Day 2 - Celebrating our 10-year Anniversary

 Alison and I took this trip to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. Even though it is technically a little early we chose to commemorate our anniversary on March 11. We chose this day because we got married in 2011. Plus the Waldorf staff wanted to know what day we were celebrating so they could help us commemorate the day. 

We are less jet lagged now, but we still were up fairly early. Male is 12 hours ahead of SLC and the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi is 13 hours ahead. They adjust the official time to island time to make the most of the daylight. This way sunrise is around 7am every morning and sunset is around 7pm. It was another day, another beautiful sunrise. As the sun rose I sat watching the ocean. Fish jumped in the distance lunging for some unseen insect. Colorful fish glided and twirled on their way the shallow water below. I could get used to this life. 

After we watched the sunrise Alison headed to the gym (dedication). When she got back from the gym she joined me for a yoga session in our room. Doing yoga while looking out over the vastness of the ocean is remarkable. 

Around 9:30am we rode our bikes to breakfast. Today we snagged a table on the beach. We have a better idea of how breakfast works around here. we each ordered omelets and I ordered mango and orange juice - both of which were divine. Alison got herself an Americano with a splash of vanilla and milk. We also visited the buffet and loaded up with fruit and other goodies. 

It was an absolutely beautiful morning so we  rode our bikes back to our villa decided to chill for a while.

We were absolutely captivated by the ocean below us. There was quite a bit of ocean activity today.  Periodically a school of large fish would swim under our villa. After they passed, they would go crazy and start jumping out of the water chasing small fish. It had a very distinct sound as they would really get the water churning. Whenever we heard that noise we would rush over to watch. Sometimes there would also be a small shark, or two, swimming with the other large fish. 

After watching the ocean life from above, Alison and I donned our snorkel gear and climbed down into the ocean. We snorkeled around and found a reef area at the edge of the shallows where the water dropped off into the deeper sea. It was a great little reef. We watched a bunch of small fish swimming around some anemone. There were also many colorful fish. 

We were hanging outside into the afternoon when the day turned from warm and sunny to windy and then suddenly very rainy. It was really coming down. We grabbed all of our stuff and ran inside our villa. At that point there wasn't much to do so we sat by the window reading our books and watching the rain. At first we thought it might be a passing storm, but it settled in and lasted much longer than we expected. I finished my book - The Jetsetters. It was a good vacation/beach book. 

Fortunately we had some afternoon plans that would keep us out of the rain. We scheduled a couple's massage at the spa. the treatment was a dream. Each treatment room is inside its own small building overwater. The massage tables situated over the water. That way we could watch the ocean and fish drift by while we were getting our massage. It was 90 minutes of heaven. 

After our massage it was still a little drizzly. We originally planned to eat at Terra - the flagship treetop restaurant at this resort, but they close when it rains. Instead we decided to order in. We ordered some mushroom risotto, a soft-crab burger, and sea bass with shellfish. Adhikko gave us a little cake to commemorate our anniversary. They brought it right to our villa. By the time our food arrived the rain had stopped. We ate out on our deck. It was a delightful little dinner.

After dinner we decided to to take a walk around the island. It was a good evening activity - the sun was setting and it couldn't have been a better temperature. We got a better feel for our way around the island by exploring. 

While we were away our room received a turndown service and the staff added some decorations to celebrate our anniversary. It was so nice. We love this resort. This is a great way to celebrate a 10-year anniversary.