Happy Sunday! I can finally relax – finally forget about work, uni and all the other stress that has kept me up at night the past weeks. Today we (mom, dad & sis) finally arrived in Cyprus – Paphos (city) – at the Elysium hotel. It’s breathtaking, let me tell you that. We arrived in the afternoon and immediately got served with lovely welcome drinks at the hotel’s terrace. After slowly unpacking and changing into summer clothes, we went out to the beach to discover some of the surrounding area. I must say that the beach really isn’t the highlight so far – it’s a public beach more or less and not the prettiest I’ve seen. Yet, we haven’t seen it all and there might be more on the other side (only walked one direction today). The hotel itself, and the large pools however, are amazing. It’s got everything you need, from a pool bar – even in the water – to whirlpools, amazing restaurants, a great gym, spa area, beauty salon and lots more. Tomorrow morning I’ll test out the gym first thing, then have a great breakfast (love my breakfasts!), and then start my tanning session. This week is all about relaxing, sleeping lots, getting back my energy that has been lacking lately, detoxing myself from the rather ‘polluted’ city air and obviously getting that tan on. Those of you that know me, know that I always give 100 percent in regards to anything I touch. I don’t like my projects left unfinished and I don’t accept a satisfactory outcome either. The same goes with vacation now. In the past years I’ve learned to totally let go. As much as I love those city tours, love my activities such as diving or cruising around to discover the area – I’ve also learned to completely let go. To listen to good music, to lie at the pool or beach for hours, to simply switch off my mind. Quite frankly, I think it’s life changing and super important to also be able to let go off things fully – let your thoughts wander and see where it takes you – seriously, just day-dream. And treat yourself! I’ll surely check out the spa area these days, I’ve promised myself at least one massage and most importantly – indulging on good food.

Tonight the dinner theme was traditional Cyprus food – and let me tell you, the seafood-salad was to die for. I had to get a second serving, no chance of passing it. We have breakfast and dinner included the whole week so we basically don’t have to leave the hotel if we wanted to. Lunch is normally not needed in these hot areas (or so we think), however there are lots of bars and restaurants at the hotel to get snacks in between if needed. The great thing is that they have a different dinner theme everyday. Tomorrow they will have an Asian theme – so I am looking forward to that! We might also skip a dinner or more in the next days and go down to the harbor for fresh seafood right from the ocean – and surely for a small lunch snack here and there.

I’ll make sure to take some more pictures in the upcoming days and update you accordingly – though you can always get fast and live updates via my snapchat: LauraNanette. Till then, I wish you a great Monday tomorrow morning and hope you enjoyed your weekend! xo