A Girna And A Moment That Took My Breath Away

There is a saying which goes something like this:

Life is not counted by the number of breaths you take but by those moments that take your breath away.

I thought that there was not much left on this little island that could take my breath away. I felt I had seen all there was to see. But sometimes I come across something which, in its sheer simplicity, is so pretty that it literally does leave me breathless for a moment or two.

This humble girna did just that and so much more. I suppose it all had to do with the fact that it was so unexpected – the contrast of the hash stone and the hundreds of vibrant yellow flowers. It seemed like the perfect place to be alone and write or read a good book. Or to just close my eyes and let myself be deafened by the silence. While the structure itself does not look like much more than a hovel, yet the view and its surroundings are fit for a king or, in my case, for a queen. And I would not mind being a queen of all this for a day, or even for an hour …

Note

A girna is a small hut built of stones often found in fields or in the countryside. They were used by farmers to store their tools, as shelter for livestock or as a short term dwelling when work in the fields became particularly intensive. These small buildings come in a variety of shapes but the most common shape is circular or oval. The interior is always domed and the roofs are flat.

While these corbelled stone huts are quite a common sight all over the countryside this girna at Fawwara is one of the most picturesque that I have seen.