But before I leave, I thought I gotta post what we did last May. I know, I have stretched the "being busy" excuse for nearly a year. And I missed that deadline too.
For last years Memorial Day weekend, we went on a whirlwind 4 city tour on the east side. Each of them, was memorable - for reasons other than the city sights. It was our very own private 'Amazing Race'.
Beginning with New York,
Good to see the busy city, which is so popular in Hollywood movies and now in Hindi too. Its obviously for youth. Coz the subway and almost all apartments are stroller-unfriendly.
And our last hour in NY was memorable too. Coz it stretched from morning to evening. We all got ready, checkedout and we in a rented taxi to bus-stop for Washington. Everyone got off, pulled all the bags out. I got out with my toddler. Hubby paid the driver and off he went, coz no place to park. He could not hear my silent scream, "Hey, my bag is still in there. And so are the passports !"
The. Biggest. Nightmare. Of. Foreign. Travel. Lost Passports !
Anyway, a hundred calls to everyone possible later, someone contacted the agency. Who waited for the driver to come back. Then sent him to our place. And we got back our bag in the afternoon. The. Relief. Biggest one.
And so we caught the evening bus to Washington. Reached all tired & exhausted - without doing much actually.
Then, Washington:
Now this is one city - I can say for sure - I saw it all, without stepping my foot on it ! (Except the hotel, of-course) Yes, we were there for 1.5 days and saw the city without stepping out of the van. We lost 1 day to the above mentioned adventure.
We saw the Bikers parade too. But it was too dark & swift moving, to capture in any snap. The one below, btw, is the White House.
And, Baltimore:
Which btw was the most expensive, for our budget. Everything was high price - food, parking. But the city sights & Aquarium - awesome !
And finally Niagara Falls.
I saw the Canada side of Niagara in 2006. And, saw the USA side in 2009. And it's equally amazing ! The 8 hours drive to & then 8 hours back, was totally worth our 4 hour stay.
Our excitement to see the falls, was heightened by the anxiety, that our toddler might have dropped hubby's gold chain, in Subway, where we had stopped last - and we could not go, search in the van, coz we had started the tour already. Anyway, once out of the tour, we found it alright, on the van floor, below the carpet. How it slide in there ? Well every kid is a Houdini. No really, ask any Mom.
And then ? The usual air-travel back home. Travel with kids. Not just kids, but really, actually, tired Toddlers. That too with a jam-packed itinerary. Pretty much touch & go sight-seeing. Ya, that's some thrill. It beats bungee-jumping anyday.
For last years Memorial Day weekend, we went on a whirlwind 4 city tour on the east side. Each of them, was memorable - for reasons other than the city sights. It was our very own private 'Amazing Race'.
Beginning with New York,
Good to see the busy city, which is so popular in Hollywood movies and now in Hindi too. Its obviously for youth. Coz the subway and almost all apartments are stroller-unfriendly.
And our last hour in NY was memorable too. Coz it stretched from morning to evening. We all got ready, checkedout and we in a rented taxi to bus-stop for Washington. Everyone got off, pulled all the bags out. I got out with my toddler. Hubby paid the driver and off he went, coz no place to park. He could not hear my silent scream, "Hey, my bag is still in there. And so are the passports !"
The. Biggest. Nightmare. Of. Foreign. Travel. Lost Passports !
Anyway, a hundred calls to everyone possible later, someone contacted the agency. Who waited for the driver to come back. Then sent him to our place. And we got back our bag in the afternoon. The. Relief. Biggest one.
And so we caught the evening bus to Washington. Reached all tired & exhausted - without doing much actually.
Then, Washington:
Now this is one city - I can say for sure - I saw it all, without stepping my foot on it ! (Except the hotel, of-course) Yes, we were there for 1.5 days and saw the city without stepping out of the van. We lost 1 day to the above mentioned adventure.
We saw the Bikers parade too. But it was too dark & swift moving, to capture in any snap. The one below, btw, is the White House.
And, Baltimore:
Which btw was the most expensive, for our budget. Everything was high price - food, parking. But the city sights & Aquarium - awesome !
And finally Niagara Falls.
I saw the Canada side of Niagara in 2006. And, saw the USA side in 2009. And it's equally amazing ! The 8 hours drive to & then 8 hours back, was totally worth our 4 hour stay.
Our excitement to see the falls, was heightened by the anxiety, that our toddler might have dropped hubby's gold chain, in Subway, where we had stopped last - and we could not go, search in the van, coz we had started the tour already. Anyway, once out of the tour, we found it alright, on the van floor, below the carpet. How it slide in there ? Well every kid is a Houdini. No really, ask any Mom.
And then ? The usual air-travel back home. Travel with kids. Not just kids, but really, actually, tired Toddlers. That too with a jam-packed itinerary. Pretty much touch & go sight-seeing. Ya, that's some thrill. It beats bungee-jumping anyday.
