The Maldives... Island Paradise!

Having a long weekend from work, John and I decided to take advantage and book a last-minute trip to the Maldives.  This island nation located just off the coast of India in the Indian Ocean is made up of 1190 coral islands, spread over 90,000 square kilometres.  It has a reputation of being an expensive place, and expensive it definitely was... but it is truly amazing!

We flew on Sri Lankan Airlines to Colombo, Sri Lanka from Dubai overnight, which was under 5 hours.  I had no expectations, but Sri Lankan Airlines were great!  The plane was huge, with a great entertainment system and tasty food which you could order off a menu.  I was pleasantly surprised!  We had to wait a few hours in Colombo before boarding our flight to Male, the capital of the Maldives.  Upon arrival at the small airport there, we got free visas on arrival and were greeted by a guy with a sign for our resort who ushered us onto a bus to take a short ride to the resort's private lounge, where we waited for our seaplane transfer.

Since our resort was around 100 miles away from the airport in Male, a 40-minute seaplane ride was necessary.  This was the first time we'd ever been in a seaplane.  They are quite small and only fit around 20 people I think.  The planes take off and land on water, and fly quite low (and only in good weather).  You have amazing views of the turquoise blue water and atolls (ring-shaped coral islands) of the Maldives below.  I actually hate flying but I wish I could travel everywhere by seaplane, it was so cool!

Upon arrival at Kuredu Island Resort, we were greeted with a refreshing iced tea and taken to our beach bungalow.  Kuredu didn't have that exclusive, glamorous feel that many other resorts in the Maldives seem to have.  It was pretty chill but still beautiful.  We loved it!  The staff were great and the island was gorgeous.  The white sand beaches were perfect and the water had the most amazing shades of blue.

The beach bungalow we stayed in had an outdoor bathroom (the ceiling is open but there's a wall).  I liked it but I don't think it would be for everyone.  I definitely saw some lizards scamper away when I opened the door to go in sometimes!  Our bungalow had some deck chairs which were perfect for relaxing on, and we were located directly on the beach.  There were also other options for accommodation on the island (garden bungalow, beach villa, over water villa).  I thought the bungalow was perfect for us!  The best thing was stepping outside onto the beach every day and seeing those spectacular views.

On our side of the island there were signs "beware of stingrays," and we definitely saw a bunch in the shallow water near the beach on our first night, along with baby sharks which swam right up to the shore.  We didn't swim on that side of the island after that!

The other side of Kuredu Island was perfect for swimming though.  The water was so clean and clear.  John has been diving in several locations around Asia and said this was the best visibility in the water that he's ever experienced.  Kuredu has a "house reef" where we saw lots of colourful fish, some sharks, a shipwreck nearby, and even a HUGE sea turtle.

One of the best things we did was book a tour to go snorkelling with manta rays.  Manta rays are very large and a bit creepy looking, but don't pose a threat to humans like stingrays do.  The boat captain took us to the middle of nowhere and told us to jump off the boat and just wait.  Sure enough, the mantas came over to us and started swimming around.  They would swim right by us, and sometimes under us.  It was such a cool experience and I was thankful to have the GoPro camera with us to get some good pics.

Besides snorkelling trips, Kuredu Island offers many other activities.  Every night some sort of entertainment program was on.  John even took part in "pool chipping" contest one night at the pool.  The island has a 6-hole golf course (each hole is only about 50 yards).  We tried it out and it was a lot of fun, my kind of golf course.  No shoes were even required!  Actually shoes are optional all over the island.  I think I took my shoes off the first day and didn't put them back on until it was time to leave!

We got the "all inclusive plus" package from the resort, which included food and drinks.  All the food was buffet style and pretty tasty.  Also included in our package was a sunset cruise.  We didn't expect much on the cruise but were surprised to see dolphins jumping along the boat and flipping into the water!  It was hard to get a good photo of the dolphins, but I was able to get some good pics of the sunset.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Kuredu to other travellers.  I'd love to go again, but the Maldives is quite expensive.  We have some friends who did a "live aboard" on a diving ship in the Maldives which cuts down on some of the costs, but if you're prone to motion sickness like me and looking for a relaxing beach holiday I'd recommend staying on one of the islands.  Some of the islands are inhabited by locals and offer much cheaper accommodation.  However, the Maldives is a Muslim country and wearing tank tops, shorts, and bathing suits is frowned upon on these local islands, although I've heard each island has a designated "bikini beach."  If you want to experience total relaxation and freedom to wear whatever you like and eat/drink whatever you like, going to a private resort is the way to go... but be prepared to pay for it.

Kuredu was so beautiful, I was sad to leave!  We've been home for nearly two weeks and I'm still obsessed with the Maldives.  I hope to visit again some day!!!

Winter in Prague

After spending Christmas in Paris, it was time for us to go back to Prague.  This city is truly magical, but even more so in the winter.  The Christmas market in the Old Town Square is the best one I've been to in Europe.  You can't beat the atmosphere!  The food is delicious, the street performers are great, there's a petting zoo with cute animals, a huge Christmas tree, and the surrounding historic buildings of the square are beautiful.

