We talked before about the importance of taking care of your self and learning how to decelerate and being around nature. Another important step in the path of self-care is pursuing your passion or trying something new altogether.

As adults, we tend to be intimidated to try out new things - and when we do, and if we don't succeed at the first attempt, we are likely to give up. As kids, we are encouraged to let our imagination run loose, learn and create at all times. The opposite happens with adults. We tend to lock our imagination away in tight boxes. Art is often considered a form of pleasure as well as therapy and through history, many great artists had found inspiration in nature.

We encourage you to stay at our Quinta Velha for a writers or painting retreat. As we are privileged to be located around many acres of natural beauty, you will be able to relax, get inspired and hopefully create something exciting. We like to refer to our villa as ``an oasis for inspiration``.

Sintra was in the past sought after as a summer retreat for Lisbon nobility and royals and nowadays it is still a great place to escape the heat of Lisbon's summer. Thanks to its lush forest, the air is clean, so all you have to do is close your eyes and breathe in and out.