Turkey, Istanbul

Turkey - Istanbul

Stay: Point Hotel Barbaros

 

I think I ate too much…the food is just WAY TOO GOOD in this country. Go to the icecream guy in Taksim square (good luck getting your face back without icecream all over it).  The hotel is perfect for big kids (a whole floor dedicated to big kids toys – wiiiiii paradise,  arcade games, a bar).  There's always a huge stash of chocolate sitting on the reception  desk..I mean REAL chocolate. chocolate covered apples, chocolates pieces as huge as your palm with nuts... A library with ancient texts will keep the history buffs ready and for those who have a really short attention span – just go make faces at the lady in the lift (it’s an interactive video screen thing). Just watch the taxi drivers, I’m surprised I survived the trips as they all seem to  think those tiny winding side alleys are one way car racing tracks. ARRGHHHHHHHH!!!  Did I mention the pilot flew the plane like that too?

Sri Lanka

For: Intentions to Relax gone wrong...

Stay: Jetwing Blue (near airport), Earls Regency (not near airport), Vivanta by Taj (really really far from airport - but really really nice)

I did a driving holiday (Earls Regency was the nicest hotel out of the gazillion hotels that I stayed at during my driving tour around Sri Lanka).  

Sri Lanka is sweet, super nice for tea lovers who like long drives. 

Bring insect repellent…and bird repellent...as the first present I got was on my head from a bird...nice...did I mention bring wet wipes too?  They're the next best invention to post-it notes.

For someone like me with a very very short attention span, taking a driving tour around Sri Lanka and moving through multiple hotels was not exactly a holiday. Choose one beach resort and stay there...

  My attempt at being artsy...photo of tuk tuks in a carpark