Niagara Falls and US trip closure

New York is too big to cover in a post. So here's another one starts in the city that never sleeps. When we finished the Intrepid Museum, my parents visited Statue of Liberty cruise on discounted tickets-courtesy of our guide. I had already been on that cruise and didn't wanted to go as it was not much there. Our next NY attraction was again an art place like the one in Chicago. This one was much bigger and beautiful than the previous one, so we thought of checking it out. It has really great architectures brought from all over the world. It is the largest Museum in United States. 

Then we moved on to the last but the best attraction of entire tour-The Niagara Falls. Well, before falls, we visited Niagara Fort and understood its history. It was originally built for New France, then fell into British hands and now comes under US. The fort has few actors who shows how the attacks were performed during their era. They even shoot a cannon sometimes and we were lucky to spot it. Then the guide showed us different parts of Niagara falls, origin, middle and the actual falls. We took the famous Maid of the Mist boat tour which goes close to the falls and comes back. Frankly speaking, it was in my bucket list but when I saw it, it was not beyond my expectations, may be I have seen enough that even Niagara doesn't excites me much or I have become mobiholic or in Love. I guess the last one.

Once we finished the one and only Niagara, the tour came to an end. There was just one last show remaining. It was Native American Dance show, it was related to native people near the Niagara. It was a good show, just to relax yourself after such a long trip. There was nothing remained for us to visit anymore. We started our return just after the show. Our aim was to complete some distance before taking rest for the night. 

The last attraction of our tour was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there was just one person from our tour who opted for it. Since, it was part of the package, we had no choice but to stop there. We enjoyed the Cleveland harbor in the meantime, that Bangalore guy was visiting the museum. It was a good museum, even from the outside. Then we returned Chicago, this concludes our East Coast Tour by GetBus Tours, looks like that company is closed down now 😳.

The next day, we went to get some souvenirs and parents took India flight after one more day. To conclude, it was a short and sweet trip. We completed it with God's grace. My parents don't keep well, but they completed this trip without any health issues. Thanks to God. Jai Shree Krishna.

Chinatown-Chicago

Our actual US trip started from Chicago or I should say, when we left Chicago. All the Chinese tours starts from Chinatown. The tour company took us from our hotel to Chinatown and then they divided us in different groups, some people were put in a big bus and others in a van. As we were about to board, a girl came to us and asked about my parents and inquired about us. She was sending her parents on a trip and was looking for a company. I said, don't worry, I am accompanying them.

Let me describe the passengers in van. There was an old Chinese couple, a Mother and daughter, an engineer from Bangalore, an old South Indian couple from Africa, then a Maharashtrian couple and in 3 of us. Last but not the least, a Chinese guide and driver. So in all there were 14 people. I would say, the passengers were mixed properly. I am not sure, it was their intention or not but whatever happened was good.

As we started the tour, the guide introduced himself and set some ground rules for the 5 day trip. Like will have stop every 2-3 hours for restrooms and lunch/dinner breaks. We were informed to choose the attractions and pay money for the attractions selected. We were also told to stick to the schedule.
I was sitting next to MH couple and hence they started inquiring what the guide was saying. I had to translate for my parents anyways so I started explaining both of them together. Now, I was taking care of them and my parents as well. It was fun. I felt as if it was my duty and a good deed to explain and help MH couple. Whenever the guide used to say anything, I will start translating it. The guide understood that the trip required someone like me for its success, else it would have become difficult for him.There was no way for him to manage it alone as my parents and MH couple cannot understand him. He used to speak in English first and then translate in Chinese for 4 Chinese people.

Parents BAPS visit

Day 3

Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

The 3rd day was supposed to have some free time and just relax, but we had a change of plan. I called one of my friend, who helped us to visit BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Chicago. It is one of the best temples of Chicago area and largest in Illinois. We visited temple early in morning and in afternoon we had a nice lunch buffet in a restaurant called as Tava. Parents loved good Indian food. Next we visited Hanuman Mandir of Greater Chicago. That was all for that day.

