Beyond Here

When I started off this post, I wanted to write about this wonderful restaurant Sunit and I went to over the weekend - Bertrand at Mister A's. And the even better view the place afforded of downtown San Diego at night. But as I looked at the post closer, it looked more like a best restaurant guide for San Diego. So I went ahead and changed the title. Remember, I am a vegetarian so most of the recommendations are based on the vegetarian fare these places afford. Plus I have a sweet tooth - so sumptuous desserts are a must for any place that I must like. Bertrand at Mr A's - We went to celebrate a special occasion. A pretty formal place where most people (including those waiting upon you) are dressed in suits. We started off with a Cream of Artichoke soup which quite frankly was the best part of the meal for me. They have an extensive wine list which was difficult to sift through. But their veggie tempuras were pretty much like the pakoras in India. And the white and dark chocola...

One thing we regretted during our visit to the Amer Fort was not taking a guide outside. We were convinced we would find one inside at a lower rate. As luck would have it, we did not find one inside. So as we moved from one part of the fort to the other we had no idea of what it was we were actually looking at or what the stories behind the walls were. My husband and brother-in-law, however, resorted to a sneaky way of getting the information. In order to catch snippets of guide talk, they would walk close to the guides who were with other people and try to eavesdrop on their stories. And it is through this channel that we found that the chambers we had been marvelling at the most were those of the "Sheesh Mahal" - some sort of victory hall. While there is no more information I have on these halls, I really did like 2 particular sections - one was the mirror inlaid walls and ceiling and the other one was the wall with the painted blue and yellow vases. What would be really go...

After having a hefty breakfast at our hotel, on our very first morning in Jaipur, we left for Amer fort. It is about 12kms from Jaipur. And if I remember correctly, was built by Raja Man Singh. Our first glimpse of the fort and its imposing walls - And we all sat up in our seats eagerly awaiting for what was in store. There are 2 ways to approach the main fort - first is on elephant back and up the ramps along the fort walls and second is to drive your vehicle right upto the main entrance and then climb the stairs to the main door of the fort. Since our little one (Kuhu) was also travelling with us, we took the less adventurous route and decided to drive upto the main entrance (Mind you, that was not less exciting to say the least. The road is very narrow and steep at times and carves its way right through the village and up the hill. And if you are not careful enough, you will miss the turn from the village to the fort road atleast once if not more - we managed to miss that turn twice...

I was sifting through last year's pictures, sorting them and archiving them, when I realized that there is loads of blogging of my travels that I actually never got around to doing. So my resolution for this year (I know, I am already a month late) is to blog all my last year's travels. (Lets see how far I keep up to it) I am going to start right off with my latest trip - a trip to India. A lot many highlights of the trip - a trip to Jaipur, meeting my cousins and their children, attending a friend's wedding and eating loads of moong dal halwa. But the high point of the trip was definitely getting to meet my niece for the first time. She was 3 months old when I landed and a complete bundle of cuteness with all her stares and tantrums. Made sure every one catered to her every whim and need. And we all did, after all this was the first little one in our family. So while details of our trip to Jaipur will follow in later posts, this one is for my niece - Kuhu.

Somehow each time I have ended up on La Jolla coves, I have managed to not carry my camera with me. And the pattern repeated itself when I visited the place recently with my cousin. She was in town for a couple of days and we decided to walk the beach along the coves. Only when we reached the place, did we both realize that we were missing our cameras. However, as luck would have it, I was carrying my cellphone. Not the best of pictures, but they should give you an idea of what a clear day it was and what a glorious sunset I failed to capture on my camera. Here are the pics. Thats the sun setting on one side... And the moon rising on the other side...

View of the Coronado bridge from Coronado Island They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the river. Probably that is why I keep travelling out of San Diego. But come winter, I am reminded each year what a bright and sunny place I live in. Coronado Beach We have loads of friends visiting us in winter, mostly from colder regions. And maybe for that reason it is generally quite easy to lure them to San Diego :-) The following pictures were taken by one of our friends when they visited us earlier in the year. Golden sunset at Coronado I was going through these pictures after a long time and realized what I would miss if I were to ever move out of this place. I have been here close to 6 years now, but this place still does not fail to amaze me every time I go out. Kite flying is a favorite sport in San Diego P.S. Coronado is a small "island" off San Diego. Its not really an island, since its connected to the mainland by a small stretch of land at one end and ...

Trust Mridula to always wake me up from my slumber. :-) Things have been hectic lately...or so is my excuse for not posting. In any case, let me finish up my Seattle account with a write-up on Pike Place market. On our last day in Seattle we visited this Farmer's market located in downtown Seattle. Our friends told us we could spend hours there, so unique is it. It has been open for almost 100 years now and is an open public market where local vendors sell their wares. There is food and flowers, knicks and knacks, clothes, spices and jams, paintings and jewelry - you think about it and its there. From these red-hot chilli peppers, To the coffee shops (BTW Seattle is known as the coffee capital of US, being home to Starbucks) To colorful flowers To equally wonderful paintings There was a lot to look at and explore at the Pike Place Market. We spent a good 3-4 hours here just looking around. And as luck would have it we even ran into one of our college friends whom we met after alm...