This time around we went to some new places.  One that was recommended to us was called U Fleku - a traditional Czech pub.  It was great!  You eat at tables right next to other guests and a man goes around and plays the accordion.  The main draw is the meat dishes and beer of course.  I ordered a traditional Czech meal which was beef with cranberry sauce, lemon, and cream, served with bread dumplings.  This place is popular so if you get in right away you're lucky!  We also went to another pub called U Medvidku which was even more popular with a very long line, but the service was very disappointing and I don't think I'd return there again.  Our friends that visited before said it was worse than the last time they visited!

We also hit up my favourite restaurant Mlejnice which has cheap, delicious Czech food in a cozy setting, and the famous and very old Cafe Louvre for brunch.  The only problem with Czech food is that it's very rich!  You have to walk around a lot to burn all the calories you're eating.

No trip to Prague would be complete without a visit to the Charles Bridge, where we got engaged several years ago.  This year it seemed that Prague was extra busy, and the bridge along with the Christmas market were packed.  I don't remember our last Christmas visits to Prague being so heavily crowded... I guess everyone has realized that this city is the place to be during the Christmas season!

From the Charles Bridge, we returned to some great places like the John Lennon wall (one of my faves, it's so colourful!) and took a hike up to Strahov Monastery for some great views of the city and to check out the opulent monastery library again.  This time we stopped at a small pub next to the monastery to try some blueberry beer which was brewed there.  It was pretty good!

Something else we did that was new for John and I was attend a hockey game in Prague.  We went to O2 Arena by metro to catch a game - HC Sparta Praha vs. another local team called Mountfield Praha.  Tickets were very cheap, less than $10 I think, and it was a lot of fun!  The fans were actually really intense and always cheering and singing songs.  The Spartans won to the crowd's excitement!

Before leaving Prague we went to St. Jilji Church where we got married in 2014.  What a beautiful place!  I know that we'll be back yet again some day... :)

Paris... je t'aime!

After my third visit to Paris I'm still not satisfied.  This city just keeps me wanting to go back.  It's my favourite city, even more than Prague I think.  Prague is so beautiful and a great destination, but I find that Paris has so much more to see.  You could spend days upon days there and still just have scratched the surface.  Some people don't like Paris, complaining that it's too dirty or expensive, but to me it's a beautiful place that still intrigues me.  There are so many diverse neighbourhoods of the city and so many brilliant museums, cathedrals, and tourist attractions.  Yes, it can be expensive, but if you look hard enough you can find reasonable options for food and accommodations.

This time around we stayed in the Latin Quarter near Place Saint-Michel and Notre Dame, which is a touristy area but is also known for being home to many university students.  I really liked this area of the city, as we were within close walking distance to many restaurants and also to the Seine river which we loved walking along.  The weather in Paris was quite mild when we were there.  It felt more like fall weather than winter time.  Due to the lovely weather, we walked almost everywhere.  We could have easily hopped on a metro, but with all the rich foods we were eating on the trip, it was great exercise to walk around, and a nicer way to see the city.

One place that I've been meaning to visit was le Musée d'Orsay, a beautiful art museum which used to be a train station.  It's much smaller than the Louvre, but you can easily spend all day there.  My favourite thing there was the Impressionist paintings.  I got to see some of my favourite Monet paintings in person.  There were also a number of sculptures that we enjoyed by a French sculptor named Pompon.  The biggest one he had was a huge polar bear, entitled "L'ours blanc."  The museum has a beautiful view of the Seine and Montmartre in the distance, where many of the Impressionist painters lived.

One of our favourite things we've ever done in Paris was to go up l'Arc de Triomphe to see an amazing view of Paris.  We didn't go up there this time around, but we did visit l'Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Christmas market there.  It was huge, but it didn't have the traditional Christmas feel like other Christmas markets in Europe have.  There was also a Christmas market right near the Eiffel Tower.  My favourite Christmas market is still the one in Prague, but Budapest impressed me a lot as well.  Maybe some of the lack of Christmas spirit stemmed from the recent tragedy in Paris.  After the bombings, security was on high alert.  We saw lots of police around the city, and at many tourist sites there were bag checks and police dogs.  At the airport we saw guards with huge guns, and I felt a bit nervous to be travelling there so soon after the bombings, but I admire the people of Paris for being so resilient and having the courage to move on and say that they are not afraid to live their lives.

On Christmas day we went to Montmartre for a Christmas mass in the morning.  The last time we visited Paris, we stayed in the Montmartre area.  I love that part of the city even though it's a bit far from the main attractions and requires public transportation to get there.  I love wandering around the streets there!  The view on Christmas morning of the city quiet below us was beautiful.

Another new place we visited in Paris on this trip was les Jardins du Luxembourg.  This places was very close to our hotel.  We visited the park on a sunny day and enjoyed watching the birds and people while sitting on the chairs near the pond there.  If I lived in Paris I'd go to that park all the time!

We also visited la Sainte-Chapelle which was a beautiful chapel close to Notre Dame.  It is famous for its stained glass windows.  People often try to time their visits perfectly so that they can get the sunlight shining through the windows at the right time.  We visited on a day with some sun and it was a beautiful place.

