3.07.2010
Merry Christmas 2009
We had been traveling over Christmas the past few years, so since we were going to be home this year we wanted to have a Christmas with all the trimmings! We picked a beautiful tree, decorated the house, invited friends and family to join us and celebrated!
Coco picking our tree
Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi
Coco being spoiled by uncle devin and Christmas dinner
Surprise!!
Who knew turning 34 would be so fun!?? My sweet husband some how pulled together an actual surprise birthday party for me. I still have no idea how he did it but I was SURPRISED! He had arranged dear friends, great food, a festive house,babysitter and a very fun party agenda... Seriously so sweet and very organized! I think everyone should experience a surprise party in there lifetime. I will cross it off my list. Thanks Babe!
My birthday was December 10th.. a little late on the post : )See you soon...
Goodbye Bali, I will be dreaming of you until we return!
Coco enjoying our last days at the villa
Biking through Ubud
This is the sweet Balinese woman that helped us with Coco while we were there.2.09.2010
Padang Padang
Padang Padang is just one of the famous surf breaks in Bali, it is also one of the most beautiful and unique beaches. There was no swell the day we went so people were just sunning on the beach and enjoying the calm waters. You have to hike down this crazy narrow stairway through the cliffs to get to the beach. Its a little adventure!
We heard about this new restaurant/bar called the Rock bar at the Ayana resort which happens to be close to Padang Padang. If you have reservations for dinner they will let you go enjoy sunset on their private beach and we took full advantage of that. We ended up going back a second night with Coco because we had such a great time. The perfect place to enjoy a sunset. Beautiful!
The Ayana Resort
Exploring the rocks and cliffs on the private beach
Sunset & the Rock bar at night as we were leaving
Hiking down to Padang Padang through the narrow cliffs
Coco making friends where ever she goes
Back to the Ayana for the second night, perfect place for sunset
We heard about this new restaurant/bar called the Rock bar at the Ayana resort which happens to be close to Padang Padang. If you have reservations for dinner they will let you go enjoy sunset on their private beach and we took full advantage of that. We ended up going back a second night with Coco because we had such a great time. The perfect place to enjoy a sunset. Beautiful!
The Ayana Resort
Exploring the rocks and cliffs on the private beach
Sunset & the Rock bar at night as we were leaving
Hiking down to Padang Padang through the narrow cliffs
Coco making friends where ever she goes
Back to the Ayana for the second night, perfect place for sunset
Table with a view?
We heard this little restaurant had a great view but you would have never known it from the street entrance! We ate lunch and sipped fresh watermelon juice that looked like art itself while watching this hardworking man in bare feet, hand trim the grass/weeds on the terrace to feed his livestock. This man had to be in his mid to late 60's and Ben wanted to see how heavy his baskets were.... probably 50-75 lbs. Impressive.
12.31.2009
The REAL Bali...
I am so behind on our blog but I feel like I have to finish a couple posts about our Bali trip before I can move on!
Ben LOVES riding his mountain bike and he searched high and low to find a tour company or bike company in Bali to take him on a REAL mountain bike ride. There are lots of tour groups claiming to offer bike rides through the "real Bali" but with names like "Happy Bike" offering bikes with baskets on the front, they weren't going to cut it. Ben found a group that had actual mountain bikes and sounded like they had scouted out some amazing single track trails so we decided to give it a shot and were not disappointed! It was one of the coolest things I have done and a highlight of this trip for sure. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the starting point, a remote village high up in the mountains, these villagers rarely see tourists and were very interested in who and what we were doing. I was sitting in the truck trying to braid my hair before we started and had 3 villagers right next to my open window watching my every move, all smiles and they would say "hello" (the only english word they knew) every time I looked up. These were not kids, they were grown men and women, native Balinese. We were at around 10,000 feet elevation and it was nice and cool when we started riding. Over the next 4 hours we traversed down these amazing foot paths that have been used for centuries to get from village to village. We rode through fields of flowers grown to be used in the offerings the Balinese make and give several times a day. We rode through the most amazing bamboo forests, the villagers were hard at work harvesting the bamboo to sell for building material. We came upon a group of villagers roasting a pig, they were all sitting around chatting and watching their soon to be feast cook to perfection. We saw women hard at work beating their rice and brushing it onto tarps to dry in the sun. We rode through the rice paddies and watched a group of villagers dressed in there best clothes going to a ceremony at their local temple. These women of all ages were beautiful and carrying a huge assortment of food in amazing arrangements balanced on their heads, again offerings for the ceremony. Our final destination, a serene white sand beach of course.
Ben LOVES riding his mountain bike and he searched high and low to find a tour company or bike company in Bali to take him on a REAL mountain bike ride. There are lots of tour groups claiming to offer bike rides through the "real Bali" but with names like "Happy Bike" offering bikes with baskets on the front, they weren't going to cut it. Ben found a group that had actual mountain bikes and sounded like they had scouted out some amazing single track trails so we decided to give it a shot and were not disappointed! It was one of the coolest things I have done and a highlight of this trip for sure. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the starting point, a remote village high up in the mountains, these villagers rarely see tourists and were very interested in who and what we were doing. I was sitting in the truck trying to braid my hair before we started and had 3 villagers right next to my open window watching my every move, all smiles and they would say "hello" (the only english word they knew) every time I looked up. These were not kids, they were grown men and women, native Balinese. We were at around 10,000 feet elevation and it was nice and cool when we started riding. Over the next 4 hours we traversed down these amazing foot paths that have been used for centuries to get from village to village. We rode through fields of flowers grown to be used in the offerings the Balinese make and give several times a day. We rode through the most amazing bamboo forests, the villagers were hard at work harvesting the bamboo to sell for building material. We came upon a group of villagers roasting a pig, they were all sitting around chatting and watching their soon to be feast cook to perfection. We saw women hard at work beating their rice and brushing it onto tarps to dry in the sun. We rode through the rice paddies and watched a group of villagers dressed in there best clothes going to a ceremony at their local temple. These women of all ages were beautiful and carrying a huge assortment of food in amazing arrangements balanced on their heads, again offerings for the ceremony. Our final destination, a serene white sand beach of course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)