Simple Happiness

We went to Mauritius in Winter in February 2013 for a golf vacation particularly in Domaine de Bel Ombre (or simply Bel Ombre), a village in the district of Savanne.

The district of Savanne is situated in the south of the island of Mauritius. Bel Ombre was about 55-63 kilometers south of Port Louis.

We stayed at Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort located along B9 in Domaine de Bel Ombre, Mauritius.

We played golf at Heritage Golf Club / Golf du Chateau (Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort / Heritage Resorts) in Domaine de Bel Ombre in Savanne.

We also played golf at Tamarina Golf Club (Tamarina Golf, Spa and Beach Club) in Tamarin Bay, and at Paradis Golf Club (Paradis Hotel and Golf Club) in Le Morne Peninsula in the district of Riviere Noire.

Regarding food and restaurants, we had a 3-Course Menu dinner every day at Annabella’s restaurant at the hotel for the duration of our stay.

We also ate at Le Palmier restaurant on the beach area of the hotel and at the clubhouse of Heritage Golf Club.

Other than playing golf, we also went for a sightseeing tour from Bel Ombre to Pamplemousses to Port Louis, then to Chamarel.

We went to the city of Port Louis, the capital and the largest city of Mauritius, also in the district of Port Louis.

We went to see the Chamarel Watefalls and the Chamarel Seven Coloured Earth(s) in Chamarel in the district of Riviere Noire.

Our vacation in Mauritius was quite relaxing. Maybe, because of the rain but I actually liked it when it was raining for about 15-20 minutes only during the day.

With the rain, it was not at all so hot in Mauritius.

I like Mauritius and I really would like to be able to go back there. Time will tell!

We went to Portugal in Autumn in October 2012 for a golf vacation. We also joined the finals of Traumreisen Trophy 2012 in Estoril having been qualified for it. It was the third time we visited Portugal.

Estoril was a civil parish of the municipality of Cascais in the district of Lisbon. Estoril was about 25-30 kilometers west of Lisbon.

We stayed at Hotel Palacio Estoril located along Rua Particular in Estoril, Portugal.

We played golf at Estoril Golf Course (Clube de Golf do Estoril/Estoril Golf Club) in Estoril for the Traumreisen Trophy 2012.

We played two more courses for fun, at Belas Golf Course (Belas Clube de Campo) in Belas, Sintra, and at the Oitavos Dunes Golf Course in Quinta da Marinha, Cascais.

Regarding food and restaurants, we again ate at the two restaurants we have been to, namely, Restaurant Duke Pub and Mar do Inferno Restaurant in Cascais. Another restaurant was Bougainvillea Terrace which was located at the Hotel Palacio Estoril.

Restaurant Duke Pub and Restaurante Mar do Inferno were both located in Cascais but Duke Pub was located at the center of Cascais while Restaurante Mar do Inferno was located in Boca do Inferno which was about 10 minutes walk to the center of Cascais.

Despite not winning at the Traumreisen Trophy 2012, we still enjoyed our short vacation in Estoril. We were able to play two more golf courses that we have not played yet when we went to Cascais, Portugal in Spring 2011 and Spring 2012.

As I see it, I do not think that playing golf in Portugal will stop there. I still have not really explored Lisbon yet. I am not sure when but we will surely go back to Portugal.

After a week vacation in Toronto, Canada, we went to California in the Unites States in September in Summer-Autumn 2012 for another week vacation particularly in San Francisco and Sonoma Valley.

We stayed at The Fairmont San Francisco Hotel along Mason Street in San Francisco and The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa along Boyes Boulevard in Sonoma.

In San Francisco, we got to see around fifty Ferrari cars in front of the hotel along Mason Street after the day we checked in because The Fairmont San Francisco Hotel was one of the main sponsors of the FOG Charity Rally 2012.

For the duration of our stay in San Francisco, we just spent our time going around the city walking from one place to the other but we also got to ride the cable car from Powell Street near the Market Street up to California Street.

We went to the Lombard Street and took photos of the said crookedest street in the world.

We went to the Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, The Embarcadero, Market Street, Powell Street, Union Square, Chinatown, Presidio, Alamo Square, among others.

