New York transit

I told you about the surprising incident at Tom's restaurant. Here's another one about New York - but this is a good one.
Soon as we landed in New York, we took a subway from the airport to Jamaica. We purchased one metro card for $ 20 -which was the lowest denomination we could purchase at the vending machine as we did not have bills handy.
We did not realize then that you could swipe a card only once in half an hour. We kept swiping it again and again but the gate would just not let me out. Finally, a couple of security guards came to our help and managed to fool the machine and let us out. That was nice of them :)
But - our card with $15 balance wouldn't work any more. We thought we had lost the money and continued our trip but just before coming back, we found out that they might refund us with another card if we sent ours to New York transit. We did that for the heck of it - a couple of weeks back and 2 days back we got a cheque and a letter from them :)
I guess they sent us a cheque because we live in Minnesota and a metro card would be of no use to us. Isn't that cool!



Even though this is how things are supposed to be, I am still surprised because I still remember the times when me and my sister used to travel by PTC buses from school and the conductor would never give us back 5 paise change.

memorial day weekend

And we spent two more glorious days in New York but it has been too long since then to write about that trip and so am going to tell you about our okie-dokie Memorial day weekend.

The initial plan was to drive to Niagara falls along with another couple- it is around 16 hours drive from here and I didn't find the idea too practical -so- convinced hubby to drop the plan. He did so half-heartedly and we instead took a route well known to us- we drove to Chica-gooooo! This change of plan happened at around 6 pm on Friday evening (crazy us!) and then we did our hotel reservations, packed our stuff hurriedly and started the journey.
The thing about staying in EP is that...it is all so beautiful, serene, blah and more blah but when it comes to travel, we have to add a good 30 minutes to the trip. This is not so bad when we travel out but...boy, does it get monotonous when we are returning back home. So we have nicknamed downtown Minneapolis as "the point zero". The number line for any journey starts and ends there for us.

For Friday night stay, we had made reservations at Janesville ( about 30 miles south of Madison). We planned to do some sightseeing around that area, but when morning came, it was raining badly and we could only head down south to Chicago.
We arrived at the Magnificient mile - walked by each and every fascinating shop and sipped a latte every hour. We were then off to Devon Ave - the South Asian shopping haven, for a "quiet" dinner. We only then realized that "quiet" canNOT be a word associated with Devon.
It competes straight-up with T Nagar Ranganathan street without losing any of the zing - whether it be the crowd or the noise or the merchandise. You can see hordes of women shopping gold like they do in Thanga maligai as if there is no tomorrow and the queue standing outside Saravana Bhavan is only more than what it is in T nagar. On this particular Saturday when we went, Patel was running special discounts like 4 maggies for 1 dollar and such- need I say anything about the rush now :)
We were totally beaten. We entered into one of the less crowded restaurants knowing that food was going to be bad (and yes, it was bad) but the items were priced less than half of what they are in Minneapolis and we didn't feel too bad about wasting.

The whole of second day we spent at Ohio street beach and Navy pier enjoying the sun.



We went around Chicago downtown and Millenium park a few times to check out the views and we were off to Palatine (where we stayed). The best part of our Chicago stay was having Caramel creme espresso at Oberweis . I did not know that having coffee made with organic milk was this heavenly.

Monday noon after having breakfast at Panera ( and coffee at Oberweis again :)) we left Chicago and reached Madison at around 3 pm.
It is a very small town famous for being the capital of the Dairyland state and of course for University of Wisconsin. We walked down the State street lined with restaurants,espresso bars and shops that reminded me of Dilli Haat and enjoyed the evening sun sitting by the shores of Lake Monona. We then headed back home and were in EP at 9:30 pm. This trip was tiring enough, I dont think we could have ever managed a 16 hr- 3day trip to Niagara. Now-back in sweet home!

New York nagaram: day 2

The second day started with us stepping out early to check out the Statue of Liberty. We went there, saw the HUGE queue of people waiting to get on to the ferry and realized that it we could never do it that day. We then said -"of course it a Sunday, what else do you expect. Let's do it tomorrow" and moved on to see the United Nations.

