A Family Reunion

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Once again a reunion of my parents with all their children and spouses in Gurgaon, near Delhi. Although the main objective of this reunion was administrative, we still had to get around and do things. This included looking up some family members notably Surinder Uncle and his family who once again live fairly nearby in Gurgaon and of course no visit would be complete without a few get togethers with MamaJi, that central figure in our family who has singlehandedly made us laugh and kept us entertained for as long as I can remember.

With Birinder and MamaJi

There was also the shopping aspect of the visit as some things can only be bought in India to take advantage of the pricing in relation to Europe. Top among these were turbans, of which I needed a few to replenish the ones that have suffered and have found their way into a bag of scraps which we use for the odd car wash or other such mundane tasks which require cleaning. Also on our list were teas, clothes and gifts which are popular with our friends back at home. And I wanted to see if I could improve upon the quotes for making of new specs in Europe.

Now Delhi is full of markets and Gurgaon is home to at least 10 big malls (some that would be the envy of US malls) and some of these malls have the same or higher prices than in US and Europe, but there is nothing anywhere to match the Lajpat Nagar market, where we found virtually everything we needed in one three hour visit, in 40 degrees heat. We have known this market since I first came to Delhi as a 7 or 8 year old and I think it has got better over the years. When many of our friends came over from Europe in 2008 for my 60th, it was here that they all found their presents and they could not believe the prices, which were much better than the usual shops because this market is off the tourist map.

Shop assistant Lajpat Nagar Market (Note microphone to get shoe sizes from interior)

And one can never forget the thrill of going into a Haldiram, Kwality or Punjabi restaurarants and pig out on the mouthwatering dishes..not normally available where we live, except when Marisol decides to treat us to one of her specialties learnt over the years. I also do a mean 'chole' or chickpea curry which involves mixing one or two ingredients and microwave for three minutes! However nothing in comparison to what is to be found in India, where even the breakfast at our humble hotel was a treat (spice and chillies included).

The weather in a word was HOT. The first few days saw us melting in 40+ (Centigrade) heat and desperately trying to stay out of the sun. Later things calmed down a bit (35 to 38) but nevertheless it was fun to spend three weeks in March/April in shorts, half sleeves and sandals. Mosquitoes were a problem but Marisol had brought sprays to dissuade them from biting our delicious legs!

One of the great treats in India is the possibility of having a car with driver at your disposal at a very reasonable cost, and our man in Delhi (P) made sure that we were well looked after in this aspect. Over the days three or four different drivers looked after us day and night and made it easy for us to get around for our frequent outings to sightseeing, shopping and hospitals and clinics for a series of checks and follows ups to recent interventions. 

Bangla Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi

Some of the drivers were a bit rusty on their knowledge of getting around Delhi, although I must admit finding addresses in Delhi can be difficult at the best of times when many of the streets, specially in residential areas, have no names. One street near where we stayed was called merely 'the 30 Meters Wide Road'. But there were one or two drivers who knew most of the big places in Delhi and one in particular, Deepak was all knowledgable about the local news, politics and curious about everything. We had many enjoyable conversations with this man over the long drives while getting around. His usual 'koi dikkat nahin' to say in hindi something like 'no problem' was new to me and in return I taught him the English version and also the Aussie version (No worries) for when he had to transport folks from down under.

Marisol & Subodh Gupta's tree made from steel pots and pans

The obligatory visit to the Delhi Art Museum also had to be done, and our driver that day knew where India Gate was but not anything about nearby Jaipur House where the museum is located. When we finally made it, for once the entry ticket person accepted our PIOs andOCIs and let us pay the Indians entrance charge of 25 Rupees. Guess how much the international visitors have to pay - 500 Rupees! Thats what we had to pay on our last visit.

Meanwhile parents looked frail but hanging in there. Lets hope they remain stable and we wish them the very best. Finally many thanks to P & C who wined and dined us and generally helped us with everything.