Shri Hanuman Mandir

Day 4

We visited Shedd Aquarium. It has been one of the largest aquarium in the world for some time. We started later in the day, so that I could attend office in the morning. Still we were able to complete it before the closing time easily. I thought that we may not be able to complete it, but we were. I guess, I would have rushed parents a bit. 

Shedd Aquarium

Day 5

This day was supposed to start their East coast tour, but they just picked us from airport and dropped to a Hotel. At least, they were supposed to take us to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago, but they didn't and hence I didn't pay tip to guide for the day. But, we visited ourselves to the outlets and saw the stores. Then came back for a subway.

The Cloud gate and Chicago Skyline

Day 6

It was the starting day of our trip. The tour guide took us to lot of places in Chicago including- The cloud gate, we were able to get a good picture as there was no one around. Next we visited the Chicago 360. Dad didn't entered for 360 view. Then we had a beautiful boat ride for Chicago Architecture tour. It was raining, so were sitting inside the boat for first half of tour. Since the guide was speaking in English and I was also not following her, it was just a boat tour for Mom and Dad. We also visited Navy Pier followed by Chicago Theatre. Theatre was a good place to visit due to its architecture. It's stairs were copied in the movie Titanic. Last and least we visited Chicago Arts institute, it was not much of fun, as we dont enjoy arts that much.

Smile Please

A Different kind of Flight

I was traveling from Chicago to Delhi on Air India flight 126. Good thing about this fight is its a nonstop flight. You can reach Delhi within 14 hours. Sometimes, people may feel bored in such long flights. But for me who has traveled 24 hours in train, it’s not a big deal. In train, we have many things to do, we can stretch, talk to more people, buy some stuff to eat. In flight, we speak with less people, but can watch movies, eat free food. So we can say that 15 hours flight is equivalent to 24 hours train. For me, both doesn’t matter. Once you sit idle for a very long time, you get used to it. You don’t need something to feed your mind all the time, just to keep it busy. In other words, you become stable and attain a state where you don’t need to speak with anyone. Sometimes you may want to voluntarily run from people to avoid them. You are more comfortable in your own world. Don’t get it confused that you are an introvert. You just don’t need someone to keep you busy. The thing is you can keep your company happy only if you are happy on your own. I think, I have mastered this. I also fear that I no longer want to speak with anyone, I mean anyone at all. This thing is considered rude sometimes. People even call me Baba (Saint), well in a way everyone is.

Anyway, let’s come back to our flight. Normally in flights you face issues such as your neighbor is falling on you or a baby is crying continuously. This was a different kind of flight, it had added flavors. This is International cum local flight as it travels overseas but has all Indians. Fun started as soon as the boarding was complete. An uncle came into flight and kept his luggage over a lady’s luggage. So the lady stood up and says to uncle “you are keeping your stuff over mines”. Uncle replies “it is a shared space, all of us have to adjust.” She says “ok, but you should not keep luggage over mines”. Uncle replies again “it’s a shared space, if you want personal, then it’s a problem”. Lady calls crew members and complaints that I am being abused. Crew members understand the situation, apologizes to lady and tries to make this uncle understand the same. This uncle is not ready to listen and he is in his own ego. After some time, he changes his luggage to another place as space is available. Sometimes people can be rude like this even in a flight.

After some time, this uncle and his neighbors started talking and laughing in loud voice, even I was getting disturbed due to same. I didn’t slept night before and wanted to take some rest. Already angry lady calls crew manager this time and complaints regarding the same. Again crew member’s tries to make this rude uncle understand, but some people are different. Every class have back benchers. Crew members even says “why don’t you just drink and sleep”. That was a well said statement, in other words it means “Shut the fuck up”. If I was in uncle’s place, I would have felt embarrassed.

Crew manager was trying to calm this situation down and some people started fighting, literally hitting each other. They threatened to even make the plane land, which was funny. You can’t make the plane land just because you have some problems with your neighbour. The situation was so intense that crew had to separate them by allocating seats separately.

Then another person started complaining that people are passing through the baby section and causing inconvenience. I have never seen such a funny flight and I travel at least every six months. 