We took the guided tour to see the chambers of the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Economic and Social Council.The guide explained to us the functions, composition and current actions undertaken by each council, as well as the activities of the United Nations and my husband was right behind me continuously contradicting everything she had to say. All the same, he was very excited to be there as he had followed every bit of news regarding UN actions since the time he was born. I hung around hoping there would be something more exciting to see later on in the day than just gifts China and Thailand to the UN.



The Security Council

We then decided to visit the Central park and have our lunch at Tom's Restaurant made famous on Seinfeld . But thanks to a Flea market distraction on the way and an argument about fultile waste of money on cheap knick knacks, we ended up on the other side of the street in Riverside park. This was much more beautiful than the famous Central park but we found out about that only later. We got into a bus to cool off a bit and at about 3 o clock we came finally came to Tom's Restaurant. We ordered sitting inside one of the booths were Jerry and his friends sit all the time, a couple of bagels and the waiter very "politely" told us that each person should have a minimum order for $10. Now, after having argued half a day with each other, one doesn't need a "courteous" waiter telling you how much your bill or tip should be. We walked out of this place and entered into a crowded Haagen Dazs ice cream parlor. I got a sticky toffee pudding ice cream and my hubby, a strawberry cheese cake ice cream and we sat on the chairs in the middle of Broadway to patiently savour our mouthwatering treats.



We travelled back to Times square, this time in a bus so that we could enjoy watching the hustle and bustle of New york city.
Here we visited Madame Tussauds, took snaps with a whole bunch of celebrities and we were off to enjoy Times Square in all its neon glory. We went around gawking at each tall building and lighted hoarding -Good Morning America, Toys "R" Us, Virgin Records, NASDAQ, Ernst and Young, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Reuters, Viacom, m&m's and Hersheys -they were all there calling us out to have a look at them.





a roadside artist working on Newyork skyline



at the m&m's

There was so much of crowd, so many cops around and so much happening on the streets-it was a surreal experience just being there.


I think we were there well past midnight and somehow convinced each other about getting back to the hotel. I think we just blanked out when we came back.

A blue sky holiday to New York- Day 1

And finally we saw New York - the most happening city in the United States. It has been two days now since we came back and I can still see the images of the tall buildings sharply cutting into the steel blue sky. I feel like I am constantly on the move either walking or am in a subway on my way to some place.
Whew! What a breathtaking city! It is worth a much longer visit...maybe a month would be sufficient ? Maybe...

We started on Friday evening from Minneapolis and reached at around 12 midnight in New York. We then took the lite-train to Jamaica and with the help of one nice Mr. Mazumdar, we found our way to the hotel. It was so scary and dirty and with so many odd people and noisy bars that we thought we made a mistake reserving a hotel in such a place. But of course, it later turned out that every place in New York is equally scary and dirty and you are not in New York if you don't hear a cop car siren or a NYPD helicopter buzzing above your head.

It was almost 2 by the time we hit the bed-after a small argument and changing the room allocated to us as it was way too noisy even to catch a wink of sleep.
We had too many places to see and did not dare to catch upon the lost sleep lest we lose time to see some place. We stepped out at 9:30 in the morning after a quick b.f. of cereal and juice and rushed to the closest subway to reach Manhattan.

At the Jamaica subway-line E

Our first stop was Times Square. Ther are no words to describe this place- it simpley leaves you STUNNED!


It is so intensely urban -there's people and cars wherever you look and multitude of buildings above you are gleaming at you all the time. It is so crowded that you just need to step on to the pavement and the city will take you around. Everyone of them is so well dressed (and yet there is filth everywhere) and each of the buildings has atleast ten neon lighted advertisements - fighting to grab your attention. There are flea markets and designer botiques, street performers around broadway theatres...
Whatever this place is - it is a landmark no one should miss.

Times Square


Street Performer in Time Square

So, after walking through this human maze we reached the garment district- the center of fashion filled with coture houses and showrooms. And it was time to see another place-The World Trade Center site- it was a humbling experience to see all the pictures of the collosal amount of debris, and removal workers fighting their way into the pile- you can be having it all good all of a sudden your life is snatched away from you. well...

World Trade Center

By now we were exhausted, but we still wanted more of the city- so we came to the financial district- saw New York Stock exchange, walked on Wall Street and Broad Street,stood with Washington (statue) in Federal Hall National Memorial for a photograph and of course the tamed the charging bull.
We walked down from Wall street to the South Street Seaport laced with lovely shops and food courts. There are, again many street performers here and you get a nice view of the brooklyn bridge.



