Writing to you from our room at 2:33 AM because I fell asleep for about 5 hours and woke up – ready to go for the day. Sigh – so I decided it will be as good as any of a time to get up and write the blog (and hopefully fall back asleep soon after I finish).

We had a wonderful first day in Sri Lanka. We arrived at Sabrina’s family home a little after 3:00 AM on 12/23. Sabrina and her mum were awake to greet us – and feed us. (Which I quickly caught on to that her family loves to feed guests – likely going to come back a few pounds heavier!)

(The airport all decked out in Christmas decorations).

We finally got some rest and were relieved to finally lay down horizontal after such a long travel day – 15 hour flight to Delhi and then a 5 hour connection – ending with a 3 hour 40 minute flight to Colombo!

When we woke up – we had brunch with her family and then decided to do a short walking tour to see Independence Memorial Hall and got to view one of our first Buddha statues (not nearly as many as we saw in Thailand – but I was assured there are plenty more to see!).

(Breakfast – fresh fruit and “milk rice.” You can have savory or sweet).

(The view from the main floor at Sabrina’s house – the house is centered around the garden and is very open air. It has a very nice indoor/outdoor feel to it).

We decided to head to the Mount Lavinia area – Sabrina had a favorite place – Sugar Beach. We ordered a bottle of wine and drank it on the beach and just reveled in the beauty of the Indian Ocean. From there – we made our way down to Mount Lavinia Hotel for high tea. The hotel had a romantic story attached to it – which you can read here.

I love collecting jewelry from places that we travel – and for a small price (around $110 USD) I was able to pick out a sapphire that I liked and a setting to be custom made for me to pick up on Christmas Day. I’d like to think of it as a gift to myself. Sri Lanka is known for their sapphires – and I couldn’t pass up such a good deal!

We saw the storm clouds rolling in – and sat inside just in case the skies opened up. (Which of course they did – even heard a clap of thunder!) The tea was amazing – and because we had already ate so much we barely made a dent in the food. (For Jon/Yvonne/Annika – of course I saved room for biscuits and clotted cream! YUM!)

At this point, Sabrina and I were absolutely exhausted (Andy was fine – years of overnights had taught him how to bounce back from an odd schedule). We made our way back – washed up and attempted to stay awake until 8 PM. I made it past 8:00 PM but due to the fact I’m up so early – I’d say I’m still operating on California time. I hope to fall asleep again soon!

(Hershey – one of Sabrina’s cat was modeling for us)

Up Next:

Try to find massages – they are supposed to be very cheap here just like Thailand

Do a little shopping and visit a few very special stores

Visit a few temples (not nearly as many as our Thailand trip)

Visit Beira Lake

View Christmas lights