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Rubbing shoulders with the oldies!

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It is hard to believe but Spain has had and continues to have, even in the current climate of crisis and austerity, a fantastic holiday program for senior citizens which allows any resident over the age of 65 (and I am one of these I am afraid) to take themselves and their spouse to a bunch of holiday resorts for what seems like a heavily subsidised holiday (I mean really cheap) with everything included, and I mean everything..transfers, transport, hotels, meals and in some cases even all the excursions!

When I reached the 65 milestone I was sold the idea of signing up to this program with the possibility of trying out a package even if it meant going along with a bunch of old folks (I suppose like myself) and helping out with zimmer frames and crutches.

In keeping with our usual strategy of avoiding the cold/wet months of Laredo we decided to go this February for a trip to the mediterranean resort of Benidorm, which we have avoided in the past like the plague because of its reputation of being a favourite with the hooligan sets from some northern European countries which I wont name. Our idea was that we would rent a car and do our own thing.

Our fellow holidaymakers!

It turned out to be very interesting, both from a social and a cultural viewpoint. We were a bit apprehensive at the start, specially seeing the fellow tourists on our flight to Alicante, but we soon began to feel good, with the great organisation, great hotel, good food and the nice weather!

We used our rental car to the max with trips to nearby towns and to large cities like Valencia and Alicante, with a few walks through Benidorm and its very nice beaches. It was warm and dry while it rained and snowed in the rest of Spain which made us feel that we had picked the right time to escape.

On one of these walks on the beachside paseos there was a shower and to let it pass we sat down on a bench under cover.

OK..so we are sitting on this bench with this marvellous view..next to a local man. We start talking about the weather, the place..and while singing praise about the climate of this part of the world..he says 'well  you know, this is like the waiting room..for death'! Its true - that the average age around Benidorm was probably around 60.

So he says 'all you need is a good bank account and you move here and enjoy life' (while you presumably wait your turn)!  Wise words indeed

The waiting room

One of the most beautiful local towns was Guadalesc which is atop a steep hill and you have to go through a handcarved door in a rock to get to its medieval center. Who would have thought of putting the town in such a place! Perhaps it was to protect themselves in the uncertain times, but definitely made it a good place to visit. It also had a fantastic museum of microscopic art that had been created by a local artist.

Guadalesc

The other nearby town that we liked a lot was Altea. If Guadalesc was on top of a hill then Altea was all the way up along the face of a hill with town's church at the top of the hill. The houses and most places in the old town could only be reached by walking up steep lanes and stairs. While this was good for the health of the tourists it also made for a very picturesque and nice environment with no noise and a medieval look.

Altea

In between we visited the main cities of Valencia and Alicante. Valencia is now famous for its new cultural buildings designed by the architect Calatrava, but its old heritage is equally stunning. The palace of the Marquis of Dosaguas has to be seen as it is absolutely unbelievable.

 Valencia

Alicante too has its own charm and a fort built atop a hill right in the centre of the city.

 Alicante

And in-between all this sightseeing we did walk around the more interesting parts of Benidorm and the occasional contact with the notorious parts. The two beaches in Benidorm have impressive skylines and there is a rock in the centre which is the center of the city and has some old features. One of them is a street which has been given a quite dubious name, (Calle de Coño) which comes from a typical expression of surprise in Spanish, because most of the inhabitants end up here one way or the other and its always full of people.

 Benidorm

As one can imagine all this activity involved a large amount of walking. By the end of the week I posted the following on Facebook:

Having kept a running total of steps walked (according to my Pebble), I can reveal that Marisol and I have each walked 100000 (yes thats 100k) steps since we started our current outing 6 days ago! That at about 60cms per step is about 60Kms (37.5 miles). Knackered! Happy St. Valentine Day.

It was time to retrace our steps and get back home..

and begin packing for the next trip!

In Spain they say the life of a tourist is very hard. 

