India Trip

We hadn't been to India in the winter vacation for the longest time as it would end up being short, but we bit the bullet this time. The agenda was mainly to meet family but also do a trip to Ashtavinayak together. The itinerary including visiting 8 Ganesh temples as per the Maharashtrian tradition and we also added Tuljapur which is sacred to my wife's family. We rented a 17 seater with my parents and sister and there were 7 of us in what can be best described as a mini bus. Here was our plan

Dec 28

• Leave for Pune

• Lunch - Anu Jiji house

• 5pm - Morgaon

• 8pm - Siddhatek

• Spent the night at Hotel Swamiraj Executive on Pune Solapur highway

Dec 29

• 1pm TuljaBhavani temple in Tuljapur

• Drive to Pune to Hotel Majestique Pune near Theur Phata

Dec 30

• 10 am Theur

• 12 noon Ranjangaon

• 3pm Ozar

• 5 pm Lenyadri - This was one of the most beautiful hikes to the temple with monkeys on the side

• Hotel Orritel in Talegaon

• Special mention to Mayuresh restaurant was very good for veg maharastrian food

Dec 31

• 1 pm Mahad

• 4 pm Balleshwar

• 8 pm Back to Mumbai

I spent the rest of the time in Surat meeting family. One special mention for box cricket and a party at the farmhouse where we all cousins got together! Overall, it was a short trip but packed with action.

 

Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach

We have tried to make it a tradition for friends to spend time together during Thanksgiving. This was the second time we spent Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach with 4 families. We rented an entire B&B near the beach.  Both the older kids and the younger kids had their own bedroom as there was no dearth of space and each room was themed and retro in feel with wallpapers and all. The house has an entire room for dining which was nice so everyone could sit together.

We spent our time playing volleyball on Pismo beach for 2 straight days. We played bocceball in the house and a lot of catching up with friends. In the mix was lots of great food and cooking as well.

Business trip to New York

The business trip to New York was very productive work wise but I really enjoyed going to the Comedy Cellar. You had to stand in line to get into the Comedy Cellar and it was my lucky day to see Ronny Chieng perform live with a bunch of other standup artists. I absolutely loved the vibe of the underground cellar. I also met friends after a really long time!

With family in Canada and USA

This was the second time I spent a good time with my family in Toronto in my sister's house. This time, my wife and kids were also with us making it a full house. We went to the Center Island in Toronto where Anu hit a play structure while playing Tag and we had to take three ambulances - first one from the island to the ferry, then by ferry to main land and then from mainland to the UHN hospital in Toronto. The doctor assured us it was a minor concussion and should get better on its own. What an eventful start to a vacation! Then, as per tradition, we spent a weekend in Niagara Falls. Even with the crowds, I can't stop marveling the falls and the force of nature it represents.

Back in the USA, we went to Tahoe and booked a room on the water. Watching the views during the day and at night was quite an amazing experience. We had amazing Pizza at the local place called Jiffy's pizza. We checked out the Northstar Ski Resort as well and it was beautiful. Just before Ganesh Chaturthi, we heard the sad news that my dear uncle had passed away and parents had to cut the trip short.

Cannes and the french riviera

 This was my second time attending Cannes Lions, but this time the non-work part was a bit, shall we say, adventurous! I landed in Zurich to go with a colleague on a private flight to Cannes. My heart sank after landing in Zurich as it was a rare time when lights went off at ZRH airport and the line through immigration was long, but given my situation, they allowed me to go ahead so I could catch the private flight.

I took the train from ZRH airport to Bad Ragaz where my colleague was waiting for me. He took me to the airport which is just a couple of minutes drive from there and in 10 mins, we were airborne. We still had time to land on glaciers, so we did that a couple of times - a really out of world experience. Then we flew through plains of Italy finally crossing into France from the sea. The headwinds were much greater which used up more time and fuel and we went into reserve before landing in Cannes airport.

The rest of the trip was great, with business meetings and good food. I stayed in an ocean facing apartment which did not disappoint at all! In free time, I visited many of the towns along the Cannes to Monaco corridor by train. 

Arches and Canyonlands National Park

Surabhi, Priti and I met up in Salt Lake City for Spring Break to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Park. We stayed in Moab which is 20 mins from Arches and an hour'ish from each of the two Canyonlands entrances. Both national parks are breathtaking - we spent 2 days in each. Arches had a bunch of trails but most notable was the hike to delicate arch. It was windy with sand blowing in our eyes, but it was a sight to behold. We went right beneath the arch at the edge of the cliff at the other end. The landscape arch hike was really good as well. For Canyonlands we saw both the view from the top - island in the sky as well as the view from the bottom i.e. the needles area. On the way back, we climbed up to the Wilson arch which is a standalone arch outside the parks. We took sandwiches to go from Subway for 4 days in a row. On the way back, we went to the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish fork which is 40 miles form SLC. It was a gem of a temple, and very surprisingly had Llamas that eat cut apples. Surabhi went crazy feeding the Llamas. We also saw peacocks doing their signature dance. Plus it was so peaceful in the temple premises! All in all, a great trip!

Lata's marriage in India

I hadn't been to India since Covid struck (last trip in 2019) and I was dying to go. My cousin Lata was getting married and that created the perfect conditions to go to India. The marriage was in Mahabaleshwar. We took train and a bus to get there and it was the perfect event possible. On landing, Amu and I went to see the famous Sunrise point. Surprisingly, I had seen a thousand sunsets but very few sunrises, and this was the best! Then ensued two days of food, dancing and chatting with so many relatives that I hadnt seen in a long time. The bride and groom seemed perfect for each other, and the ceremonies were all beautiful. One night we had a DJ and danced till 4 am in the morning. The memories were just awesome.