We took a bus ride through Chinatown and Little Italy to reach Lexington and 28th for a delicious dinner at Saravana Bhavan. We somehow managed to get back to our hotel room to take some rest after which we would begin another day of hectic sight seeing.

"The Vegetarian"

I can't step into the kitchen on Sundays. Period.
This sunday was no different and we set out to go to our favorite haunt "Udupi Cafe" aka Nala Pak in Columbia Heights.
While we were in Bangalore, we used to regularly hunt out new dining experiences -especially vegetarian ones. But here, due to the lack of Indian vegetarian restaurants we restrict ourselves to the 2 veggie places-Udupi and India Cafe for dining and Bombay deli for chats.
So when we saw this sign board "The Vegetarian" about on Central avenue-we had to check it out. But we had no clue if it was a restaurant or just a shop by looking at it.
Anyway,we were determined to venture in. So what if it was located in a spooky place. So what if there have been recent shootings around that area...so what?

We ordered malai kofta and rotis...cos our romance started with malai kofta three years back at Fortune and that is something no one can go wrong with.
Food...though it did'nt taste awesome, it felt homely BUT they could do better - infact way ,way better in terms of cutlery and probably someone needs to tell them about dishwashers.If you're charging $9 for a malai kofta, we come to expect clean knives and plates along with it.The glasses had lip marks on them and the plates seemed so ancient with so many scratches from umpteen uses ( did I say that this restaurant was opened only last month ?)
!!!
They could do some help with interior decoration too-and not pick up some odd chairs and tables bought out of garage sale.
I dont think we would be going there ever again unless there is a need to remind ourselves how good Udupi is.

Ideas for the coming weekend

I have just been looking at various websites for this week's peak fall color locales. When it is fall, you cannot obviously go anywhere else, can you?
According to Explore Minnesota beautiful fall color can be found at cascade river, grand portage, Itasca, St. Croix and Savanna Portage state parks- the same as given in Star Tribune.
I dont think we can travel more than 80-90 miles this weekend :-) and we have already seen the North shore side...so Grand Portage and Cascade river are ruled out.
lemme see...Itasca- DNR reports state that this is going to be an early fall season here
but distance: 227 miles! out of question

St Croix state park is about 87 miles from Minneapolis, check out here for further details.It states that last week was a better time to go :-( hmmm

Savanna Portage state park is still close to peak color with very less leaf loss and is about 125 miles...

I think it's either going to be Savanna portage or St Croix this weekend...or maybe we will discover some new place closer home

Sep 24th: 2nd day at North Shore

We woke up early in the morning and walked down the lane right opposite to our motel which led us straight to the rocky shores of Lake Superior.
Faraway from us, this endless ocean of water merged with the blue skies above to form the single magical line called Horizon over which the sun broke loose from the chain of clouds, blessing the cold land with sunshine and waves thundered in joy along on the shores and we sat there awed by this spectacular art called nature .

On the shores of Lake Superior

Soon, it was time to check out of our motel and move on with our plans for the day. Our first stop was Sugarloaf cove.Located on Highway 61, this place was home of log rafting operations in olden days (not too very old, if you ask me :). We took the trek down to marvel at another breathtaking view of Lake Superior and the beautifully formed cove and we set off our next destination: Temperance River and hidden waterfalls.

At the Sugarloaf cove

The road separates the trail into two. Hiking south towards Lake Superior, the river forms a gushing waterfall before emptying into the Lake but on the other side is the hidden waterfall. This second part of the trail was pretty difficult with a lot of rock climbing to do and so we took two different routes to reach the falls. Sadly, he could not see the falls while I did and he had the camera and I didn’t:(.
However, I picked this picture on the web to show you how the hidden falls looked like.
Hidden falls- One has to really lie flat on the rock and peep out to take this picture!

Mighty waves of Superior on the southern side of Temperance

Tall maple trees crowned over us and set the forest on a fire. It was a visual treat for the eyes and has left a lasting impression on us. I do not have words to describe their beauty.

