A Taste of Una
Hi Everyone!
Great to hear from you all again. I write this evening from a temperate Una. It has been a lovely day today – warm but not too warm and as a result we have been able to sit in the sun without fear of getting burnt. The sea was also calmer today so Pankaj and Isabel had a dip. I took photos instead and Dad was firmly ensconced on a sun lounger by the hotel pool. 
Sorry, I should have started at the beginning shouldn’t I? I’ll tell you what, I’ll retrace our steps to yesterday and the journey here.
Well, we had planned to set off early to beat the traffic – I told everyone I wanted us to leave at 6.30 a.m, knowing full well that if I said that we would probably be on the road by 7.30, but when I looked at my watch after having been on the road only a few minutes I got a pleasant surprise as it was only just gone 7! :) This boded well I thought for a hassle-free journey and I was more or less right as we'd anticipated it would take about 3 hours to Unawatuna and we were bang on target. Oh, I haven’t told you how we got there. We hired a car for the whole trip. It’s a white Nissan Bluebird and very roomy and comfortable it is too. So, where is Una? (I like calling it that) :) Well, it is about 115 km directly south from Mount Lavinia where we live. You hit Galle Road and head straight for Galle then Una is just a few kilometres beyond Galle around the next headland. I don’t know much about the town yet as we have not explored. In fact, we’ve not even left the hotel – can you believe that! How lazy is that?
So, what else can I tell you? Well, since we have eaten every single meal here so far I can tell you about the hotel food. In the evening there is a buffet with a wide selection of dishes, both Sri Lankan and continental. It is pretty decent for buffet food. I am usually not that keen on buffets, especially when it’s included in a half-board deal but I have to say, this one’s not bad at all. Breakfast is also a buffet – again, everything you’d expect to see, from croissants to rice, fresh juices and coffee. I’ll tell you something new I’ve tried here – a local fish they call Blue Marlin. Have any of you ever heard of it? I hadn’t but it’s quite tasty.
What next? Well, tomorrow we head off to Yala – a nature reserve where we are hoping to be lucky enough to see a leopard. Of course, it is very rare to see one but keep your fingers crossed for us. We will be gone two nights and then we come back to Una for some more nautical activity – we might go out on one of those glass-bottomed boats. Sorry, still haven’t been able to drag father to the keyboard yet. I am in our room on a wi-fi connection with Isabel sleeping beside me and Pankaj out having a massage; Dad’s asleep in the room next door. I promise you will hear from him soon.
Bye from Una and hope you like the pictures. 
Looking forward to hearing from you again Marcos. Well done with the challenge you responded to. Now let’s see more of your writing.
Speak to you soon – maybe after I get back to Una – I don’t know if I’ll get wi-fi in Yala.
Helen x
Today’s challenge
Notice all the collocations in bold and try to use them in your next post. You could tell me about a journey/trip you have been on recently.
Can you also look at the use of journey and trip in this post and tell me what the difference is in usage.
Comments
Hello Helen! Let me see if I can be successful at doing your challenge. I was so excited when I expected your wide selection of explanations about the bilingual learning of you daughter but you haven't explained that to me yet. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining it's juts because I am really curious about a life with two languages at the same time being used by a child. Isn't she confused with this routine? Nice pictures, I believe that you all are having fun on there. Regards from Brazil!
Hi Helen, I really enjoyed reading about your exciting journey to Una, which brings back fond memories of a recent journey I made to South Africa (we both travelled from where we live to another place for quite some time). During my stay there, I went on a few memorable trips (several short journeys, made for pleasure in my case), a two-day safari being the most thrilling one. We left Johannesburg early in the morning to head off towards a wild game reserve some 300 km far away. We predicted it would take about 5 hours to get there, and we were bang on target. At least the bus ride was hassle-free! The very stay at the lodge was a pleasant surprise. It was a lovely, quiet and safe place in the middle of nowhere. A real heaven for nature lovers! Our chalet was pretty descent for game reserve accommodation - spacious, clean and romantic with a bathroom’s window overlooking the surrounding greenery, so I got to see a cheeky monkey staring at me while I was having a bath. The meals were buffet-style, with a limited selection of (mostly local) dishes, but those that I tried were quite tasty. I must say that buffet meals are right up my street, as I can see what a dish looks like before I try it. Although there were no many facilities, a small pool was lovely, and we enjoyed looking around and sipping an exotic cocktail while being firmly ensconced on our sun beds. The game drives in an open vehicle were thrilling adventures. We were happy enough to see all “Big Five” animals, i.e. lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you to encounter those of them living in Yala. It’s really an unforgettable experience! But, take care, it can be dangerous as well! On our way back from SA, my husband started experiencing a terrible dizziness and fatigue, which boded ill. It turned out that he had a hepatic injury caused by antimalaric medication, but, fortunately, he got over it soon. I can’t wait to read your next entry. Bye for now and good luck on your trip to Yala.
Hi Helen. I hope you enjoy your holidays in Una. I saw several new words in your post, those in bold the mayority. unfortunatelly my dad is ill and I am very worried and sad so I am not willing to try to use those words. I think that perhaps in another moment I can do it.
