Recovering the past: In Flanders Fields Museum

Right, so I may be a bit biased - the artist Ian Alderman is a good friend - but if you are in Ieper/Ypres between now and the end of the year (2017), you have to visit the 'Recovering the Past' Exhibition at the In Flanders Fields museum.

Photo Friday: Lipton's Seat, Sri Lanka

Er ... what sweeping views?

At the look-out point on the Dambatenne tea plantation, Sir Thomas Lipton used to bring guests for picnics and to survey the sheer sweeping views below.

What to do in Norfolk

As the summer bank holiday approached and I realised we had no plans, I scanned mentally through a list of places I wanted to see or see more of that weren't too far away. 

Our Sri Lanka top tips and some practicalities

We spent 10 days in Sri Lanka in late June/ early July 2017, visiting the 'cultural triangle', the east coast and the hill country.

Tea pickers in the hill country

We really enjoyed our trip and wanted to share some of the things we learnt about the practicalities of travelling around the 'Pearl of the Indian Ocean'. Obviously, after a 10 day trip, we are far from being experts on the country, but the information below is a combination of our own experience, what others told us and what we learnt through our research. 

As ever, do feel free to add any corrections or additions in the comments below.

What to do in Ella, Sri Lanka

Ella or Elle is a small town in Sri Lanka's hill country, surrounded by tea plantations. It's a good spot for a few days of hiking, eating and drinking tea. Here are our top things to do while you are there.

1. Take in the views from Little Adam's Peak
A walk up Little Adam's Park is about an hour and a half's round trip from the main street in Ella. The views of the surrounding mountains and across to Ella Rock make it is very much worth the trip.

Sri Lankan beach time: some thoughts on Arugam bay

Sri Lanka has two monsoon seasons. From October until January, the East and the North are wet. Then from May until July, it's rainy season in the South and on the west coast, where the better known beaches are.

Sri Lanka's 'Cultural Triangle': Part 3 - A massage and a herd of elephants

On our final full day in Habarana, we treated ourselves to an Ayurvedic massage in our home stay, before a trip to Minneriya National Park to see the elephants.

Our Ayurvedic experience involved a full body massage, followed by 10 minutes or so of hot oil dripping on our foreheads. Apparently it drips onto our third eye... And then we went into the herbal sauna. The massage was good, but the oil dripping was a little bit weird. I'm still not quite clear what it was supposed to achieve. 

Sri Lanka's 'Cultural Triangle': Part 2 - An ancient city

We spent our first four days in Sri Lanka in the 'Cultural Triangle' area of the country, basing ourselves in Habarana. Our first day was spent at Sigiriya and Dambulla.

On our second day we explored the sprawling ruins of 1,000 year old Polonnaruwa. 

Where we stayed - Sri Lanka

We spent 10 days exploring the island of Sri Lanka, mostly in small family-run 'homestay' style hotels. Of the different accommodation website, booking.com seemed to work best. Here's where we went and where we stayed:

1) Habarana - Mutu Village

To explore the 'Cultural Triangle' area of Sri Lanka, we based ourselves in Habarana, as it is well located for visiting Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa and Minneriya National Park. Following a strong recommendation in an online travel discussion, I booked us into Mutu Village, where we stayed for 4 nights. It was the best place that we stayed in our time in Sri Lanka.

The balcony of our treehouse

Sri Lanka's 'Cultural Triangle': Part 1 - A big rock and some caves

After enjoying our first Hindu wedding in Chennai, India, we flew to Sri Lanka for 10 days to explore the 'Pearl of the Indian Ocean'. It was just a short hour and half flight across the Indian Ocean.

Very excited to be at Sigiriya

We spent our first four nights in the country in Habarana - a town in an area of Sri Lanka known as the 'Cultural Triangle'. 

Eating and drinking in Bruges

Say Belgium and the following culinary delights come to mind: chocolate, waffles, fries and of course beer. And if you want to indulge in any of these, Bruges will not disappoint. Here's our experience of eating and drinking in Bruges:

1) Delicious veggie (yes veggie) friendly restaurant Reliva

As a vegetarian who loves food, I often get disappointed with the opportunities for eating new and interesting food when we are travelling. I wanted to make sure that I had at least one delicious meal while away in Bruges and so went online to research vegetarian restaurants. I quickly came across Reliva, which describes itself as a place 'where fish, mean, vegetarian and vegan food find a perfect match'. 

In Bruges

I'm not quite sure how we started it, but James and I alternate organising Valentine's Day and this year it was my turn.

Five fun facts about Bruges

We very much enjoyed our weekend away in Bruges. While we were there we learnt some interesting things about the city and its inhabitants - both historical facts and more recent curious developments.

Which of the below did you know? Do you have any more surprising Bruges facts to share? Please include them in the comments below!