For latest information on north shore you could visit http://www.northshorefallcolors.com/

Etched in my memory forever


In the end, we were tired of taking pictures that didn’t do any justice to the richness or luminescence of fall colors and we headed back on 61 to our last stop in our trip- the Gooseberry falls.

I cannot say we enjoyed Gooseberry falls as well as other places. Firstly, we were way too tired after so much of driving and trekking and secondly, this place was far to crowded to admire the fall’s view.

Gooseberry Falls

We didn’t stay on there long and pushed off after a quick look and a small trek around the three crowded waterfalls.
We stopped by at India Palace on W Superior Street, in downtown Duluth, for our first decent meal in two days. We then energetically stepped on the gas on a car-flooded 35 S to get back home and hit the bed throughly exhausted and exhilarated with our trip.

Sep 23:Day 1 of North shore drive

After a good amount of research, we had decided on Thursday that we will drive out on the last weekend of September along the North shore drive until Lutsen and booked a room and car accordingly. But on Friday afternoon, when I was lazing around surfing the web, I realized that fall colors had already reached the peak in Northern Minnesota due to dry summer and may not last another week!
My hubby, a great planner and stickler to details was not very happy with this piece of information but anyhow we reworked our plan and were off on Saturday morning to Lutsen.
We didn’t get accommodation to stay over on Saturday Night but decided it was going to be OK as it was only a 4 ½ hour drive and it wouldn’t kill us to get back home the same day.
We hit off 35 N in the morning at around 9 am after a light breakfast of peanut butter-bread and fruits.On reaching Duluth, temptation got the better of us and we strayed into Scenic 23 instead of choosing the expressway.After stopping over at every scenic byway to admire Mother Nature’s lavish display, we merged into 61 with more than an hour’s loss.

While on Scenic 23

It was almost 2 pm when we reached Two Harbours and hunger was the most prevailing thought in our minds.We headed to a Subway to grab a sandwich and were shocked by the crowd...there must have been atleast 25 people in the queue. So we pursued our next option- an unhealthy but a delectable one of eating doughnuts and chips. After a ten minute break at the gas station, we were back on track.

Our first stop was at Lutsen Mountain.. We took the Gondola ride (Tram/ cable car ride) that took us across a valley to the Moose Mountain from where we saw the breathtaking fall colors on Sawtooth Mountains and Lake Superior's remarkable coastline. We stayed on in Moose Mountain for another hour trekking along spellbound by the vivid colors of autumn where a rush of color paints each and every leaf with a stroke of a shimmering gold or a bright orange or a fiery red and the mountains and valleys are glowing to compete with sun shine.

The Gondola ride

A bird's eye view of Sawtooth Mountain

My photos cannot justify the beauty of this place

It was around 6pm by the time we got back to Lutsen Mountains and we headed off towards Tafte to check out Caribou trail and yes,search for accomodation- as one day was distinctly insufficient. We checked each motel on our way but "No vacancy" was prominently displayed in each place lest we had any hope of staying back.

So we set off on wooded Caribou trail to see the colors of sugar maples and moose maples and reached Cascade lake so serene and untouched by the hand of man. I dont know how long we sat there with our minds so quiet and hearts feeling elated- one with nature. We left it with a touch of sorrow wondering why we ever left behind all this wilderness.


Cascade Lake

We were back on 61 heading back home dissapointed that we couldn't get accomodation and yet hopelessly checking out each motel for a vacant room when we came to Beaver Bay. Surprise of surprises, one motel did have a room available and that too a non-smoking one! We were so thrilled!
It was almost 9 pm by this time and instead of tiring ourselves hunting for a restaurant, we decided by buy a box of cereals an milk from a wayside gas station.

The day finally came to an end with a walk down the streets in the night and a million stars were glimmering over us, hiding the secrets of the day to come.

Where to go this fall: more updates

Star tribune tracking this fall and has given its judgement - there are these 5 best places to go this fall and I dont want you to miss it.
check out this link for details
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/678382.html
also, if you ever wondered why leaves changed colors....u might wanna read this :)
http://www.startribune.com/style/news/variety/seasons/fall/why.swf

A lazy evening drive

Yesterday, after a lazy cup of coffee in the evening, we decided to drive out aimlessly on 55. After driving about 5 miles, we came to Minnehaha Ave where Pergola gardens and Minnehaha falls were located.
We parked our car near the entrance and decided to take a stroll in the garden. Boy, was it cold. The moment we stepped out, the cold air started stinging thro my jeans and was hardly able to walk. But we braved the situation and didn’t need to repent it.
This waterfall drops 53 feet and is pretty small when compared to the Indian ones but then given the fact that it is not even 10 minutes drive from our place, why complain.


