Weekend of May 26th, 2007.

It was a long weekend and the weather forecast was very depressing...but I guess our enthu to get out of the house got better of the weather. Obviously the decision of the venue was a tough one because of the weather and the no of "decision makers" involved! Finally the decision was "Rhinefalls" one day and "Hollgroten" the next day.

Rhine is one of the important rivers of Europe and Rhinefalls is the largest in Europe. Here the "largest" is defined as the volume of water flowing per minute and hence instead of the height the grandeur lies
in the width. We got down at Neuhausen and then treked for 30 minutes by the river side. The scenery is bueatiful (I guess that goes without saying)with some awesome houses by the side of the river. At the site of the fall boat rides are available to the high rock island and into the falls. We took both the rides and it was awesome (No other word to describe it).

Obviously, we had an idyllic lunch by the side of the river overlooking the falls. We also managed great "masala tea", "wada pava" & "samosas" courtsey "GourmeIndia" mobile van...yummmy,yummy,yummy.


Next day we headed for Hollgroten caves. These are ancient sites for Stalagmites and stalagcites formation. It was discovered way back in the late 19th century. The nearest town is Zug. We reached Zug and the first thing we wanted to do was to have lunch...I guess we are just a hungry lot. From Zug we took a bus to Tobelbrucke and then a 30-40 minutes trek down to the caves. The trek is bueatiful but very steep. Kind of tough with the kids ...but, guess what,
there were families with children younger then ours having a picnic by the side of the brook. The caves themselves are actually two caves with breathtaking structures albeit a little scary. Holl Grotten actually means "Hells Caves".


Once we were through with the excursion, which lasted for 3 hours, we headed for the Zug lake. It is a bueatiful lake with a very wide view.
An added advantage was the "spiel platz" i.e. the play plaza. Here Shubhi finally did the Pony Ride, which she had not done at the Kinder Zoo.

That was the end of our LOOONG Weekend!

First Holiday in Schweiz

After the unsettling and resettling phase, not to talk of the finances, we finally managed a holiday in Switzerland. The venue, the timelines and the mode were all decided by somebody, but us. And boy, was that a welcome relief???

The venue was Interlaken - but where we only stopped for food and train change. Interlaken is a town in between two lakes-Thun & Brienz. It is believed to have been one lake at some point of time. with silt deposits over a period of time, the town got created. The town is THE holiday destination of Switzerland.

The weather was aweful- with lots of rain and a few minutes of sunshine. But the company was great. We stayed at a hotel in Beatenberg, the rooms overlooked the lake and the mountains. Bueatiful view.This was by the side of lake Thun. We spent half a day eating and chatting and sleeping and somemore of the same. Great realxing time.

And then the master of ceremonies decided to go touristing-if I may use that word. The destination this time being Jungfrau-pronounced "yungfrau". So first the cable car (or is it called mono car?) and then the train and the train and again one more. God, one more train change and we would have been practically living in the train. End of all that train was a great view. I am sure in clear weather, we would have been transported to heaven(-that definitely sounds cliched).

The Birthday

May 3rd was Shubhi's B'day and we celebrated the week - starting May 29th.

Started with a visit to the Kinder Zoo (Children's Zoo) at Raperswil. The concept is bueatiful. Kids get to see animals that they read about in their storybooks. The best part is the possibility to touch the animals up close or even enter their enclosure.

Followed by a haircut on Monday. This was a high point for her since Mom had got a haircut a couple of weeks back. So our lady was all ready for it and done without an issue.

Next was the cake ordering process. She had an opinion about the cake she wanted and then kept admiring it for at least 6-7 minutes. (I am so proud of the options we have in India for B'day cakes.) Visited at least 4 bakeries but really sad...Shubhi loved the cake she had selected.

The party was at 6:00 p.m. with Ritwik & 'mom', Gagan & 'Mom/Dad'. And David & Tina.

Menu for the B'day bash was Fries, Fish Fingers, Non/Veg Burgers & Juices.

Menu for Dinner was Malai Panner, Zeera Alloo & Tandoori Chicken with Rice.(All main dishes courtsey Tanveer).

This was followed by a celeberation at the Play Group. The kids sang "happy B'day" for her followed by some snacks and gift. She just loved the attention and Kala was a great sport in making this special.

Two more days to go and we are tired...

Welcome to the Family Blog

Yipee!!!!!!!!!!! have finally managed to create a blog for our family (hoping I have the permission from Papa to call it the family Blog) ! The actual task was not difficult, but time out from earth shattering activities of running after/around a two year old, was very tough. I owe everybody a reason as to why this blog has been created in the first place-

We wanted to share some of the finer (and then not so finer) moments of our life with THE family...and at the same time wanted/demanded an update from the others. I hope this will help us in downloading our activities with the family - I must mention that family includes the extended family & friends.

I invite the other nuclears to contribute from their world so that we(I) do not feel excluded from their lives. Contributions can be in the form of holiday experiences, birthday, files, photos, videos,etc.

Looking forward to happy blogging.