Room with a view

Not to diminish the insight of E. M. Forster I am reluctant to philosophizes away the consequence of a room with a view unless it were to align with George Emerson's observation,"My father says the only perfect view is the sky over our heads".  My North American seaside experience is for the most part confined to the Atlantic Ocean and as such I am accustomed to facing east when on holiday.  Aside from the unmistakeable splendour of the sunrise there is the seductive sound of the crashing Ocean, a recurring percussion which comes far closer to washing away the sins of my soul than any other invention.

Combine the sunrise and Ocean with a bit of height and the prescription is breathtaking!  I cannot imagine a more delightful way to begin a day than from an upper balcony overlooking the distant horizon.  One can track the never-ending changes of the panorama almost by the minute as the sun steadily arches across the resplendent sky.  Frequently there is the added curiosity of early morning beach walkers or a lone Olympian competing against the passage of time to fulfill a Maritime dream.

To our further delight this morning we took our breakfast in arrant tranquillity upon the terrace with a commanding perspective of the Atlantic.  A bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of black coffee is an unsurpassable concoction to inaugurate the day.  At times the blazing sun was overwhelmingly bright but before long it had risen over our heads and out of direct line of horizontal sight.  We speculated that the afternoon heat would make the al fresco dining experience intolerable without an umbrella.  In the meantime our private morning thoughts wandered aimlessly and boundlessly in the airy expanse.  The colours of the sky and reflection of light upon the face of the sea changed with our introspection.

When we later regained the room after breakfast and subsequently in the afternoon after our constitutional bicycle ride we were treated to an amphitheatre of activity below, people swarming about the pools and upon the beach fulfilling their current ambitions. The closing number was the spectacle of a full moon rising upon the distant horizon and mirrored upon the face of the sea.