We walked down to the bottom of the waterfall and took the trail following the stream of water to explore the park further. People were cycling in this crazy cold weather and there we were, wrapped up in sweaters and still feeling cold. The colors of the leaves have just begun to change and I guess another visit to this place during October is definitely on the cards.

Where do we go this fall

Fall is in and the leaves are turning yellow and copper and red and gold.
One fine day they would all be gone and we want to be there before they vanish. We have booked a car for two weekends now and wondering when would be the best time to go. And of course, the eternal question still in our minds is" where?" We have two options: either go the northern side towards Canada or down south in Wisconsin and the first one seems better.

This is what Minnesota DNR has to say about the peak season:



Ofcourse, this is for the trees and the trend is different for grasses and wild flowers.
We would be just in time if we have to go to GZrand portage or International falls but still have some more time to go, if it is Duluth.
This is a link for minnesota state park map if you wish to refer:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html

As of now, we plan to take a trip on the North Shore drive off Lake Superior. Let's see how things work out.

Straberry fields of Bel Plaine

While on our way to Minneopa Water falls, we saw a board that read “Pick your own strawberries, apples, pumpkins". We jerked our car to a stop and turned around to check out if that was really true. Driving on the path where the board pointed, we saw a whole lot of apple trees and we entered into what seemed like a farmer’s market place. We were given a basket each and sent off to the strawberry patches to pick and enjoy as much as we wanted.

After picking more than a pound of red plump strawberries and admiring the place for a hundredth time we left it to continue our journey to the Minneopa waterfalls.
You could check out this place on the web at http://www.emmakrumbees.com/.

Sep 11th : Day 3 in Chicago, IL

Well...I have said it and there it was, the LAST day in Chicago before we headed back home. We decided to vacate the room and then see the one place we had missed out in our plan- Botanic gardens. It was incessantly raining and we took our chance to visit the place that I refused to strike off my “places to visit” list. After a lovely English breakfast of muffins, crackers and coffee at the Garden Café, we ventured into the wet and drippy gardens.

It was definitely worth the trouble. From fruit and vegetable garden to rose garden to japanese gardens, they had it all.

I only wish it wasn’t raining so badly that day and we would have spent more time there. But then, there was a gain because of this too. We got an early start back home and so could touch Milwaukee taking a deviation on our way back home. We hardly had 2 hours to explore this place before we headed back home. The comfort of home after 3 days of maddening excursions seemed very inviting. And so, after 6 hrs of flying at 80 miles an hr, we reached home at 1 am! That’s ok…can’t I do this once more soon:)

Sep 10th : Day 2 in Chicago, IL

The second day in Chicago was the most enjoyable time in the whole trip.
The morning of 10th, we started off early and headed to Devon Street for our breakfast at Udipi café. After a delicious helping of idly- vada and piping hot filter coffee, we were back in form to hit the roads.

This is a picture of Devon Street( the Indian side) It feels like you're walking on Ranganathan street and you just have to think of an item pertaining to India and you are sure to find it here.







We traveled down the Shoreline drive absorbing each sight and smell. Admiring the shoreline beauty driving at a 50 miles an hour is a bit difficult and so we decided to walk down the beach to our first spot for the day- Navy Pier. We still hadn’t gone on cruise and were worried that we wouldn’t be able to do that in a cloudy weather. Just as we’d guessed, most of the cruise lines were closed or were doing a dinner tour and we didn’t have time for that. But at around 3 o clock, we did find one line that would take us on a shoreline cruise at 4. We jumped with joy and to kill an hour’s time we hopped into a Ferris wheel. And this didn’t let us down either.
We headed back to the cruise and I am not going to even attempt writing about it. All I would say is, don’t ever miss it if you go to Chicago. :)

The view from the top of Ferris Wheel was awesome with a magnificent view of the city’s skyline and a good view of the lake too.

