Austin & Christmas lights

Congress Avenue and Xmas lights in Austin

South India October 2010

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October saw us headed for the South of India for the first time in our lives.
First Kerala, where we spent some time in Kochi, Komarakom (backwater lagoons), Munnar (spectacular mountains and tea plantations), Thekaddy (Spice country and the Periyar wild life reserve) and then on to Tamil Nadu..where we visited the temples of Madurai, Mahaballipuram (Mamallapuram) and Kanchipuram.
The hotels arranged by a travel agent of Paramjit's choice were superb, and one of the highlights of this trip were the Ayurvedic massages that we have had!!

Kathmandu, Napal October 2010

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Here are a few pictures from our Nepal trip.
Aqui estan unas fotos de nuestro viaje a Nepal..

Muerto de Amor - A new exhibition by SAL

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Muerto de Amor is the new exhibition of SAL (Spanish Artists in London). Marisol is part of this group and she participates in this exhibition, which opened to the public in London on the 23rd of September, this month. The exhibition pays homage to Federico Garcia-Lorca, the famos Spanish poet who died young during the civil war in Spain. The private view of this exhibition was on the 23rd and an unbelievably large number of people showed up at the exhibition. Marisol and I came over from Spain for the opening, and will be going on to India from London on Friday!! Marisol's piece is a heart with about 2500 needles stuck in it, titled '2500 needles'.

Encierros Ampuero - September 2010

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The Bull runs - known as Encierros - in Ampuero Spain - September 5 2010
several days of non-stop partying, in 10 of which we were involved..food, wine, dancng in the streets, and bulls running down the road to worry about!!
It must be Spain :-)

Sheer Havoc - moving homes

Thought it would be easy to raise anchors and move home! After 23 years and no holds barred accumulation, its tough to do a complete move without some stress..
Thought it might be interesting to try a new life for a while..but after a couple of months pof non-stop effort, both here in the UK and in our new home in Spain, wish we had tried something simpler. Still no pain, no gain..hopefully all this will be behind us soon and then we can relax
:-?
And what will we do with two homes worth of 'stuff' all squeezed into one..although M has arranged a studio, which I suspect will be a storage dump for a month or two..Will keep you posted but one good decision was to avoid having to drive there and back..instead just giving up the car for now..will see later if its truly necessary to reacquire!
Wish us luck and energy!

Chinese New Year in London

Picture this - Chinese New Year (Tiger) celebrations in London.
A million people on the streets of Soho
I am standing on Shaftesbury Avenue with Luis (our friend from Chile) waiting for Marisol and Maruja to emerge from a shop.
Three young ladies approach me and say
'ARE YOU MARCO's UNCLE' !!!!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$$@@@@@@@@#####
We are stunned..YES I reply gingerly..
The girls say..We thought so, we are Marco's friends and we have seen you on your blog..and your photos from Australia!!
What can I say - I am famous, and the picture above to prove it!

Australia # 6 - Sydney

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And last but not least, some pictures from the Chinese Garden in Sydney and the time with MamaJi, at Deepi's house.

Australia # 5 - Canberra, Sydney and more!!

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Next outings - to Canberra and walk around Sydney, meeting with Artist friend Jenny and Lara Irvine who marries Garry next month!!

Australia 4 - Katoomba and more

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What a beautiful place Katoomba is!!!
But...we have incessant rain, three sisters and lots of sight seeing in Sydney and nearby..and we saw some Koalas!!

Australia 3 - Kangaroos

Kangaroos in Hunter Valley!!

Australia 2 - Sydney, Hunter Valley and more

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More photos from Sydney and Hunter Valley, Wine, and Kangaroos (will post a video later) - on the fly..no time..
:-)

Sydney 1 - Australia Day

At Uppinder's in Forestville, Sydney..and Manly Beach.
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Australia Day - 26th January..same day as India's Republic day and Mamaji's wedding anniversary! Popy,Sangeeta, Deepi,Parveen,Birinder, Guddi, Marisol and I spent the evening watching the festivities unfold at one of the numerous harbour areas in Sydney. The whole of Sydney was there or so it seemed! The fireworks were stunning..
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Hong Kong - 23/24 January

Hong Kong - a very welcome break in the long flight from London to Sydney
The first day was just a long flight, followed by getting to the hotel, and we walked around the Causeway Bay area, which was swarming with people. Had an early dinner (declined the chicken feet on the menu!!) and called it a day..

Next day we did the sight seeing with the panoramic view of the skyline from the Kowloon side
Then in the evening metup with Paul and Rebecca, for a great evening at the Foreign Correspondents club. Paul a very long ago colleague, now living here.

The final day was a walk around Soho, Hollywood street and Cat street. Now we are in the airport terminal waiting for the flight to Sydney.

More soon!!! Looking forward to meeting Popy, Deepi.