You can say that again.

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Festivities, Savannah and Charleston

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Xmas and New Year festivities were upon us and we eagerly awaited for Anil to join us. As expected Father Christmas came by and brought a lot of presents for everyone. The standout present for me was the Amazon Echo and as Manjeet and Almu also got one we got to experiment with it straight away. Voice activate Alexa answers your every question, plays music from internet and radio stations galore. It was an instant success. 

Alexa, play Rudolph the red nose reindeer! Jito and Nico singing and dancing!

One Echo was tucked away in my suitcase to be opened when we were back in Spain!

After Anil headed back to Germany we took off for a few days to see the cities of Savannah and Charleston. Gone with the Wind, dancing in the Thirties and all that was in the back of our minds. In one day we drove from North Carolina, through South Carolina and arrived in Savannah, Georgia. Its not the first time that I have been in three states in one day (having done NY, NewJersey and Pennsylvania when I worked up north) but it was still quite an event. And we were not disappointed when we arrived.

Savannah is like the leafy streets of London and the design probably comes from the British influence in its creation. However the best thing about Savannah were not the beautiful mansions (which do have a dark side to them), but the huge industry around the ghosts which supposedly inhabit this city. We duly signed up for a walking ghost tour, though the most remarkable tours were where they drive you around in a hearse!

The lady that was our guide was enough to give us goosebumps, theatrical, dressed for the part and it was pitch dark. 'take lots of photos..you never know what you might capture!' The history of the city is gruesome. Ethnic population eliminated..lots of soldiers got killed...wars of independence..looks like the whole city is full of bodies buried underneath.

Next on to Charleston..another beautiful place with equally beautiful mansions.
This time the aircraft carrier and submarine parked across the river were attractions.
No sign of any bars with dances from the past!

Then it was time to return to Charlotte and last minute shopping, more fun with Jito and Nico and all too soon it was time to get back home.
We should do this more often!

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Charlotte 2015

After a long flight from Munich we arrived at Charlotte airport to be met by Manjeet to lead us to the house where he moved to recently with Almu and their two boys (and our grandkids) Manjeeto and Nico. Anil (from Berlin) will also join us for few days later this week for us to be together for the Xmas Eve and Day.

We had left Laredo at about 6am to catch the early morning Lufthansa flight from Bilbao to Munich and a short wait later the 10 hour flight to Charlotte.

                 Grafham Circle, Huntersville, NC

It was with great delight that we were greeted by the kids and Almu..we were immediately led to a calendar where the boys had been crossing off the days to our arrival. Priceless.

So far we are trying to sleep off the jet lag and begin to spend time with the kids and to explore the neighbourhood. It looks so much like their neighbourhood in Austin and the same shops in similar malls are here too..perhaps its like this everywhere in the US. And the weather it is so nice! we expected wintry but its sunny and warm during the day but cold at night.

We have already had a good look at Lake Norman and the neighbouring town of Davidson. Plus some choice restaurants.

 Waiting for our table at a restaurant

 Slave houses at a Cotton Plantation

 Plantation owner's house

 Nature Reserve

A shop in Davidson

To be continued..

Andalucia 2015

 Marbella and the Paseo

The last time we had been in the Andalucia (in English spelled with an S) was in 2002 when we came to visit Malaga and Marbella so when Manjeet and Almu gave us as a present a card which we could use to spend 5 nights in any Parador Hotel in Spain, we could not resist the temptation to revisit. In February we tried to book the Paradores in the region in the popular holiday periods with no success, so in the end decided to book well ahead around my birthday in November and successfully managed to reserve the spectacular hotels in Ronda and Gibralfaro in Malaga. To make it a more significant period, our friends John and Loli very generously let us have their house in Marbella for a few days.

