel in both cities and nature and I am always so happy to share them with the wonderful people met while travelling.

Explorations along the Amalfi Coast, Italy – July 2014