A Small Escape for My Parents at Galle Fort

It was not another boring Saturday evening for my parents. We thought of giving them an energy boost before the end of 2025. They had been spending many days at home without my brother or myself around, taking care of my grandmother. Their days are not always as exciting as many of ours, so we felt a small change would lift their spirits.

We decided to take them for a short walk around Galle Fort to enjoy some fancy food and watch the sunset. Our plan was to reach Galle Fort by 5:00 PM so we would have enough time to settle in and enjoy the sunset. However, nature had other plans and did not want to offer a perfect sunset view that day.

On the way, the weather started to turn gloomy and looked like it was preparing to rain. Still, we didn’t want to ruin the little moments we had planned for them.

Upon arriving at Galle Fort, we were lucky enough to find a parking spot easily. Then we walked to our first stop of the day. We felt it was a must to take them to Simple Strawberries by Jagro, so that became our first stop.

We had been to the Nuwara Eliya branch before, but this one felt much more rushed and noisy. I wouldn’t say we didn’t enjoy it, but it lacked a calm and relaxing atmosphere. It felt quite different from the Nuwara Eliya outlet. Still, we enjoyed the cheesecakes, tarts, and ice cream with strawberries.

With our sugar levels restored, we walked along the fort walls, enjoying the view and the breeze. The water was super calm and blue, looking cleaner than ever. My parents recalled their previous visit and enjoyed seeing how things had changed since then.

We let them enjoy the moment freely until the first raindrop hit the ground. Thankfully, it gave us enough time to walk around and enjoy the experience.

As the rain started, we hurried toward the café we had chosen for dinner. It was a bit of a walk, but we managed to get there.

Our dinner venue was Mango House Restaurant, which had an incredible outdoor seating arrangement. Due to the rain, we had to sit inside, but some things still remained enjoyable. I found this restaurant through TikTok videos, and as usual, I had overrated it. There was nothing wrong with the restaurant, but I felt a bit disappointed ordering a Thai chicken rice at three times the price it would cost in Thailand—especially since it didn’t really have authentic Thai flavors.

However, their pizza was really good. Since the rain delayed our journey back home, we ended up spending hours there enjoying dinner.

When the rain finally eased, we walked back to the car. As we exited the fort, we noticed that many roads in town were flooded due to the heavy rainfall. Still, we managed to make it home safely.