Sunday, July 19, 2009

Camping in Oman

We just got back from a mini adventure in Oman which involved camping, mountains, bbq, sightseeing and lovely Omani locals. This is the second time I have visited Oman and it was equally enchanting as Muscat, we camped up in the mountains next to Nizwa at around 2000m. The views were incredible and the hillside is dotted with traditional villages which look like they belong in the Bible. We visited one local village and were invited in to drink coffee and eat dates the with the locals - so friendly and they weren't even trying to sell anything!

The scenery was stunning and it was so much cooler up in the mountains, we camped on top of a plateau overlooking the valley, at night the stars were shining brightly and we had the campsite all to ourselves which was great when we had our music blaring, drinking alcohol and showing our legs in shorts - the latter two are banned!


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Abu Dhabi Life

Every day I feel like Abu Dhabi is becoming more like home - I never thought I would say that! I suppose I'm really enjoying being in one place with more of a routine but I also have the freedom to travel somewhere new at least once a month and most importantly special people to share these experiences.

I have realised that by de cluttering and simplifying my life I am so much happier nowadays, I don't have much stuff out here with me and I don't actually miss any of it. Less is more is so true, de-cluttered living space = de-cluttered mind. I sleep well now, I don't feel stressed anymore and life has become much calmer. Basically I am not missing the Rat Race of London at all. Viva la vida tranquila :)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Stockholm - 1st time in Scandinavia

Just returned from another mini break, this time to Stockholm - you can never travel enough in my eyes! It was truly fabulous, the sun bathed us in rays all weekend and the sky was so blue against the archipelagos. The city is located on the water so it seems everyone has their own little boat to hop around the islands, the first day we arrived a Swedish guy came right up to the jetty in his speedboat and picked up a gorgeous blonde who hopped on in a killer heels - so smooth, as all the other girls looked on with envy.
Dave and I did our best to fit in but they are such a cool and hip nation, all blonde, tanned and beautiful - let's just say that the English missed out on some gorgeous genes somewhere in history - why didn't more Vikings invade us! We did find a lovely island called Djurgarden which was a little green island scattered with the odd amazing villa, museums, rose gardens, restaurants bike trails and all this only a few mins walk from the city centre.
My attempt at looking like I belonged with the beautiful people...

In terms of design, every second store seemed to be a home store - you could decorate your pad so beautifully, lots of nautical themes going on and each store was so well laid out, I could have spent hours in them but little bro had other plans so I will have to go back once again.

I even found my own boat....

So I recommend Stockholm as a romantic break, it has history, culture and oozes with style, stay in Ostermalm, which is the nicest part of town and great for getting around the other islands.