We went to shops like Golfsmith, Ecco, Williams Sonoma, Nike, Ria Shoes among others but we did not really do a lot of shopping.

We went to eat at Cathay House Restaurant along California Street, Cioppino’s on the Wharf along Jefferson Street, Campanula Kitchen and Bar along Union Street, Grand Cafe along Geary Street, Caffe Cento along Powell Street, and Peña Pachamama Nuevo Latin Fusion Menu along Powell Street aside from eating at Laurel Court Restaurant and Bar at the hotel.

Outside San Francisco, we went to eat at Zen Bistro along Broadway in Millbrae, and Murray Circle Restaurant in Port Baker in Sasaulito.

We went to the Treasure Island one night after dinner and took photos of the skyline of San Francisco at night.

We went to four different places, namely, Vista Point in Sasaulito, Bridge Pavilion Information and Store in San Francisco, Conzelman Road at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Sasaulito, and Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco just to take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We also got to take photos of Alcatraz from Vista Point in Sasaulito.

We spent four nights and five days in San Francisco, then went to Sonoma Valley and spent another three nights and four days there.

In Sonoma, we went to eat at El Dorado Kitchen along First Street, Sante Restaurant at The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, Sonoma Golf Club Grill at the Sonoma Golf Club by The Fairmont Sonoma along Arnold Avenue, and The Big 3 Restaurant by The Fairmont Sonoma along Boyes Boulevard.

We also went to Buena Vista Winery along Old Winery Road in Sonoma.

We also went to Napa Valley. We went to Domaine Chandon along California Drive in Yountville and O’Brien Estate Winery along Orchard Avenue.

We also went for a ride on a hot air balloon in Winters and Sacramento areas.

We went to eat at Bistro Don Giovanni along Howard Lane in Napa Valley.

Our stay in Sonoma was short so we were not really able to explore Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley.

After Sonoma, we went back to San Francisco for an overnight stay at The Fairmont San Francisco along Mason Street before our flight back to Switzerland.

I considered our stay in California as short, having spent only five nights and six days in San Francisco and three nights and four days in Sonoma Valley. Despite that, we were still at least able to meet a few good friends in San Francisco.

Thank you, friends, for spending some of your time with us. We deeply appreciate it.

San Francisco is such a big city. There is a possibility that we might go back to San Francisco.

The only question is, when?

We went to Ontario, Canada in September in Summer-Autumn 2012 for a vacation particularly in Toronto.

We stayed with our very good friends in Toronto instead of staying in a hotel.

We went to shopping centres like Yorkdale Shopping Centre and Bayview Village Shopping Centre, and bought some books at Chapters Bookstore and shoes at Ecco shop.

We did not really go overboard when shopping. We just wanted to look around.

Other than shopping centres, we went to Harbourfront Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto Islands or Toronto Island Park, CN Tower, and Casa Loma Majestic Castle.

We went to eat at places like Pickle Barrel Restaurant, Paramount Fine Foods, and Swiss Chalet Rotisserie.

We did not go around in Toronto only, we also went to Niagara Falls and Markham, both parts of Ontario.

Finally, we saw the spectacular famous two falls, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. The two falls were amazing from Syklon Tower.

Afterwards, we went to Niagara-On-The-Lake. We had lunch at The Olde Angel Inn Pub and Restaurant, and had some ice cream at COWS, one of the best ice creams in the world.

In Markham, we went to Angus Glen Golf Club and had The Real Angus Burgers for lunch at The Silo Grill. The Angus Glen Golf Club was a known golf club in Canada for hosting PGA Tour events.

Actually, we went to several golf courses like Don Valley Golf Course, Rosedale Golf Club, Bayview Golf and Country Club, and Tam O’shanter Golf Course before we went to Angus Glen but Rosedale Golf Club and Bayview Golf and Country Club were private so we were not able to go inside their restaurants just to have a bite.

We did not really do a lot of things in Ontario as we only stayed in Toronto for a week. After a week in Toronto, we went to California in the United States particularly in San Francisco and Sonoma for another week vacation.