Last but not the least and the serious one. An old uncle had a seizure (minor attack, I guess) and he stopped responding. Crew members called for a Doctor on plane and since it was Air India, you can expect doctors and engineers. Suddenly 4 doctors came rushing towards patient, one of them was a senior doctor. He started analyzing and probing what could have happened. Within 15 minutes, a saline was in place and patient started responding to treatment. For a moment everyone thought, he is gone, but these doctors acted as an angel and saved poor man’s soul. This is why this profession is considered above all. I was speaking to a neighbor “is this a regular situation in Air India or its today's special”. “its today's special” he replied. This guy was sitting next to rude uncle and ahead of angry lady. A miserable situation to be in. He was calling that rude uncle a joker, if uncle would have listened to it that would have become another situation in this blog. Ha ha ha.

I was telling him to pray that we don’t need another situation until this flight lands, these are enough for a flight.

Windy City: Chicago

Lake Michigan

Google “Windy City” and you will get one and only place called as Chicago. Chicago, on Lake Michigan in Illinois, is among the largest cities in the U.S. Just in case, if you are still not aware or you are new reader (Welcome), I have relocated to Chicago.

Downtown

In rare case, if you are a frequent reader, you might know that this is not my first trip to Chicago. It's actually third and now it's more than a trip, it's relocation. My first perspective of Chicago from a tourist eye, more details can be found @ my blog This is just a Beginning.

This particular instance, I am getting a view of local person. I am looking at actual Chicago. It is the 3rd largest city in US and I can feel it. If you are from India, this city is comparable to Mumbai-Pune. It has local trains as well as metro and obviously buses. It's main airport O'hare International Airport is busiest airport in the world in terms of air traffic. As per my understanding, as the population increases in a democracy, issues arises. I have seen Minneapolis and now I am looking at Chicago and feel the difference. As population of Chicago is higher than Minneapolis, it has higher issues.

Colleagues

The worst economical situation of MN as per my info was to run out of money after cleaning snow.

While in CH, Teachers came out on streets to oppose the corruption due to which public schools ran out of money. I heard there used to be serial killers in MN, we have gang wars in CH. MN driving is much more easier and polite than CH. I used to work and live in suburbs in MN, well in CH, its opposite in both cases.

Constant touch with smart people

I am working in downtown in a big red box. It is one of the skyscrapper of Chicago. A normal travel consists of at least a walk, a bus and a train. Same applies to me, I walk first, catch a bus, then travel in train (colored line) and then again walk in order to reach office. It takes 1 hour to reach office, but it's normal in big cities. Fortunately, I found a place where I don't have to cook so I save some time which is covered up in travelling. I pay considerate amount which includes everything which is the cool part, I don't have to worry about anything. I have to share the room is the bad part of it. Anyways, life teaches different things at every point of life. So I am taking life as it is coming to me. Now a days, most of the time, I am busy in calls. I love that. I even changed my phone plans and number, so that I can make more and more calls. If you are in touch with me, you will understand this. It's the same reason, that I am not getting much time to update my blogs. As a matter of fact, I am spending more time on mobile than on Laptop. Strange but sweet truth.

That's the red box, where I work

I am staying in a place where maximum population is of immigrants Indians and Latin Americans which is cool as you get cheap commodities, but the place is bit dirty which is bad part. Guess everything is cool as well as bad. It looks like, in order to get Rose, you have to cross thorns, oh yes, I can experience that. I am bit worried about my tummy, so I have started walking in evening. It's a new place, so just exploring nearby places/shops.

Before I move on and explore more states in US, I thought of writing my new place: Windy City-Chicago.

Next in line....
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any guess???

Chicago Road trip

Sue

Day 2

Day 2 started with another major attraction of Chicago-The Field Museum-One of the World’s Largest natural history Museum. As we entered, Sue-a magnificent dinosaur was there to welcome us.

Under the Ground

The museum had a lot to offer, right from remains of dinosaurs to animal artifacts. Old heritage places, wudoo power, black magic and many more. Few real mummies were there, I was thinking just in case if this Museum comes alive in night, like the movie “Night at the Museum” then that’s it- Chicago is done. Well that’s just a hypothesis but there is a place which is under the ground and it is prepared to give you a under the soil feeling and sometimes, it became scary. There were few more interesting things like gems, fossil lab but due to less time, we had to drop these places in order to enter Mission Moon.

