New Year musings from Sri Lanka...

Some beautiful Gerberas to brighten up my day...

Twenty one days into 2014 - and I'm just back from a long and relaxing holiday in Sri Lanka. Some highlights...

• A romantic dinner at Tintagel - Colombo to celebrate a special occasion: A rather majestic looking house known for its history. A serene atmosphere with good food. 
• Fireworks on New Year's eve: Need I say more... :)

• Lunch at the Barefoot Garden Cafe: It's a great place to catch up with friends, to sample a very tasty and rich pork curry (my fave) and to browse for a novel or two (I bought Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilleke and loved it).
• A leisurely tea at the Dilma Tea Lounge - the staff are very friendly and you'll need their help to work your way through the mind-boggling varieties of tea on offer.
• A trip to Ratnapura to see family - things change and yet they don't... it's fast losing its rural feel, but it was good to see everyone.
• A trip to Galle: A morning train ride and a leisurely stroll in the Galle Fort, topped up with a romantic sunset at the end of the day - perfect.
• Pirith chanting ceremony: While it's a lot of fun to be out and about, it's also important to be in touch with the spiritual side of life as well... it was a delightful and calming ceremony.
• A Sri Lankan wedding: What joy and laughter!! Plus, a great excuse for me to wear a Kandyan saree... it's been ages.

On the flip side it was hot and sweaty (nothing new there I suppose), quite dusty (there's plenty of road work going on pretty much everywhere we went), and not many people know how to stick to a lane when driving, but they are experts on leaning on the horn!

But you know what? It's an amazing country - one which everyone should visit at least once!