Taking a look back at these photos to write this post brought back all the feel good feelings from April!
I apologize in advance if you’ve already heard this story on Instagram, but it’s one of my favorite stories to tell. Friendships are insanely hard, and finding this Swiss gal living in Chicago and connecting on a social media app sounds crazy even to me, and I’m the lucky one that experienced it.
My 9-day winter getaway to London was incredible! Me and Prashi stayed in London longer than we had planned (due to my passport issues) so we made the most of our remaining time in London. No one spends that much time in a foreign country without picking up a few things, right? Here are 8 things I noticed about Londoners after a few days!
For simplicity of writing this post “they” refers to people of London.
Prashi had already been to London a few times and it was really important to him for me to visit and like it. Well, I did! Yeah it was a little cold, yeah we were stuck in London because I had passport problems, but we made the most of our situation and had a wonderful 9 days together.
After 18 months of blogging and Instagramming, I decided it was time to round up a few girls for my first girls trip! I sent out a few direct messages and before I knew it, girls were trusting me for a long weekend getaway.
It’s Wednesday and we’re halfway through the week! Around this time of week is when I get tired and I think of my happy place… the Bahamas! If you followed along on my Instastories during my stay, you know the Baha Mar resort is picturesque (and yes, perfect for blog photos). No need to be curious, my exact thoughts on the resort below:
Room: My family stayed at the Grand Hyatt where we were split between the East and West towers. The East tower had a modern vibe and the West tower had more traditional beachy decor. The girly girl in me loved the modern vibe, and I’d plan on staying there on my next trip (because I have to go back). The SLS hotel is also part of Baha Mar Resort and though we didn’t stay in one of those rooms, the hotels are connected and they share the same amenities like the casino, spa, pools… all available to guests of either hotel. Both the Grand Hyatt and SLS are the newest properties in Nassau and are worth every penny!
Food: After the family was all checked in, we went to The Swimming Pig restaurant for a quick bite. I had a chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries and a rum and coke. The fries were awesome and although they didn’t have Captain Morgan at this restaurant, the Jerry Sailor did the trick. The service was a bit slow and we had to call the wait staff to order additional items and to request our check. We made it out to dinner a couple nights at Cleo, a mediterranean restaurant, and then again at Filia, an Italian restaurant where they made an incredible salad table side (so cool to watch them make it!). Dinner was great, but I always looked forward to breakfast. Every morning we enjoyed Club Lounge Access, which is an additional fee of $150 per day for up to 4 people per room. It’s definitely worth it when you consider the variety of foods available for breakfast which includes pastries (the yummiest chocolate croissants!), eggs, bacon, sausage, bagels, cereal, meats and cheeses.. the list goes on. In the evening, they serve meats and cheeses as well as cocktails, wines and even a hot meal option.
Pools: The pools… I could go on and on about these! My favorite was the Bungalow as seen in this blog post, but I’m pretty sure we spent at least some time at four of the seven pools. When the kids were around, we went to Dean’s Blue Hole which we called “the cave pool” for the duration of our stay. The cave pool had a place to jump off from as well as a neat aquarium to see turtles and fish – a great pool for kids! If you’re in a VIP kind of mood, I highly suggest taking a dip in Privilege pool and renting a pergola cabana. The DJ there was so fun and the wait staff was great!
Activities: Cable Beach was just a short walk away from the pools and the place to be for all water activities you could think of. Baha Mar offers complimentary rentals including: stand up paddle-boards, single and double kayaks, clear bottom kayaks, water hammocks, floating lounges, snorkels, and much more! I wish I could’ve spent more time on Cable Beach, but the water was too cold for me. Instead, I made my way over to the bird sanctuary and I was immediately obsessed! There, I was provided a chart to identify different birds and given a small wooden stick with bird food on it. The birds enjoyed eating off my stick and I enjoyed being so close to them, a total win-win!
XO, Vivian