boston & martha's trip

molly and me wanted to do SOMETHING for the thanksgiving weekend. we were determined to take trip to charlotte or boston. since she wanted to explore boston in terms of a city to move in, so we decided on boston. this was going to be my third visit to boston in this year so i sneaked in martha's vineyard in the itinary to make it different. also i told molly that visiting a city is something i dont call a vacation. as it after new york, no other city seems to deserve that name and travelling by subways is something i just hate to do on a vacation. so martha's had to be in it.

anyways we chalked out the detailed plan. journey was to be on amtrak. though its ridiculously expensive, more than flight but its most comfortable and enjoyable so half the trip budget was alotted to amtrak tickets. it was going to be a total 3 day trip, first and third day halves dedicated to amtrak and second day fully to martha's. so we reached boston and first day went to see the harvard. for me it was the third time i was touching john harvard's metal feet, in hopes to multiply my grey matter. we walked around cambridge guided by the local maps. it was a quiet, misty town with highest IQ per sq. foot. town area was cosy lots of restaurants and students around giving an intellectual aura to the place. i felt so homely there, i really did! ended the day with a hearty meal of lobster stuffed with clams and shrimps at legal seafood by the boston harbour.

next day we woke up early picked up our car from hertz. took a map from there and i was all set to navigate our way. we drove till cape cod which was 1.5 hrs away and from there we parked the vehicle in a long queue for boarding the vessel. when our turn came, i was asked to get down and board the ship in the passenger area while molly would board the car in the basement of the vessel. it was an interesting experience. the cruise was for 45 min and was enchanting as all cruises are. i love the sea and love it when the waves crash against the walls of the ship as it gushes forward . it absolutely thrills me. the ship had a cafeteria.

we reached the vineyard. martha's vineyard is an island, an exotic holidaying spot in US. we got on our car and drove into the island. collected maps fo the island and navigated through the place. since it was fall time, many places were closed as it is basically a summer resort. vineyard was much above my expectations. it was really posh with high cost of living, real estate and even holidaying. it is a favourite spot for many celebreties and also has an airport. we drove around the place had lunch at a small lively bar, once again seafood ofcourse. by the end of third day i was so full of seafood, having it 3 times a day for 3 days. last day we took a trolley hop-on hop-off ride around the city and caught the amtrak just in time to reach back the city, my home by evening.

Apple Picking in Milwaukee

I had heard about the ritual of apple picking and the phrase seemed to excite me somehow. So when upasna asked me if i wanted to go for this when i visit her home in milwaukee, i was eager and curious to try it out. So we drove to the near by orchards , paid for the packet and drove through the farm to the the orchards. Each packet was for $9 and basket for $20, $30 and we could fill them up with as much as we want.

We came out of the parked car and i could see scores of trees of apples on both sides of the road. On the right was a board shoing arrowmarks to the various lanes of different varieties of apples. Today the picking was scheduled for Golden Delicious and Red Delicious. We decided to walk till the red delicious lane. Tons of apples were strewn on the ground under the tree shadows but we were not supposed to pick those. Most of the apples on the lower levels were already over and nice ones were over the top.

We managed to pick quite a lot of them and filled our bag. And though we were not supposed to eat them, we did have a fresh apple each. Eating an apple fresh from the tree was a pleasure. But frankly the entire methodical exercise of picking apple from the trees lined up on a scorching farm land was more of a drill than a fun-filled experience I was looking forward to. My childhood experiences of fruit picking in India have been far more exciting I realise now.

I spent most of my childhood in old british bunglows surrounded by farms on all sides. Fruit and vegetable picking was a daily event as we always ate vegetables fresh from our backyard. I loved watching my mom and her helpers pluck the ripe tomatoes, okra, cabbage, brinjal, cauliflower, beans and all seasonal veggies. The best viewing was plucking of raddish and carrots from the ground. Removing the mud gradually when a fruit appeared from beneath it seemed like magic.

Those requiring more effort were the kathal and bananas as the trees were huge and one had to climb over them to cut them. Even the fruit picking for mangoes and jamuns had to be properly planned. Though I liked the guava trees which I could easily climb and get hold of. The fruit trees which rested on our house were easily accessible from the terrace and those were fun to pluck like the 2 bere trees we had. For the rest a long stick was prepared by tying 2-3 sticks and had a basket on one end so that fruit may not fall down and get spoilt.

Getting fruits by thwing stones is also fun and works well for raw mangoes and tamarind. My fondest memories of our yrly south trips consists of playing in the sunny afternoons collecting tamarind and crushing them with gaggery and salt to prepare a mixture to eat. The habbit continued even at home when we took ripened tamarind and boiled it with sugar and salt water to make a chutney to lick. Now when the british bunglows are no longer there and we have our own house, we still grow bananas and bottle guard and weekend morning i love accompanying my dad with scissors to collect the prize.

Trip to Chicago

chicago....indeed requires just a two word description, as a friend once told me....- beautiful place.its a city of life, beauty and spirit. chicago exemplifies work and play coming together. Three things which i found unique to chicago were the wind, the lake with its canals and the architecture. chicago skyline is similar to manhattan ...only much smaller.

so i reached chicago from milwaukee at around 1pm on tuesday 4th sep.took a cab to chetna's place ...it was just a mile away. chetna had prepared lunch. after resting for a while i set out to take a walk on the magnificient mile.the most beautiful stretch in the city is the michigan avenue also know as the magnificient mile. chetna had an apartment in one of the buildings on michigan ave, ..... almost like staying in the middle of 5th avenue of new york.but the ambience is pleasantly more windy, flowery , casual and relaxed. having a water body slicing right thru the center of the main road does add a distinct flavour and air for the strollers.
first i went to the information center and collected some booklets..then walked from one end which is the john hancock tower to the other end that is the millenium park.in between are all the famous buildings. came back home by 5 and then chetna took me n a drive on the lakeshore drive. this is similar to the marine drive of mumbai. got a good view of the lake michigan and the beaches.then we walked till the navy pier and took a boat cruise on the lake. the chicago downtown skyline looked dazzling. we had dinner outside and then slept late after updating eachother with news and views.i saw all her shaadi ki snaps and and we chatted thru the night. its amazing how we need just a few hrs to update eachother of the years passed since we last met and then the gap just vanishes and its memories of good old times again.

next day morning i set out early to look for our branch in chicago...found it and met my batchmate and few other people there.the branch is right in the heart of the financial district and staff stay close by in the downtown itself. then i took a 2 hr guided bus tour of the city. took few snpas and nibbled the cookies and fruits which chetna had packed for me. reached home by lunch time and then after lunch set out for milwaukee again since my return flight from there. reached new york by 9pm. though i spent only two half days in chicago... i could manage to get a feel of the city and it definitely was very refreshing.