"Smiles everyone...smiles!"

We had read that people in Bali were among the friendliest in the world. Turns out they were right. Everywhere you go you are greeted with toothpaste commercial smiles. From the little “Ibu” (grandma) who runs the Warang (tiny café) at our house/hotel, to the taxi drivers who line the streets looking for tourist in need of transport. The children are beautiful too. During our walks through the rice paddies and villages, the children wave and smile and say, “Hello!” Yesterday I even got an unexpected high five!

There is much to see and do here in Ubud, though it’s easy just to hang out in the house reading and looking out at the spectacular view. We have our Bali groove which means maybe planning one outing a day and the rest of it just unfolds. Tomorrow we may go ride bikes down a volcano mountain. Friday Hal and I are taking a cooking class. And of course Anna wants to go back to the hotel pool where we get a day pass for $3 each. I’m pretty intent on returning to the spa too. Spas are a lucrative business in Ubud, though what I got for $15 here would be over $100 in the States: massage, body scrub followed by yogurt wrap and a bath full of flower petals with tea and fresh fruit on the side. And it’s not even my birthday.

We’re off to breakfast soon…the food here is to die for. Lots of veggies, carrots, eggs, garlic and noodles. Oh and rice. Lots of rice. And banana pancakes. Of course if you are Anna with a sore throat you get chocolate mousse cake for dinner and a cold Coke for breakfast drink. But heck -- we’re on vacation!