Deco on 44 and Galle {Sri Lanka} - The Lifestyle Diaries

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I know I said that Anarudhapura was our next stop but Jamie is heading over to Sri Lanka on Saturday so I said I would do a few posts for her to give her my tips in time for her going! So here is lovely Galle, in the south-west of the island and by far the most westernized area of the island that we saw.

And yet, still entirely breathtaking!

There’s Galle, and then there’s Galle fort. Most of the things your would want to see are within the fort so I would seriously recommend staying within the walls of the fort if you can. We stayed at the amazing Deco on 44, which I can’t recommend enough! Perfect location, great service, rooms to die for and a pool to cool off in – what more could you want?!

When we arrived, we dropped our cases, had a quick dip and the pool and rushed out to explore the area. There’s no need for tuk tuks within the fort, everything is within easy walking distance, and it’s great to be able to get your bearings this way.

If you’ve seen a photograph of Galle before, I’d be willing to bet that you’ve seen the lighthouse! So, being the good tourist that I am, I took a photograph (or 20) of it!

The architecture here is really incredible. On the road up to the lighthouse you pass this beautiful mosque.

And then you reach the beauty itself.

So you know I said it was very British? Yeap, to the extent of having red postboxes!

Since we had only arrived in the afternoon, by the time we had wandered round the fort, dipped into some jewellery shops (seriously good!) and bought some presents for me and my parents, it was time to go back to the hotel, get changed, head out for drinks and then dinner!

We went to Galle Fort Hotel for some cocktails (I had just got news that I had an interview for my now future job so we were in the mood to celebrate!). It was nice to get dressed up for a change as against running around in my usual tourist clothes, so I went all out and put on my favourite ASOS maxi that I had with me.

A new day a new set of scenery! We had stopped ourselves from going to the clock tower so that we could savour it the next day, so up we got and in the morning sun we were exploring the clock tower, guide book in hand!

Forgive me, it was more than a little windy!

Andy is cricket mad, so it was nice to be able to see the cricket stadium from here as well.

In what turned out to be a nice surprise, a couple were having their wedding photographs taken right underneath the clocktower – it looked so beautiful and like a really special place to have your photos taken. They couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces!

We took the time to wander round the small bit of the fort that we hadn’t already seen. By this point we had been travelling for two weeks and had seen a lot – I think we’d to 7 places by this time, so it was nice to have an easy day.

And yes, I am developing a small tan by this point!

You can take a girl out of England, but you can’t take her away from afternoon tea – she will find one! Now this is one that I know Angie , Suze and Kelly would appreciate!

We had afternoon tea at Amangalla – one of the nicest hotels in the area. Even though we weren’t staying there I was desperate to nip in and see what all the fuss was about!

We went for the champagne afternoon tea as a treat (and because I’m never one to turn down champagne!).

It comes with the usual scones, pastries, and sandwiches but also with a few little Sri Lankan treats. Pretty different, but I have to say I liked it.

Afterwards, we took the time to walk off all the food we had enjoyed before heading back for another dip in the hotel’s incredible pool.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved this hotel! As you can guess from the name it’s an art deco hotel, but the room we were staying in, Star, (a junior suite) was just incredible. Every night there was turn down service, the towels were changed and your bed was beautifully decorated. It really was glorious!

The restaurant is also really good, and they do a seriously good G&T!

But my favourite part of this hotel is the pool. Oh. Boy.

Credit to Deco on 44 for kindly sending me these photographs as I’ve somehow lost all of mine (apart from the first photograph of the bed) from this hotel – no idea how!

On our last night, we went to a bar (I really can’t remember it’s name – but I can tell you it’s on lighthouse street on the same side as Deco on 44) to sip on cocktails all evening. I wish I could tell you it’s name as it’s one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to. If you’re there, go and have a drink! Jamie, maybe you can remind me when you’ve been to Galle?!