Top Ten Travel Moments 2016
This was pretty hard to narrow down and even harder to rank so I will just go chronologically.
10. Starting 2016 right at a Winter Wonderland Ball in the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai
It was totally surreal to be in 30 degree heat dancing to Bollywood’s top hits while being surrounded by fake snow and several AC maintained ice sculptures. Travelling in India is definitely one of those stand out travel experiences and I really hope to go back sometime soon.
9. Champagne sipping while watching Cartier play Maserati at the Snow Polo World Cup in St. Mortiz… Could I sound anymore obnoxious? Probably not. It is such a struggle to describe this event, it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I mean who has experienced snow polo before?? To sum up our trip – the champagne was bottomless, we accidentally hired a chauffeur with an Audi, and our dinners every night came with more cutlery per person than your average canteen would have in total.
8. Finally laying eyes on the White House in Washington D.C.
I know politics in the states is an AVERT at all costs topic right now but I still thought it was pretty cool to finally get to see the White House for myself.
7. Weekends in Eastern Europe
7A. Pierogi all day er day in Warsaw
If you read my blog on the reg you will know I am a big fan of Russian food so having heard Polish cuisine was similar I was keen to taste drive. Of course there was nowhere better to do this than Warsaw’s most famous restaurant U Fukiera. DELICIOUS!
7B Catching up with old friends in Budapest
Despite having a little difficulty getting to Budapest, once there my friend Michael and I had a great time with our decidedly strange food options which ranged from cheese covered in cornflakes to a cake that required nothing short of a sledge hammer to cut.
I feel really lucky to have such great friends and it was lovely to go away together and eat all the potatoes in Barcelona or all the bread in France. I guess the best thing about my friends is that we have the same interests.
5. Summer Lovin in Monte Carlo
I know Monte Carlo gets a bad rep for being flashy and over the top, but it is exactly what it says on the tin and I kind of love that about it. Plus you get to have lunch with views like this..
4. Exploring more of Ireland
I spend so much time planning trips away from Ireland that I seem to have forgotten I have a whole country right at my doorstep to explore. Some highlights of this year were checking out the Giant’s Causeway and the Cliffs of Moher.. gotta love that rugged scenery!
3. 6 day sprint around Jordan and Israel
Easily the craziest trip I have done this year. My friend Michael and I literally raced around Israel and Jordan in the 38 degree heat trying to get as much in as possible with the short time we had. For sure it would have been nice to do it a bit slower but we just didn’t have the time off and it was still an incredible trip. I loved Jordan, Petra and Wadi Rum were breath taking and it was such an adventure driving around, I felt like a way more high maintenance version of Lawrence of Arabia.
Israel was equally terrific though slightly dampened by the heavy security measures at the airports… and the interrogations, that wasn’t fun but the hotels we stayed at in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were a dream. As was touring around some of the world’s most famous sites.
2. That time I moved to SYDNEY (for a month)
I just recently finished my one month stint in Manly Hospital in Sydney and I totally fell in love with the place. It was sunny and beautiful and I managed to fit right into the Manly lifestyle by joining the ever popular Bold and the Beautiful Swim Squad for their morning swims from Manly beach to Shelly beach.
This month needs its own top ten.. which lets be honest will probably be my next post so stay tuned!
1. Touring the infinity pools of Malaysia and Singapore
So it is nearly a wrap on 2016! I am currently typing this from my hipster hotel room in Singapore after spending the last week in Penang and Langkawi. Plans for NYE are still TBD but plans for right now are to go for some famous Katong Laksa yummm.
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