Over the two previous visits I've made to Paris, I've gotten photos of the Eiffel Tower from a range of viewpoints.  This time we went to Trocadero to get a new view, and it was pretty spectacular.  There was a huge crowd of protesters and a bunch of construction going on at the time we were there, but it didn't stop us from enjoying our time and getting some lovely pics.  I'll never forget the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower... it will stay with me forever!  Views of la tour Eiffel never get old for me. 

Even after three visits I still feel there is so much more to see of Paris.  I feel a bit of sadness looking back on this trip, as I still wish I could be there!  Until next time...

Christmas markets, spas, and so much more in Budapest!

For my first post of 2016 I'm getting around to posting about our Christmas holiday... 2 months late, oops!  Our first destination was Budapest, Hungary.  It was the second time we visited this city, and this time around I enjoyed it even more than the first.  The first time we visited it was in January, and all the Christmas markets were shut down.  This time around we got to enjoy the beautiful Christmas markets of Budapest, and I think they are among some of the best we've seen which was a bit surprising since we never heard much about them before, as they haven't been on the lists of top Christmas markets in Europe that I've read.

In Budapest we stayed at Hotel Gellert which was located on the "Buda" side of Budapest.  You can reach it by crossing the Danube river from the Pest side on one of the bridges that goes over the river.  The hotel was very close to the Liberty Bridge and directly adjacent to the tram and metro stops, so it was easy to go back and forth from Buda to Pest.  We got upgraded to a huge suite with a balcony that had a great view of the Danube.  The hotel also gave us a huge breakfast buffet.  I would definitely recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Budapest!  This historic hotel was also attached to the Gellert Baths, and we got one free entry to visit there.  The Gellert Spa was much smaller than the Szechenyi Baths which we visited the last time we were in Budapest, but it was also very nice.  It had tiled walls and fountains inside, with a few different hot and cold pools and a swimming pool which had waves in it as well.  The hotel was also right on a street with lots of restaurants and bars.

The best thing in Budapest that we did was visit the Christmas market.  There was a huge one at Vorosmarty Square which had tons of Hungarian food like chicken paprika, cabbage rolls, langos (fried bread), pork knee, mulled wine, and more!

In Budapest we did a free walking tour again since we were travelling with our friends MC and Scot who had never been there before.  The tour took us to some of the best places in Budapest like Castle Hill and St. Stephen's Basilica.  This time we went to the top of the basilica which had a great view of the city, but it was a lot of stairs!  You could also take an elevator but with all the eating we were doing, we decided to huff it up the stairs!

We also visited the huge bath house Szechenyi again.  I enjoy the warm pools which were around 37-40 degrees Celsius, but John was brave and tried several cold pools.  I went in one which was 20 degrees and it was a huge shock.  I didn't enjoy it but John did!

Right near Szechenyi at Heroes Square we discovered a massive skating rink.  It is apparently the biggest outdoor skating rink in Europe.  We tried to go there but the line was huge to rent skates, so we decided to have dinner first and then return later.  We went to a traditional Hungarian restaurant called Bagolyvár and we ordered the set menu.  I had pumpkin cream soup, turkey medallions with chestnut and quince, and a sponge cake for dessert.  It was all very delicious!  After dinner we went back to the skating rink and realized it had closed... oh well!

One new thing we did in Budapest this time was visit Országház, the Hungarian parliament building.  You need to reserve tickets online which are a bit pricey compared to all the other tourist sites in the city, and the tour is only around 45 minutes, but it's a cool building and I'm glad that we went.  We even got to see the crown jewels inside, but there were guards standing there and no photos allowed!  After visiting the parliament we walked along the Danube and saw the memorial "Shoes on the Danube" which was quite beautiful but very sad, as it is a tribute to the Jews who were forced to strip naked, face the Danube, and die as a result of a firing squad in WWII, their shoes left on the bank and bodies swept away by the river.

One of my favourite places in Budapest which we visited last time and also this holiday was the ruin pubs called Szimpla Kert.  Ruin pubs are all over the city and are basically bars that are in abandoned buildings.  It seems like now Szimpla is a tourist attraction.  There was actually a sign and a line of people waiting to get in, whereas three years ago the building was so nondescript.  There was a tiny sign hanging there and it actually did look like an abandoned building still from the outside.  You could have easily walked past it without knowing it was there.  It was a bit disappointing that the place has become so popular and crowded, but I guess with the secret out more people can enjoy it.  I found my favourite wine that we drank last time there.  It's called Goncol and is quite sweet.  We've looked all over the world for it and can only seem to find it at Szimpla Kert!

On one of our last days in Budapest, John and I visited the Central Market Hall which was a huge building full of souvenirs and food.  It was great to walk around and check out all the vendors.  I'd recommend going here if you're looking for souvenirs or something to do on a rainy day.  While we were in Budapest it was foggy and misty weather for most of every day until the morning we left where the sun was out!

 Re-visiting Budapest gave me a whole new appreciation for the city.  It is one of my favourites in Europe for sure.  I hope to go back again some day!