Our home base in Bali (6 of our 7 nights) was Alila Manggis on the South/Southeastern coast of the island. Special thanks to fellow NYC round-the-world-for-a-year family, the Sullivans, for recommending this spot. It's pure bliss!! It's an indulgence for us to be here for a long stretch. This is the longest we've stayed in a single place since our time in Italy last September. We're graciously soaking up every moment and every special touch while we're here.
Here's how our days and evenings went at Alila Manggis:
Mornings would kick off with either a run (Doug) or phone call to family or friends (best chance given time zones). I've been doing my workouts in the mid/late afternoon. They have an amazing wooden platform overlooking the beach where they offer daily yoga & meditation. The first afternoon I did a late afternoon yoga class. It ended up being more stretch than yoga, but it was perfectly what I needed, given my recent back discomfort. Every other day I'd download a workout video and take over the platform for a sweaty workout; the humidity meant I was drenched by the end of it. There's something to be said about working out in the fresh air, waves crashing just feet away. Beautiful & motivating.
We'd then park ourselves down for the insanely tasty and leisurely breakfast spread. It's not a buffet, but the breakfast comes with a fruit & bread spread, fresh made juices, and your choice of main dish from a comprehensive menu. The tasty food plus the view (palm trees, green grass, tropical all around) and sounds (waves crashing, breeze blowing) was a heavenly way to start the day. I even found myself reading a few pages of a book (gasp!) over breakfast; quite the treat.
Post-breakfast we'd log a school session with the girls. Breakfast ran until 11:00am, so the girls would often order a 2nd round of breakfast. The beauty of doing school right after breakfast is that it'd be done and then we'd have the rest of the day to play & explore.
We logged multiple daily swim sessions in the huge, relatively shallow Alila Manggis pool. The pool temperature was crazy warm, warmer than any we've experienced to date. I'm typically a wimp; even the slightest chill of water and I pass on going in. But even I have to admit the pool water here was too warm. It just wasn't refreshing. Nonetheless, the pool was a super fun way to pass the day. It's amazing how much fun the girls had, left to their own devices (with goggles), in the pool.
Every afternoon Alila served complimentary tea & sweet snacks poolside from 3:00-5:00pm. The girls loved going up to the cart on their own, ordering their platter of tea & sweets, and making a private picnic on the grass. We watched from the poolside lounge chairs (100 feet away) delighting in the fun of it all.
P&S had a chance to stretch their independence muscles at Alila. Most mornings Paige would head over to breakfast on her own, book nestled under her arm. Some mornings Sadie would join her and they'd order breakfast on their own before we joined them. The afternoon tea became "their thing", happily bouncing off to do that all themselves. Little things like that are so great for them!
There was a spa across the street from the resort that we went to a few times; Doug for a 90-minute massage, me for a 60-minute massage and a spa pedicure (last time was in Lisbon, mid-August). Even the girls got in on the action with a "manicure" (polish only) our final day.
We had one day that rained a torrential downpour almost all day. The girls were booked into a kite making class which turned out to be a total flop. Not because of the rain; rather, because they spent the two hours watching the staff make the kites for them. The lack of hands-on activity for the girls was disappointing. Thankfully the girls had loads of fun with their new Aussie buddies, Charlie & Layla, so it was all good. They got a chance to fly their kites the next morning. All of them lasted only a few minutes before they tore, haha.
Playing with new Aussie pals, Charlie & Layla (girls) and Sian & Jonno (parents), was a highlight of our time at Alila! We were bummed that no other families were at Alila during our stay; we were hopeful the girls would find some kiddos to play with. In our two final days at Alila, we excitedly noticed a new family with two girls that looked to be about Paige & Sadie's ages. We ended up talking with them down at the Beach Bar their first evening and immediately clicked. It took the girls only minutes and they were off running around on their own and we had a blast chatting with Sian and Jonno. Sadly Perth (where they live) is not part of our Australian travel plans; it would have been amazing to later meet them on their own turf Down Under! Connecting with them made our final days at Alila extra fun & enjoyable! The four girls declared "kids table" for dinners and pool sessions went up to a whole new level of fun. Us adults had loads of laughs as well. Grateful to meet a fun family on the go!
Soaking up dazzling sunsets down at the Beach Bar, drinks in hand and a competitive family card game (mostly UNO) in play. We scored some gorgeous sunsets our first few nights, but the rain and overcast weather kept the sunsets at bay our final nights. One of the sunsets surely goes down as one of our most memorable ones of the trip.
All in, our down time at beautiful Alila Manggis was amazing. Long, leisurely breakfasts + swim sessions galore + active adult workouts + barefoot play amidst palm trees + dazzling sunsets made for a memorable and relaxing time!
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