Trip to Washington, DC

Weekly Journal- 15th July 2010 ( for the dates 9th to 12th July)


Friday the 9th of July-
We (Vasu/Meena/Shylu n Gayu) set out for Washington,DC in the evening, around 7.30 pm. DC is about 200 miles from NJ and we were hoping to make good time and reach there before midnight. Fortunately, we had packed mixed veg rice and some pasta and did not have to break anywhere for dinner.That saved us some time. Weather and traffic were favourable and with the help of Google maps, we had door-to-door directions from Vasu's place to the hotel in DC.

The drive was pleasant and we reached DC around 10.55pm that night. Gopu had left Ohio earlier that afternoon and had reached DC around half an hour before we did. Gopu had booked us into the Westin Hotel in a room with two twin beds. In retrospect, we should have just booked 2 rooms. Each twin bed is smaller than a regular queen bed. Fitting Gopu, gayathri and me into one was hopeless. I spent the night sleepless and checking to see if I was on the bed or off it!!

Saturday, the 10th of July-
Lakshmi and family had reached DC on Friday morning by train and had asked us to meet them at the Capitol for the tour of the building and the Library of Congress. The time of our tour was 10 am on Saturday, but we had to be there an hour earlier as there were security measures to get through. Much to our dismay, Saturday morning dawned cloudy and rainy. Good thing the hotel concierge suggested we each carry an umbrella, courtesy the hotel. So, all of us got one, including Gayathri. Reaching the Capitol, we had to walk about a km in the rain to reach the huge double doors for security check. And, they made me throw away a brand new water bottle, although it was empty :( Fortunately, they allowed Gayathri's bottle in.

Once inside, the weather was no longer an issue. The interior of the Capitol building was breathtaking and the guided tour of the inner dome and the various rooms was very interesting. Full credit goes to our tour guide, Zoya, who was both well-informed and humorous.

From there we stepped across to the Library of Congress(LOC), via the tunnel connecting the capitol to the LOC. Another lovely building with sculptures, paintings and frescoes. But all this took time and we were out of the Library only by 3pm, a full 6 hours after we had stepped in and my feet were killing me!

But my enthusiastic fellow tourists wanted to keep going and see more of DC's marvels. So, it was off to the Washington Memorial next, also known as Cleopatra's needle.
We did stop briefly at a cafe on the way to munch on some fries and slurp down an icecream. The rains in the morning ensured that the rest of the day was sufficiently cool for us to walk around ,unfortunately for me:( Gayathri, however, was having no such trouble, as she, Megha and Maanas skipped and hopped all the way!

From Cleopatra's needle, we walked another 2 miles to the Lincoln Memorial. But before we reached there, we decided to cool off by dipping our aching soles in the sparkling fountain of the WWII Memorial, where plenty of tourists were taking in the sights. That was one welcome break, in my opinion. The kids loved it too and splashed about quite happily.

After the Lincoln Memorial, I was exhausted and decided that I needed a break from all the walking and sightseeing.

We went off for dinner at an Indian restaurant actually run by a Nepali guy. Food was not bad, but service was pretty bad. By the end of dinner, we were all exhausted and really needed a good night's sleep. Off to bed we went and hit the pillows for some much-needed rest.

Sunday, the 11th of July-
Sunday dawned bright and sunny,but we were so tired from the previous day's walking that we decided to take it easy and woke up late. By the time we were dressed and ready for breakfast, it was close to 11.30 am! Vasu and Meena headed back to Jersey after that and we checked out of this hotel and went on to the National Air and Space Museum for a 'quick' tour, which lasted over 4 hours!! As much as I love aeroplanes, I think I have had my fill of them for the next few weeks ;)

By the time we were done with the Museum, it was time to go to Georgetown for some window shopping and lunch. We picked a pizza place which was also, interestingly enough, screening the World Cup Football finals. So the guys were happy :) Walking around Gerogetown for the rest of the evening and the night made us hungry again (naturally;) and we went to another little restaurant in Georgetown called Bangkok Bistro. Food was rather good here.

The end of another tiring day and we went off to check in to another hotel for Sunday night, the Hilton Inn. Lovely room with 2 twin beds again, which meant this time, we had a comfortable night's sleep!

Monday,the 12th of July-
After a well-rested night, we woke up and packed our bags, as that was the day we were leaving for Seattle. Checking out of the hotel, we walked around town and found a burger place that served a whole-grain sandwich. Made very well, it kept us going pretty much the whole day. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5.30 pm, which meant we had to be at the airport by 3.30 at least. We decided to squeeze in the Jefferson Memorial between 12 pm and 2.30pm. Weather being nice and breezy, it made for good walking. Gopu dropped off Gayathri and me at the airport at 2.45 and by 3.30, Lakshmi and family arrived too, so we could go and check in for our flight.

Weekend trip to Boston- July 4th ,2010

Our weekend trip to Boston was wonderful. We left on Friday evening from New Jersey and reached Boston around midnight. We stayed that night at M’s sister’s place (N and S’s home). They have a beautiful home, with a large garden and lawn. They have twins- D and P- who are the same age as Gy, so she had lots of fun playing with them. D is just like Gy- keeps talking all the time :)

On Saturday, we woke up late, had breakfast and lunch at N’s place and went to Franklin Park zoo around 2pm. Nirupa gave D’s stroller which was very useful, as Gy could be pushed around everywhere, instead of carried. The zoo was amazing and I got some really good pictures.

From the zoo, we drove to Sh’s place. She lives in an apartment which is also really nice and cosy. They have an outdoor pool and we just enjoyed ourselves after the long walking in the zoo. Very refreshing.

