Sri Lanka...Day One: Colombo

So last week P, J and I had an amazing trip to Sri Lanka. And you may be wondering why Sri Lanka...well let me tell you. When I was in high school I signed up to do this one week program in DC called "Future World Leaders Forum"...what a joke right? I have never pictured myself anywhere near a becoming world leader (unless the next world leader is all about planning parties), but i mean this is the random stuff you need to do to get into college! And well there were people from ALL over the world...including a large delegation from Sri Lanka (which at that point i had never even heard of). I ended up making a Sri Lankan friend kind of who I randomly emailed like twice or something...and from then on I dreamed of going to Sri Lanka. The winter after this program...the tsunami's happened and Sri Lanka was all over the news...I even at one point had the idea of going over to help (I was really ambitious about getting into college). But the point is after that happened i think everyone now has heard of Sri Lanka...and rightly so because its magical and you have to go!

So we got into Colombo early in the morning on Thursday. J had a family friend who lived in Colombo, so he let us use his house (he was on a trip). It was this great 2 bedroom home with super high ceilings...and we had 24 hour secruity outside the gate and a chef to make us breakfast...talk about living the good life.

breakfast of eggs, fresh fruit, toast and sri lankan coffee

our chef and a view of the dining room

So for the duration of the trip, J's friend helped us hire a great driver who ended up costing us each only about $100! He took us on a driving tour of the capital city...and to some great shopping points! Here is a sample of some of the things we drove past...

a giant statue of a phone?

cool looking temple

Galle Face Hotel: Oldest hotel east of the Suez...or as I would like to the Raffles of Sri Lanka, but by the beach (which makes it infinitely more awesome)

the beach

gem museum...this case was worth $2 million or something!

look at all the rubies!

We went crazy shopping in Colombo. If you go, you have to check out Barefoot and Paradise Road. Both are amazing shops with handicrafts and awesome decor stuff! Here are some of my finds...

cool handpainted elephant

peridot necklace from the gem museum

and a sari! i have no idea when i will use this but, p wanted one and when we were at the shop i just couldnt resist!

We later went to eat at this super cute restaurant...Gallery Cafe. The food was good...but i got attacked by mosquitos!

Cute cake display

cute tablescape!

cute restaurant

look they brought out "american" water for american girls

cute friends!

Dinner at gallery cafe was the perfect end to the perfect frist day in Sri Lanka! Stay tuned for another post on the awesomeness that is Sri Lanka...until next time, xxoo!