Tag Archives: swimming

Jess and Amanda In Thailand, days 2-5

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One of the best things about staying at an Asian resort is the breakfast buffet.

The buffet at our resort starts at 6:30 and our body clocks are several hours behind Thai time, which meant we are usually first seated in the best spot in the ‘adults only’ zone by 7am.

The food that Jess and I choose is a venn diagram with almost no overlap. Jess chooses a selection of toasts and jam then a bowl of yogurt and porridge, while I go for curry, eggs, bacon, salad, rice noodles…. literally a bit of everything else.

Jess’ bread selection

The coffee and tea cups at resorts are always tiny so I took one of my keep cups so I could make a bigger drink. It has the added benefit of being able to make a coffee then take it away and put it in the bar fridge in the room (I like cold coffee) for later in the day.

After the first few of days of buffet madness (first breakfast at 6:30 then second breakfast at 10:00 after yoga) , we’ve taken pity on our stomachs and slept in for longer and gone for only one breakfast today.

Our package with Luxury Escapes includes the daily breakfast, two other meals during our stay, two massages each, plus one free-flow cocktail hour every day. There’s two cocktail hours to choose from, one from 3-4 at the pool outside our room, and one from 6-7 near the main restaurant.

Map of the resort with our room where the red arrow points. The dark blue in the centre is a lake, not a pool. The aqua wing is where most of the families are most of the time. The resort is really well set out and keeps he kids

We’ve done most of our cocktail hours at the bar near our room, not only because it’s convenient, but also because we’ve become friendly with the bar staff there. They are very lively and we talk to one of the guys, Ton, who helps us learn Thai. So far we have mainly learned how to order a drink and explain how many drinks will lead to us being sick.

Cocktails aside, We did a language class on our second full day and Gabriel, the teacher, took us through some basic Thai phrases.

We have been practicing phrases and adding to our notes. Thai people are very kind and encouraging about us using as many words as we can.

We have done two yoga classes and also a fruit carving class!

We made tomato roses, cucumber leaves and carrot… tulips? The carrot was the hardest. Tomorrow we’re going to take the tiny carving knives that we were given as part of the class to breakfast and do the Michelin plate challenge, which is where you try to plate up buffet food to look like it came from a fancy restaurant. Then you get a member of staff to judge which is best.

Jess’ highlights so far:

Mango pudding

Warmer pool water (it was kind of cold when we first arrived)

Learning Thai, doing yoga and fruit carving

Having food made for her!

Swimming in Nice

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Even though we packed a lot of organised activities into our time in Nice we did other things too.

One afternoon we put on our swimmers and headed for the beach. Many European beaches are at least semi-private. I think the worst ones are where you have to pay just to get on the sand/pebbles but in Nice there’s one enormous stretch of beach called the Bay of Angels. It has a 6km promenade that was built by the English many years ago as it was they who popularised Nice and the surrounding towns as a holiday destination. They came in winter to enjoy the milder temperatures and often on doctor’s orders for the clean, dry air.

The Nice beach is pebbles, although once you go further west the beaches become sand. Every hundred metres or so the beach alternates between public and private. The private sections have rows of beach chairs plus often a bar or restaurant. The two we checked out (at the very eastern end of the beach) were about 20 euro to hire a beach lounge for the day. When we went down to ask we found that both places had no beach lounges available for hire but it was possible to sit for free in the more shaded undercover area at the back and so we did that and took turns going into the water.

Unless you’re set on sunbathing, sitting up the back in the full shade is a much better option and few other people seem to want to do it. The chairs are comfortable, it’s not as bright and it’s cooler – and free! We only ordered two drinks each in the couple of hours we were there and the prices weren’t terrible either. So if you’re looking for a place in Nice to avoid the heat give it a go!

Here Comes The Planet 72 – Krka National Park (2018)

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Feeling like a miniature Plitivice Lakes, Krka National Park has one additional benefit, which is that it allows swimming! The water was too cold for me, but certainly not for the scores of tourists and locals who come here to cool off in the summer months. We were happy enough just wandering the paths, looking at the lakes and falls. 🙂

Click here to read Amanda’s entry about this part of our trip!

Using Hotel Swimming Pools in Sorrento

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We really wanted the use of a pool while we were in Sorrento, but were staying in an Airbnb rather than a hotel. I figured there would probably be some hotels where you could pay to use their pool, so I did a bit of research online. Most of the information came from scattered TripAdvisor posts. Since I couldn’t find one definitive source regarding the use of swimming pools in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast, I thought I’d compile my research for others.

After doing my online research, I went and enquired at four hotels in Sorrento which have swimming pools, and three of them allowed non-guests to pay to use the pool. The only one which didn’t was the Grand Hotel la Favorita. Here’s some information on the ones that do:

Hotel Central

We only had enough time in Sorrento to sample one of the pools, and we ended up going with the one at Hotel Central. It cost €10 each to get in, and was open until 7pm – unfortunately I neglected to check what time it opened, but I suspect it was 9am.

Hotel Central had a medium sized pool with a good number of lounges in both shade and sun, with a solarium off to the side. The pool was quite warm when we visited – absolutely lovely temperature. The bar on site has a happy hour, reasonably priced cocktails, and chair service. If we had more time we would have gone back!

The entrance is the “Central Fitness Club” just to the right of the front doors to Hotel Central, and to the left of Hotel Gardenia, which has an arrangement with Central so that their guests can use the pool as well.

Hotel Carlton International

Costs €15 per person, open from 9am to 6pm and use of the pool by non-guests is subject to availability. Also has a bar with a good range of drinks and food available.

Grand Hotel Flora

Costs €15 per person, open from 9am to 6pm and provides you with towels. We didn’t actually get to go in and see what the pool looked like or the facilities, but the Flora certainly looks like an upmarket place so I imagine they at least match the other hotels we checked. The website states it also has a pool bar.

I hope this helps other people in our position make the most of their time in Sorrento!