Hi Helen!It´s been a long time since I went on a journey. However, the idea of being firmly ensconded on a sun lounger gazing the sea sounds like heaven for me. I´m looking forward to hearing from you. Maybe next time we hear from your father :-). Keep enjoying your trip, Ana Paula.
Hi Helen, tricky question. What’s the difference when your dictionary put both words as synonymous!!! Well, here is my shot: I suppose that journey is used for describe an event while trip is used in regular movements or when we are speaking of questions intrinsically linked with the physical movement. For put some more light in the darkness here there are some examples: I can speak about my journey to Portugal describing the food or how people are. If I would speak about the fact of the movement, when, how, where…. I should use trip. Example: In my journey to Portugal I discovered how wonderful people are and their nice character. I spent one day on the trip flying with a low-cost airline. Now I’ll try to use the collocations. Last summer I got a journey to Portugal plenty of pleasant surprises. It doesn’t mean that were a hassle-free journey because during the trip the company delayed some suitcases in a rush of work. Economically speaking the journey was bang on target because we started with the most expenses paid in advance from house. We stayed in two hotels. Both of them had a wide selection of dishes and the last one, in Porto, had a pretty decent pool for refreshing after a hard summer tourist day. We ate in little local restaurants therefore food was quite tasty and with reasonable prices. Finally we returned head off to Barcelona because when you are off for some days, you need to feel the warm of the home. See you, Toni
Hi Helen! I saw your proposed challenge and I´m trying to do it. Today I posted a text that I started to write last Thursday. But I´m working on the new challenge and I'll post next Monday. By the way, you wrote a fantastic text and I´m anxious to hear about the leopard! Have a nice weekend!
Hi Helen The weather is freezing in Turkiye. It is too difficult to imagine your photos at that time while I am wearing in layers. Actually, last sumer was very hot. I always complaint hot weather as I do now. The climates has been changing, maybe because of global warming. When compared 20 years ago, summers is getting warmer, winters colder.In addition that, dryness is increasing. Your photos were like a warm gentle breeze for me. Coming back to my last trip, I went to Bozcada in Autumn. It is an island and has well known wines, quite tasty. Many kind of grapes are raised there, for that reason, There are many stores with wide selection which give a chance to taste them before buying.It is said that the climate is very avaible to be raised grapes there. Winter is not cold summer is not hot. It is the climate I want to live most. :))Although the island is very small, you can find everything you will need.It is pretty decent. I can say easily the life is hassle-free there.One of the pleasant surprises was to be confronted with many art galleries. They are one of my unforgetable memory during my trip.Turkiye has been changing very fast for last twent years and everywhere looks like eachother and authentic structure is disappearing. Bozacada seems to be protected.This bodded well for the future of Bozcada. I tried to use the phareses as far as I can do. Thank you Helen for your writing. Bye for now. Have nice time. :)))
Hi Helen, I like your lovely pictures. Recently I had a 22-hour cruise to Åland with my husband and my sister. We spent a night in the ship. We watched the show and danced in the night-club. We had buffets for breakfast and dinner. Homework: Her visit was a pleasant surprise to me. She brought a box with a wide selection of chocolates. They are pretty decent. We went out for dinner in a restaurant where the food was quite tasty. When I went home I was so tired that I firmly ensconced in an armchair.
Hi Helen! How has your weekend been and have you seen any leopard yet? My weekend was quite hectic. I’ll retrace a trip of an auto show in Birmingham on last Saturday. We had booked it for a special occasion for my son’s birthday. We set off to the National Exhibition Centre around 7.30. We took the A46 to Nottingham and M42 to Birmingham. It took about 2 hours for my husband to drive. There were plenty places to park a car but it cost 8 pound, which I think is extortionate. We had expected the exhibition would be packed with people but it was not. We saw many assortments of cars. They had a wide selection of posh sports cars, formula one cars, rally cars, and so on. My son was ecstatic because he could feel the cars, which he only could see them in the car books and he took a dozens of photos of his favourite cars. After we had looked around we went to see the live action show. In the show professional drivers performed some exciting races and cars crossing missing inch by inch which made me sit on the edge of my chair. The each cars engine’s noises were bellowing out and the atmosphere was fantastic. The icing of the cake was when Terry Tyrant, who is a world famous stunt car driver, was making donuts with two cars. We got a pleasant surprise because we run into my brother-in-law and his son while we were choosing DVDs of well-known world drives. It was a memorable trip for my son as he has not been to such a show in his lifetime. It’s nearly 10p.m and I am going to ensconce in my cosy chair and watch Match of the Day with my hubby. By now and l am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Hi Helen, I hope you enjoy your holiday as I did on my last journey. However I am a bit in doubt, if reading of homework assignments is the right thing to do during such a trip?! : ) Last summer I went to Croatia. I have never been there before. We booked a room in a small hotel. And I must say the hotel was a pleasant surprise. Well if the first impression is very well, it bode well for the rest of the holidy. And indeed the further days were very nice and especially hassle-free. There were attractions and activities for every taste. A wide selection of sports activities like diving, and other kinds of water sports were provided. Two times we did trips to different islands by car. Furtunately we are alway banged on target to the ferries. Food and wine were quite tasty as well. After such a wonderful time it was very hard to head off to drive home again.... journey: I believe it is used to describe the whole vacation. (more general expression) trip: is used for a certain tour or for travelling during the holiday. (goes more in detail)
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