This was the first time Halina and I have been away from home for Christmas, and as lovely as it was, it was strange not being with our families and even more strange being so warm on Christmas day!
Our Christmas dinner was very Sri Lankan… Halina called a hotel down the road to book us in for lunch and asked if they were serving ‘Christmas lunch’? To which they replied yes. When we sat down at the table they handed us the regular menu, we asked if they had a Christmas menu, they pointed at the menu we were holding. So I guess it was Christmas day and we were having lunch… Christmas lunch, of course! Then they told us we couldn’t have a beer with our lunch as it was a holiday and they would not be serving alcohol! Never mind. The food was really good though, and a couple of volunteers who had just arrived brought crackers with them, can’t beat the dad joke’s from crackers!
On boxing day we headed down to Matara for a 6 day break with sunshine, sand, surf, arrack and noodles! To save a bit of cash we stayed in the Matara house and commuted to and from the beaches for surf and nice places to eat. It was a great week of relaxing, surfing and eating lots of good food, mainly at the family restaurant, best place in Weligama!
For new year, Niclas had booked us into a fancy hotel/restaurant on the beach in Unawatuna. There was a huge buffet and the food was incredible. After everyone’s food had settled and several cocktails were sampled, we took to the dance floor on the beach and danced like idiots until 5:30am. Although you always had to keep an eye out for the guys setting off the fireworks, they always pointed them out towards the sea but the direction they flew changed every time! They also had a Catherine wheel that fell over whilst mid spin, which a guy casually walks over and picked up, spraying everyone nearby with sparks, very entertaining.
It was a great few days away and although not same, it made up for not being at home with our families and friends.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!!!!!!!!
Love, Life & Elephant Tales 