Adler-Space Xploraration

Yes you are correct, our next adventure was Adler Planetarium. At this science station, they tell you how to search a habitable planet and I was thinking, I am not even able to find a good parking spot in Chicago and they have capacity to search for life on other planets, seriously. Adler is America’s first planetarium. All these places-Shedd, Museum and Planetorim are at walking distances, but its tough to cover em all in a single day. There is an event called as hidden wonders which is shown in a big spherical theatre. Complete roof will become space, its worth watching show, you will feel as if you are in space. They also have some big size telescopes and a place where you can walk through space and time.

Mota hogaya hu shayad

Next we headed towards John Hancock observatory, again after spending one hour in searching for a parking spot. The important thing about this skyscraper is it allows you to tilt and see Chicago, yes theres a fee for that. Rest everything is same as in Willis. I would suggest going at one skyscrapper rather than both. Now all of us were hungry and this time, we had proper dinner. It was Chicagos specialty Chicago Style Pizza from one of the 4 restaurants which sells it- The Lumanatis.

Angry Girl

Last but not the least, we visited Millennium Park. They have made a park just to celebrate Millenium, I don’t get these things, but they are surprisingly funny. Park has a lot of things to offer right from free events to exhibitions to Pavillion to marvelous Cloud Gate to a lot more things. Lets explore em one by one. Pavillion is the centerpiece of park with capacity of 4000+7000 people. You can symphony orchestra and chorus there. Next we have a cloud gate also known as Bean due to its structure is a stainless steel sculpture which provides our reflection. Next we have something called as Crown Fountain-a watery Video sculpture where they play videos of Chicago people under a water fountain. There are many other things to explore as weather permits like the Lurie garden, Ice rink, Pedestrian Bridge, wrigley Square etc.

Bean

Right after Park, we headed towards back to Minnesota. On the way there was a small incident on highway, I wish God forbids me for that. Overall journey was good. Normally I write about my crew, this time I have forgotten that, I’ll try to include it in next post, Thanks. 

This is just a Beginning

Shedd Aquarium

It’s been some time now that I have been to a trip. I was waiting for the spring and now when its here, I am ready to roll, ready to explore all corners of the USA. Recently, I got the opportunity to visit 3^rd most populous city of US-Chicago. I believe this is just a beginning of my US trips, now Spring is up and I have started visiting places.

Star with Stars

We have been planning for this trip from sometime and suddenly on a sunny day, I got ping from a friend asking for Chicago Trip. I said “are u serious, I am definitely in.” Soon, 5 people were finalized and we booked a car, yes it was a road trip. First trip in US and that too a road one, isn’t that’s aaaaawesome.

Lookin @ Chicago

There were 5 guys-2 boys and 3 girls, so we were somehow able to accommodate in a single Toyota Camry taking in account physique of people with us. We started around 4 AM from Minneapolis and reached Chicago around 11 AM. First we visited a place called as Willis Tower (one of the tallest Skyscraper, it was the tallest in the world for at least 25 years), also known as Sears Tower. It is a 108 story building and provides a good view of Chicago Downtown. We bought Chicago City passes from Sears which allows us to visit 5 major attractions of Chicago. Some of the attractions have choices in them. Once we had a sky view of Willis, we moved on to our next attraction Shedd Aquarium. It’s really a biiig aquarium and has all kinds of fishes, too many fishes. At one point of time, you may feel all are just fishes and you may start ignoring them. But I must say, some of them are really worth watching like sea horses, penguins, whales, some weird kind of fishes which doesn’t even look like a fish.

Live baby fish

Driving from early morning and visiting 2 spots all of us were exhausted, so we thought of going to our reserved hotel-Quality Inn and get fresh. One of our friend wanted to have Indian dinner, unfortunately we ended up having a completely different food at Devon Street. All of us were hungry like hell, but none of us was able to eat anything due to huge quantity of food they offer and other specialties of restaurant. It was a long day, so next day in next post.