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The Galle Face Green is currently a 5 hectare ribbon strip of land between Galle Road and Indian Ocean which is now the largest open space in Colombo. . It was originally cleared by the Dutch to give the cannons of Fort a clear line of fire. Galle Face Green stretches from the foyer of the Galle Face Hotel, all the way to the old parliament building now used as the Presidential Secretariat, hugging the western coast of Colombo along the waters of the Indian Ocean.
The green grassy promenade has been a place for families to gather and spend their leisure, flying kites, eating gram, playing cricket and soccer, or even simply jogging along to keep fit and slim. Evenings on the promenade are always choked to capacity with people and vendors, especially on weekends. The cool breeze wafting from the Indian Ocean and the open spaces that bring in so much light and laughter bring a sense of calm and relief to the weary heart and mind. Children frolic as if they were spending time in Disneyland. Lovers take shelter behind open umbrellas sharing their emotions in silence amidst a humdrum of noise and thunder. Its, surely, a place for all people.
The early morning hours see many elderly and elegant folks driving up to exercise their limbs, walking along the beachfront stretch from end to end. In the old days Colonial Masters and their local kin used to ride on horseback here as a form of exercise. In recent times the weekends have become a palatial carnival atmosphere with an abundance of food and delights being offered for sale here and where people swarm to sit on the grass and loosen up over the humdrum of the week that was.
The Green was also used for a wide variety of social, religious, cultural and entertaining occasions like the Old Crocks Rally, Musical Fiestas, Religious festivals, Cross country races etc.
This is a popular destination for children, vendors, teenagers, lovers, kite flyers, merrymakers and all those who want to indulge in their favorite pastimes next to the sea under the open sky. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, the land is busy with day trippers, picnickers and food vendors. There are two large hotels that border the strip; Kingsbury Hotel and at the other by the quaint Galle Face Hotel, one of Sri Lanka's oldest and most popular hotels, with a variety of old world charm including old furniture, hand carved doors, balconies and high ceilings.
 "We are an older couple celebrating a lot of years of marriage (and hiking) in Sri Lanka in February this year, for two weeks, and three days in the Maldives. Although we love to drive, we chose to go with a driver-guide, after planning the trip completely independently. (It turned out he might help us in the planning and selection of hotels, we own). The main advantage is reaching the sites, some of which are tired, refreshed after someone else used to bad roads, with bad signage - If you are i..." Sam
 "Hello, We had 2 weeks exploring Sri Lanka and for most of that time Cyril drove for usto various towns, sites of interest. Cyril wsa a very pleasant chauffeur. Always prompt and greeted us with a smile. He was well informed about the sites we visited and pointed out many interesting historical buildings en-route. We had a great 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and Cyril's plesant and helpful nature contributed to this briliant holiday. Thank Cyril Sara and Steve from Birmingham, England" Sara and Steve
 "We would like to say thank you very much Mr. Cyril for the excellent 7 night tour of Sri Lanka you provided us. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Sri Lanka and the itinerary you arranged. The four hotels (Earls Regency, Amaya Lake, Heritance Kandalama and the Colombo Hilton) were excellent and thoroughly deserved their 5 stars. Your driving skills was excellent. Also very friendly, calm, helpful, and courteous and always prompts. Sri Lanka is a lovely country and the people were very friendly. ..." Suresh and Prashanth
 "Cyril was our driver and guide for the last nine days. We had the comfortable white Toyota van shown in the pic - it was just as clean and shiny, and not a scratch on it. He is clearly a very skilled driver. He is particularly knowledgeable about the history of the many places we visited. We were pleased we had Cyril as our driver. He had been recommended to us by an acquaintance. Andrew Speirs Melbourne, Australia Travel period 04 Jan - 12 Jan 2018" Mr. Andrew an Mrs. Suzy Speirs from Australia
 " Hi Cyril We have had a fabulous holiday driven and guided by Cyril from CYRIL TOURS. Hotel recommendations were perfect and knowledge supertb. We would happy to introduce CYRIL TOURS to our frieinds and relatives. Thank you for the photos you are taken and send to us, they are a great reminder of our amazing experience in Sri Lanka. We had a truly memorable time and we are grateful to you for all your knowledge and guidance throughout our trip, it would not have been..." Mr. Richard & Mrs. Bridget Simson and family from
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 " Our Tour in Sri Lanka Traveling through the beautiful Sri Lanka has been great. Cyril warmly welcomed us at the airport and drove us with his always clean car in every part of the country. He provided daily information about the history and the different sites of Sri Lanka. Also, he taught us a lot about Sri Lankan culture, starting from food, traditions, animals and nature, and suggested authentic and less known places we c..." FILIPPO MASI FROM ITALY