Spice Goddess - MSC Opera Cruise

Hello Journeyers,
Today the beautiful Verushka from Spice Goddess is taking my over my blog a bit and sharing her fun cruise ship holiday with us! I met social media'd Verushka last year and loved her open and warm personality. I immediately knew that her and I will get along very well. When Irina told me that she will be in Joburg AND that her visit falls over our little blogger get together lunch I had to have her there! And that's when we officially met! I was right. She's as beautiful and warm in person as on social media....

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I think I was born with the blood of a gypsy traveler. As a young child my parents traveled with us through South Africa. My brother and I were given interesting experiences of culture, history and food. Since returning to South Africa in 2010, I have been exploring my country as a tourist.

Having never been on a boat cruise, my cousin and I decided to tick this of our Travel List. We decided on going to the Portuguese Islands on the MSC Opera Cruise Ship. What I loved was that we could pay a deposit and the balance before we traveled thus making it rather affordable. Being the social media addict I am I found a Mystery Cabin deal which meant a great price but we didn't know our cabin. But the God's of Cruise's was kind and we ended up with a Cabin with a window above sea level.

The Cruise cost us each R3500 which included all our meals. It was a 4 day cruise to the Portuguese Islands. We had to pay for our drinks, ice creams and trips off the ship. Entertainment on board was great and each night there was a Theatre Productio, a nightclub, a pool party and activities all day. Every night we got a "menu" of activities for the next day including the Cocktail of the day which included non alcoholic versions as well. 

The staff were from around the world and on their name badges they had a flag from their country on there. The first few hours on board I felt like I was drunk and what made it worse was I was walking around armed with a map so I would not get lost on the ship. But after having a bite to eat in the 24 hour eatery on the Top Deck and a cocktail I felt much better. The food was yummy and such a variety of cuisines. Friendly staff were always on hand to help and sometimes guide us back to our rooms. The ship is a no cash zone as you have to convert your Randelas into dollars and then put that onto a swipecard to pay.

We did keep some cash dollars for when we went to the island. We put 300 Dollars onto our cards for both which was enough for our time at sea. After my first cruise experience I knew i wanted to go cruising again and on longer trips. Cruises with MSC are during the summer months only with destination to Madagascar, Mauritius, Portuguese Islands and Cape Town. On my Travel To Do List I have added Madagascar....

Happy Sailing!

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I have been telling Cedric I want to go on a Cruise and I think she just convinced me with this Guest Post! Thank you so much Verushka and I cannot wait to see you again! Hopefully sooner than later! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Insta-Monthly

Hello Journeyers!
The weekend is upon is and I am very excited! I have been slacking this week with my Pilates. And I miss it already! I see I haven't done a Insta-Monthly Post since Feb! *gasp* So this will be a biggy. I will catch you up with a few things that's been happening since then!

Cedric and I went to review The Marion on Nicol Boutique Hotel - we were treated like Kings

My father left us with beautiful weather in Mossel Bay

The saddest and most beautiful funeral service 

Family is all you need sometimes to get you through something rough

My dads watch that I took and I wear it every day

After all the madness and sadness we escaped to the bush for a little camping

Flowers to brighten up the day

This man has been my rock through everything

We had a nice dinner at home with friends

Lunch with friends at Gilroy's

Easter egg hunting with this little man

Dinner with (blogger) friends

New sneakers to get me fit and happy (not there yet)

Ahhh family time 

Cheers to you daddy

Chick Flick night with these ladies - FUN

I love my phone cover from Printstagram

Dinner with this gorgeous lady

Autumn colours

Lunch with blogger friends

I did my deed and voted

After standing in the cold for a while I took Cedric for a yummy breakfast

This must be why I love Pilates

I spend mothers day with my "other" mother

It was so good the first time I had to take Cedric back and share the goodness of La Vie en Rose

Cedric owns a Country Road jacket now - I don't even have anything Country Road

If this is how we are spending winter then bring it on

After an intense Pilates workshop I stopped for some lunch

We fueled up before going on a house hunting spree

This is how I spoil the office

And that sums up what's been going on in my life! Tonight Cedric's parents are arriving in SA and we will be meeting them for dinner. I cannot wait to see them! Stay tuned for tomorrows Guest Travel Blogger Post!

