So I decided to take the next step and see the property with my own eyes, imagining my life intertwined with that apartment. As I got closer, I thought that the idea of owning something that would become fully mine over time, calmly, wasn’t something I minded at all.

With that spirit, I arrived in Donoratico, a village still carrying the scent of the sea, but also that of a countryside that seemed endless.

The house, from the outside, reminded me of Aunt Maria’s—tucked behind a row of plants and shrubs that seemed to guard the secrets of time. There, every stone, every corner, had its own story. Not one that was shouted, but whispered, emerging from the folds of a home that felt lived-in, and like a keeper of ancient memory.

When I stepped inside, the fireplace at the center of the living room welcomed the damp air with its warm, reassuring presence. The fire, in truth, was just an echo of old traditions, and the crackling flames spoke a language I already knew, as if I’d always lived beside that sound. The owner, with her small and calm figure, was preparing something in the little kitchen. Her every move was part of a ritual—slow, measured—demanding nothing but to be observed. Her movements between the small shelves filled with pots and spices held a harmony that spoke of a time when everything had its place, and every action had meaning.

The living room, with velvet armchairs and linen curtains filtering the soft afternoon light, felt like a suspended space—like a painting that didn’t want to be moved. Books lined the shelves—not bestsellers, but books that had been read. They stood as signs of a quiet culture, not needing to be flaunted, only to be lived.

The two bedrooms were simple, with wrought iron beds and wool blankets. The house smelled of wood and lavender—a scent that mingled with the breath of the world outside.

But the true enchantment of that house was the small balcony. It opened onto nothing—or rather, onto the infinite. From there you could see the horizon, which seemed to end in the blue line of the sea, but it was only a promise, a boundary inviting you to look beyond. And it was there, in that little space open to the infinite, that I understood this house—with its corners and its calm—would become a part of my life. A steady point that needed no explanation, because it was already a part of me.