Chateau Farrell

This is where we arrived first and so began our Andalucian adventure. In a few days we spent time in many great places such as Cadiz, Marbella, Malaga and one of the most beautiful and popular ´white´ towns - Mijas. The day we decided to go to Cadiz was listed in the weather forecasts as thunderstorms and windy. They were not wrong - the most frightening of storms followed us around all day and even the drive back to Marbella was lit up with lightening and thunder virtually overhead.

Cadiz o Gades

However there were enough breaks in the rain for us to walk around everywhere and to see the more well known areas of the old part of Cadiz. These included the central shopping streets and the old mosque and theater now a cultural center (and built on a site where the construction is recorded from 2000 years or more ago), and of course the 500 years old trees which can be found on the South western side of Cadiz overlooking the Atlantic, and the famous but more recent statue of Simon Bolivar looking (with a hand pointing) in the direction of Venezuela with which (as many of you know) we share more than a little.

 Marbella

Puerto Banus

A day spent around Marbella and long walks on the seaside paseo followed and then we spent a few hours rediscovering Mijas up in the mountains with spectacular views. The house of our friends was a delightful place which we named ´Chateau Farrell´and the weather began to improve but the water in the pool and in the Mediterranean sea which was just a few meters down a few stairs was cold so even though we had packed our swimming gear, it was not exposed to water. The beaches in the South were nice but not as good as our own beach at home, the sand being a dirty grey colour and the beach less than clean. We also looked up Marisol´s cousin Lucia who lives in Marbella with Bruno and daughter Eva (not forgetting a very active dog called Neska).

 Mijas

Soon it was time to say goodbye to Marbella and we headed for the first of our Parador stays at Ronda. The drive up the mountain follows a really mind boggling (literally) road, during which I had to admit that I began to feel somewhat queasy. 

 Ronda

 With Liliana and Carlos

The spectacular bridge and the Parador next to it in Ronda

The Parador is built at the tip of a spectacular gorge with a monumental bridge. Needless to say the views all around are spectacular. Our friends Carlos and Liliana who recently moved to Ronda from England wined and dined us and showed us around.  If Cadiz is an old city then as Carlos disclosed that Ronda is even older.

 Malaga

With Amalia and JuanJo

Then we drove east to Malaga and the Gibralfaro Parador on top of a hill. Equally spectacular views in a different environment by the sea. The whole of Malaga was at our feet literally, and we could enjoy the view from our own balcony. Here too we had long time friends in JuanJo and Amalia who made a lot of time for us and showed us around Malaga.  We also got to meet their son Pedro and his family and remembered old times when as a 5 year old he was friends with our own Anil in Venezuela. Anil would call him ´Perdo´ and his dad (JuanJo )was ´Parde de Perdo´!

Malaga

Anil and Pedro in Venezuela - 1985ish

Pedro 2015

The next day they took us for a day long drive through  the mountain range that heads east, and contains beautiful towns and lovely scenery. 

We ended up late in the afternoon in Frigiliana as the sun was setting. We called up our friend Pelayo on the off chance that he and his wife Brigitte were at their holiday home in this place but found that they were in Madrid. But he revealed the whereabout of their home and that it was across the road from a bar called ´La Alegria del Barrio´. We followed instructions and soon found the bar and Pelayo´s house.

 Frigiliana

With the owner of the bar Alegria del Barrio

Later we drove into Nerja, also a very pretty town, where JuanJo knew of an Indian restaurant. A long walk later four very tired and thirsty travellers shuffled into the restaurant called Haveli and ordered up some familiar (at least to me) dishes from the menu from a Bengali lady who ran the restaurant. Although the decor was not inspiring and in general Bengali cooking is not my favourite, the food that arrived at our table was fabulous, perhaps because we were starving.

The only photo from Nerja (we were getting tired!)

A short drive later we were back at the hotel and ready to pack our bags for the flight back north and home. An action packed few days, marvellous experiences and views, looking up old friends and enjoying sunny and warm climate.

I could get used to this! ;-)