Stay safe and.....

Challenging Changes & Better Beginnings

Hello Journeyers!
As mentioned in my previous post, our lives have been a bit crazy! So I thought I would give you a quick update on what's been happening so that you understand my ''bloggers absence'' and hopefully get it over your pretty hearts to forgive me! But before I tell you - Thank you to my Aimee (yes she's my friend to annoy and irritate forever) for helping me with the title of this post! I love it! Mine sucked big time!

Firstly - Pilates
OMW. This is a whole different kind of crazy, on my body and mentally. I've been doing Pilates classes since last year December, since then I've been hooked and that sparked the idea to take it a bit further and get qualified to become an instructor. My body is killing me! But I have not regretted one second. At the end of the day I'm doing something that I love, while growing spiritually as I cannot explain what Pilates does to me, it's a mind thing AND I get to stay fit! I'm writing my exam in November BUT have to get some practical hours in before then. Although we don't need to have all the hours for the exam I would prefer to try and get at least close. So my weekends so far have consisted of Pilates and more Pilates. And will probably be like that till November. I promise to try my best and catch up on some weekend breakaways. :)

Secondly - I resigned
Yes, after almost 3.5 years at my current employer the time has come to move on. I am very excited to start my new venture and I'm sure it's going to be a great one. I can only go up from here! Bigger and Better things are waiting for me out there. And after everything that's been going on in my life I felt that the time has come to start fresh.

And remember, at the end of the day......

CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A HOLIDAY!!!

La Vie en Rose

Hello Journeyers!
Cedric and I have been living crazy busy lives and it's scary how fast you can just start living past each other. This is happening to us. Even though we are together every single day our minds are somewhere else. So I thought it would be a nice idea to start organising breakfast / lunch / dinner dates for us. You know, force us to sit down and talk about us and just relax! I went to La Vie en Rose a few weeks ago with some blogger ladies for a nice catch up and I loved the place so much that I decided to take Cedric there.

La Vie en Rose is situated in Illovo, a mere 7 km from Bryanston. The perfect spot to break away from the hectic city life. What I love about them is the location. I would have NEVER guessed that there was a beautiful restaurant when driving down that street. With their main theme being Rose and Pink it's any girls dream to sit back and soak in these lush green gardens. Not to mention the attention to details, from the pretty pink ribbon around your cutlery to the pink serviettes sticking out from glasses on the perfectly set tables.

Once again we were not disappointed. They are very popular for functions it seems as just yesterday they had 3 going on. And the day the bloggers were there they had 1 big birthday party if I remember correctly. Good thing we booked in advance.
The weather wasn't playing along yesterday, it was windy, overcast and a tad chilly. But that didn't stop them as they put up marque tents with nice heaters all over. They are definitely ready for winter.

They have a wide variety of food and drinks and their dessert menu is something to dream about. I started off with a glass of bubbly (duh). By the time I saw and smelled some of the food from the other tables my stomach was screaming at me. It was time to order!!!

Cedric had the Thriller and I had the Wild at heart wrap. The food is really very good and reasonably priced. Not one of us could finish our food. I had to obviously leave some space for that beautiful dessert that feels like butterflies playing in my mouth. The Pistachio ice cream with a shot of Frangelico. Yum!!!

This is truly a little gem in the city and I am planning my next trip there soon. Maybe even have my birthday party there...

The average costs per meal range from R50 - R170. 

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Please do share your experience with me if you decide to go visit La Vie en Rose.

Remember you can follow us - #ojte_travel

Have a wonderful week! And I trust everyone is back into the swing of 5 day weeks!

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Disclaimer: All expenses were paid for by us for our outing to La Vie en Rose. As always, all thoughts and opinions are our own. All of the content and images posted are my own unless otherwise specified / linked to the original source. Please feel free to share photographs and material from this site but please link back to the original image or post.