We were back on our way to see the botanic gardens when we happened to notice a Hershey’s Shop.Now, can any chocolate lover ever let that go? So there we were in this 3,600 square foot shop as “factory workers” (we were given caps by that name) and watched a “Hersheyizer” sing songs and make cup cakes for the kids.

We rushed out of this place as it was getting dark and were on track again to botanic garden but it was not chocolates that stopped us this time but the mesmerizing Bahai House of Worship. There are only 8 such temples in the world and with such splendid architecture and lovely gardens, it was impossible not to go in.
But, by the time we came out, it was already well past eight and the sun had set. It was no use going to the gardens and so we drove to the other side of Chicago to see China town. Most of the shops close at 7pm and we could see only a few of the gift shops open. So at around 9:30 we decided to leave the place as we had to still hunt for our “veggie” dinner. After several unsuccessful attempts, we managed to get some roti and dal packed from New Delhi restaurant at and the day ended at 12 with my hubby singing birthday song for me.

Sep 9th: downtown Chicago and the trolley Tour

Since the weather was good on the morning of 9th, we decided that we should do the major part of sight seeing that day. So we headed towards downtown and after successfully wasting more than half a “world famous stuffed” pizza at Giordano's, we hopped on to the trolley tour in an open topped bus. Our first stop was at Millennium Park. This park is right in the center of downtown and is most admired for its world class architecture, landscaping and live performances. After watching Crown Fountain, Kapoor Sculpture, Jay Pritzker Pavilion and a Mexican concert ( it happened to be Mexican Independence day on 9th) we hopped back into our bus to continue the journey.

The Crown Fountain has 2 high glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers have changing video images and lights, and water cascades from the top of each making it one of the most enjoyable spots in the park.

The Kapoor Sculpture is a fascinating 110-ton elliptical sculpture designed by the celebrated artist Anish Kapoor. The sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly-polished stainless steel "plates" that create an elliptically-arched, highly reflective work with Chicago’s skyline and Millennium Park itself as a dramatic backdrop. What you are seeing here is a reflection of us on the sculpture.

This is the train that spiderman stops from falling into the lake :)

After this, we decided that we would not hop in and out of the tour but rather complete it in one go. We went on to see the Museum, Financial street, Hyatt and Sheraton hotels, theater district, Navy Pier and finally reached back at Sears Tower.

Thankfully it was not too cloudy and we were able to see the city's spread from the top of the tower. It is a breath-taking concrete jungle!I think the view is best in the evening when the sun just sets and all the street lights are on and the view is just overwhelming.

That was the end of day1 of our trip, but ofcourse the search for vegetarian food began ...thankfully we were able to head to devon street ( the indian forte in Chicago) before 10 and we managed to get some good food.

Sep 8th : The drive from Minneapolis

This trip was a birthday treat from my husband. Since we both loved traveling so much, we decided that we should travel out somewhere outside to celebrate the day. We decided that we should do small road trip of about 5-7 hrs and we checked out all the places where we could visit. We finally decided on Chicago as we had heard so much about it and it was about 6 1/2 hr drive from Minneapolis which also suited us very well. He took a day off on Monday and we were all set to go on our trip. We rented a car from Enterprise and booked acco in Motel 6 and we were off on Friday evening 5:30 pm on 94W.
Since I am very new to driving, we decided that I should start first and then during the later part of the day, he would take over from me. By the time we were in Wisconsin it started raining heavily and it had gotten real dark. We were also in a heavy truck traffic area. To top all this, there was about 12 miles of road work and I should tell you -it was one of my scariest drives. :) We had initially decided to stop at Madison, WI for dinner but we reached there only by 10 pm and knew that all the restaurants would be closed. So we continued to drive and at around 11 pm, we took an exit and had veggie delites at Subway- From here it was my hubby's drive and after crossing a zillion (no, actually 3 tolls) we managed to enter Chicago at 12:15 am. But the most difficult part of the journey was yet to come. We did not have a map of Chicago and Map Quest had let us down with directions. And so after 3-4 calls to the motel and searching nearly 40 miles around Schaumburg, we managed to find our motel. It was around 1 am when we finally hit the bed that day. Scary, tiresome but thoroughly enjoyable drive that was!