Indulgence: Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi India

For all of my sleeping in hostels and trains, I do enjoy treating myself from time to time while I travel.

Sometimes its something small like gelato 3 times a day in Italy, having ham and brie baguette sandwiches in France (almost everyday). 

Or....

The hotel from the Courtyard.

Sometimes my treat is something like what I did on my trip to Nepal, I knew I had about a 9 hour layover in New Delhi, India at the end of my trip, so I decided to treat myself to an evening at the Taj Palace Hotel. I had the most luxurious 6 hours of my life, full of tea, food, chatting with the lovely staff. It helped to end one of the greatest experiences of my life.

*Note: I didn't book a room, since I knew I had to be out of there by 11:30pm to head back to the airport and check-in and go through security at the airport. 

So like my typical self, I rolled up to one of the fanciest hotels in the world looking like someone who had literally just received her first 3 hours of sleep in the last few days. 

I got in, took a stroll around the hotel, visited the business centre (which is open 24/7 and has a reasonable rate to use their computers and internet). I went to a boutique in the hotel, picked up some lovely bangles.

Then sat down for a tea at their Tea Lounge, it was hands down the best green tea I've had in forever, and the best service in the world. We are talking white gloved service here friends. The tea even comes with a sand timer that lets you gauge when your tea is done to your preferred taste. 

Best tea ever, and fave bangles !!

Tea Timer

After I had my tea, wrote in my journal, processed the last 48 hours of my life, then it was time for dinner.

For dinner I chose to eat like a Queen, and lucky for me the restaurant had a Gluten Free part of the menu. I went to the Kafe Fontana restaurant in the hotel. I was in heaven !! They had gluten free chicken risotto ! So I went to town on the menu, it was the first time I had a proper meal in days, as I had left Kathmandu in a wee bit of a rush. 

Deep thoughts.

So after savoring a lovely dinner, and being uncomfortably full, I decided some walking around the hotel grounds was in order. Hung out on the ground floor patio, took in the lovely rose water smell (which I will always associate with India), and pondered life, and my sushi order when I landed in Toronto.

Then more tea was in order, and again I order the classic green tea (its literally the only tea I drink). The chairs are so comfortable, i swear I almost fell asleep in them. Before I knew it, it was time to return to the airport, and start the long 2nd and 3rd leg of my trip back home.

I highly recommend popping in to the Taj Palace Hotel when you are in New Delhi, even just solely for the purpose of pampering yourself. The tea I had came up to $10 cdn, small price to pay to experience some luxury on your next trip.

The hotel was preparing for Diwali.

Cold Nights, Wind was Blowin' - Montreal

Hi friends !!

Ok I'm back after a hiatus, I just came back from a few weekend trips and have a bunch of new experiences to tell you about. 

First up, Montreal. I know, I know I have my fair share of Montreal blogs are on here, but this time I went to some pretty cool places.

The purpose of this trip to Montreal was just for a long weekend getaway, catching up friends, hanging out with family. And a lot of eating, shopping and more eating, with some partying, oh and a burlesque show. You know typical weekend.

Grub

I visited two awesome restaurants on this trip, one was a gluten free vegan raw food resto, the other a resto with regular food. Both were awesome.

Crudessence - I went to the Mackay location, it was amazing. Its a gluten free, vegan, raw food restaurant. They have items that are nut free as well. I had a delicious gluten free beer, and ordered the Taco Supreme. It was actually very rich, I couldn't finish my meal, which is a testament to how good the food was !!

Holder Restaurant - A great dining option, located in the wonderful Old Montreal area. I highly recommend getting reservations for this place, I was there on a Sunday evening at 7pm and it was packed. The food was phenomenal, my dad had the French Onion Soup and Lobster Ravioli -- and if I could I would have ordered the soup. My dad is becoming quite the foodie, and felt that the cheese overpowered the Lobster in his ravioli dish. I had the Atlantic salmon with potato puree and a lemon beurre blanc, i.died. For dessert we got a cheese plate with some great Quebec cheese's. Go there on your next trip to Montreal.

Places to Party

So normally I don't really hang out in Old Montreal, I like little bars/pubs, unpretentious crowds. But this time I decided to expand my horizons. Also, its a tad pricey, I've warned you, but it was worth it. 

Brasero Hardi - So this place was recommended by my hipster brother, so I knew if he went there it was likely a good bet. It was awesome. I will definitely be going there when I visit Montreal again. Great crowd, great DJ, awesome drinks. 

Velvet - Really neat story about this place, apparently it was a speak easy during the Prohibition. So once you get in (and spend the $15 cover on a Saturday night), make your way down a dark ramp, and you are in the basement/speak easy portion of the bar. Awesome live DJs spin great vibes, not Top 40 though. Just such a cool place, I'd say its worth the high cover price because you won't find something like this in Toronto at least. 

After your night out

Alto Restaurant - Ever had that moment when its 3:58am and you've had a lot to drink, in the cab home you are singing "I knew you were trouble when you walked in" and talking your very limited arabic to your cab driver? Yeah, me neither. But if you did, call Alto restaurant, order the poutine and call me in the morning. 

So there you go, another well balanced night out in Montreal. By now if you ever go to Montreal you have a bunch of places to spend your weekend in !!

Next up, a ski weekend in Ontario !!