One of my favorite times of year in Seville and in fact Spain is Spring. The temperature is perfect, just warm enough before the intense summer heat kicks in. The added bonus in Seville is that its orange blossom season, and its my favorite smell in the entire world. Its unbelievable!

We have become regulars to this lovely city, it never gets old for us. We still haven't gotten over having such beauty and culture on our door step

Oh how I love the architecture!

The streets are lined with trees with all of these beautiful flowers popping and filling the warm air with their amazing fragrance.

One of our favorite restaurants here is Taberna Del Alabardero. They have both a cafe and a formal restaurant, both are lovely.

To start we chose the Jamon ibericos and the foir gras with balsamic and strawberry's. It tasted as beautiful as it looked.

As far as restaurants go, this one is beautiful. Wonderfully styled, with great attention to detail.

The restaurant used to be someones house, and is filled with authentic and original features in Andalusian style

The closest I have come to finding the smell in a perfume is the Jo Malone range. And its pretty damn close. Needless to say, I have the entire range

Another thing I love about Seville and indeed southern Spain are the Moroccan influences here and there. It makes for such lovely architecture

Everywhere you go, you can see amazing architecture. Be sure to always look up, so you don't miss a thing

Stop by the cathedral...its impressive to say the least. As the worlds largest gothic cathedral, you wouldn't expect any less

The most intricate details adorn the buildings everywhere you look

I’d love to hear about your favourite places in Spain, let me know below

Belle
Xoxo

For more about the Andalusian region of Spain see here

So, when you do finally manage to drag yourself away from the utterly stunning sanctuary that is four seasons Chiang mai, you soon realize there is so much to see outside.
Its easy to see why its the hub of northern Thailand

We arranged with the hotel concierge a private tour to see the temples in the area. As the temples covered a vast area we felt this was the best way to see as much as possible in a short amount of time. Plus, you know... cause aircon!  

We were advised that the most panoramic view of the city was from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the gold-domed temple visible for miles around atop Doi Suthep Mountain. Among the lures here are a relic of the Buddha kept in a golden pagoda, and a 300-step staircase lined with serpentine sculptures.

Everything is so beautifully detailed , just look at the colours 

Wat Suan Duk was founded in 1370 for a monk coming from the Sukhothai Kingdom who found a relic of the Buddha. When the monk arrived in Chiang Mai, the relic was magically split into 2 pieces and to preserve one of the pieces, the main golden chedi of Wat Suan Dok  was built. The second piece was attached to the back of a white elephant which died close to the top of the mountain of Doi Suthep, where it was buried, and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was built to house the relic.

The golden chedi in Wat Suan Dok is 48m high and built in Sri Lankan style. Around it there are many smaller white chedi which contain the ashes of the Royal Family
Close by there is the unusually big temple with open sides which was rebuilt in 1930 and hosts several Buddha statues, including a 5 meters high bronze one. This big prayer room is very impressive, and so brightly colored and memorizing 

We also saw Wat chedi Luang is home to the "Pillar of the city " a totem used in ancient Thai fertility rites 

One thing that really dazzled me, along side the obviously amazing temples were the Sala trees . They reminded me of Orchids, but on a much more robust scale. So beautifully exotic and other worldly 

After a lovely day exploring, we decided to visit the night market .

I almost died when I saw all of these beautiful orchids...

Xoxo
Belle

For more adventures in Chiang Mai see here, here and here 

One of the things about staying at an amazing hotel or resort whilst travelling is that you don't want to leave your villa/hotel room... first world problems right?
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But it's true. It's hard to tear yourself away from blissful luxury!

So this means lots of breakfasts served by the pool, afternoons lounging around and when you do feel like getting up and exploring you know you don't have to go too far too some some amazing sights and culture.

I do love grabbing my camera, and loosing myself somewhere beautiful and capturing some lovely images. And when the resort is this good, there are so many beautiful things to capture 

And than of course...there is the Spa 

For me, the ultimate way to unwind while on vacay is to spend an afternoon at the spa. It's a particularly lovely thing to do when visiting another country as you get to experience the traditions of the country. And in this instance, Thai massage and spa rituals 
My husband had booked the couples suite at the four seasons chiang Mai as a surprise...and what a treat it was ​

At the four seasons Chaing Mai spa treatments are divided according to Thailand's social harmony.

I was told that the concept of social harmony is very important in Thailand – from consideration for others to maintaining one’s own equilibrium. Traditionally, the Thai social system is arranged into six distinct groups: Servers, Farmers, Craftsmen, Noblemen, Royalty and Monks. Each group is recognized for its own unique beauty, wisdom and humbleness, and offers many gifts to the wider society.

We started our experience with the most refreshing lemongrass tea .

Firstly, This resort has an actual couples spa suite. Its nothing short of spectacular and as its so private, you can truly unwind  

You get to choose your own oil from a selection based on how you'd like to feel. I always tend to go for energising citrus type oils... I just love how uplifting they make you feel. Lemongrass is a particular favourite.

Once you have chosen your oils, you than have your feet bathed in rose petals...by this point I was really was starting to feel like a queen.

We than had all of our worries and stresses massaged away for the next 2 hours... Bliss 

After a massage so good I didn't want it to end, we than submitted to serenity(in the words of the spa) with a Rose and tuberose bath. Not only was the most relaxing experience ever, but it was also beautifully breathtaking. The most vibrant, velvet like roses were floating on the water,  their aroma  delicately wafting through the air  

After what can only be described as sheer bliss, we relaxed on our private sofa taking in the views over the gardens... heaven really is a place on earth!

For more on our trip to Chiang Mai click here and here 
More spa reviews in Thailand here 

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