Next morning, after a yummy breakfast at Sh’s place, we went shopping and picked up some clothes, a bottle for Gy and a toiletries kit for myself. Came home, again jumped into the pool for a swim and then sat down to a tasty Italian meal that Sh  had cooked. Gy relished the pasta and insisted on using chopsticks to eat them!

We left home at 6.30 pm to go and watch the fireworks. But, sadly, they started around 10.40 and Gy was too hungry and sleepy, so we only watched the first 5 minutes of the preview show and left.

Monday morning was relaxed and lazy. Woke up and had breakfast and left around 1 for N’s place. Left  at 4pm to drive back to New Jersey. Tired from the long drive, we reached NJ at 9pm, had a light dinner and slept soundly.

Travel to the USA- part 2

Continuing the saga of my journey to the USA...

HRW to JFK- BA 115

This leg of the journey was around 7 hours long. The one thing I must commend is the effortlessness of the travel. A very good pilot at the helm makes a marked difference to the experience.Once again, I had opted for the front row seats (40C and 40B). I must add, however, that in the economy section of British Airways, the so-called extra legroom is not of any significant value. I still felt a bit cramped and with taller people, it just makes it more difficult.

The steward assigned to our section appeared cheery and helpful at first. However, he seemed more interested in chatting up other passengers than actually being around for assistance. I had to wait for over half an hour for a glass of water at one point of time.

What was equally annoying was the way I was constantly woken from a sound sleep to drink,eat or nibble on something! Good company on the flight made it more tolerable. A young Swiss student was in our row and Gy kept up a steady stream of conversation with him, which he found highly amusing :)

Overall though, it was still a good experience, though the food was not as good as the first leg of the journey. Rice/dal was there, but tasted a bit insipid. And an organic sandwich tasted a lot like sand! But, airline food can only be that good at any given time, so no major complaints there.

At JFK Airport

We landed at JFK airport (New York City) at 7.50pm (EST). The pilot made up the time difference very well, I must add. Gy was again asleep when the plane landed and waking her up to walk the distance to the Immigration Counter was a Herculean task.

Once off the flight, we walked fairly quickly to reach the Counter, but were pretty much towards the end of the queue. Gy was very tired and refused to stop whimpering which meant I had to carry her, together with the 2 backpacks while pulling the small suitcase along. After 10 minutes of that, I signalled to the lady in the front who was guiding the passengers to the Immigration Counters. I requested that Gy be allowed to sit in one of the chairs near the counter as she was in no mood to stand. Happily, she allowed me to come to the front of the queue, right in front of the counter!

The Immigration Counter was the one thing about the entire trip that I had been dreading because of what the lady at the Chennai Consulate had told me. But, God was on my side! At the counter the official asked me where I would be, whom I would be visiting and how long I intended to stay. I answered that I would be staying with my cousin in NJ, and also travelling to Boston, Washington and Seattle, followed by Ohio. He looked at me and said, 'You must be very rich ' . I merely smiled and said, 'Well, God has been kind enough to us '.

Then he just asked me to place my fingers on the scanner for verification, stamped my passport with approval and said, 'Welcome to the USA'!

Now it was time to collect my check-in baggage. As I walked past the conveyor belt, I could see both my suitcases had already arrived. They stood out from the rest because of the bright orange ribbons that I had tied to the handles (thank you for the tip, Janu Amma :)! I walked up to the row of trolleys and pulled one out. Out of nowhere, a large, black chap materialised and stood in front of me. He said, 'Where do you think you're going?' I was unsure of what I had done, so merely said that I was going to collect my bags. He looked me in the eye and said, 'That isn't free. You have to pay for the cart. 5 dollars, please.' Oh, was that all? I sighed inwardly in relief and said I would pay as soon as I collected my bags. He agreed but did not budge from his spot, eyeing me all the while with a look that said , 'I know you're going to steal my cart'. Having taken the bags and paid the 5 dollars, I walked on.

This was followed by the Customs check. Again, this was very smooth. The lady asked me if I was carrying any fruits or vegetables. I said no, just some sweets. She said I could go straight ahead, without any check required! What a relief! Then it was out the swing doors and into the summer night of New York. Waiting for us, smiles on their faces , were Vasu Anna and Meena Manni.

From there, it was an hour and a half by car to their place in Edison,New jersey. Arriving home to idlis and chutney for dinner was a welcome treat. Chatting and catching up on news took up the better part of an hour and we retired by 11.45pm. Having slept for less than an hour on both legs of my journey, I was exhausted and slept as soon as my head hit the pillow. Good thing too. For I woke refreshed and feeling no jetlag at all the next morning.

My vacation was ready to begin :)

Travelling to the USA- part 1

The prospect of travelling 18 hours by air coupled with a 5-hour layover, 3 bags and a 4 year old was rather intimidating when I thought about it. But, to be honest, the experience was not too bad overall.

BLR- Home to BIAL

We left home (Blr) on 29th June at 3 am(IST) to reach the airport. The drive to BIAL was amazing, given the lovely roads and the nippy early-morning air. Having reached the airport in just under 30 minutes, it was time to start the routine of checking in the bags, collecting the boarding pass and going through security check. Having done an online check-in 24 hrs prior to leaving, the process was surprisingly smoother and quicker than I had expected. I walked upto check-in, dropped off my baggage, collected my boarding pass all under 5 minutes! Kudos to BIAL! Bags were checked upto JFK and I was told I could collect them at NYC directly.

Then followed the immigration counter and the security check, which again took up around 15 minutes in total. At security check, they do not allow you to carry any water through, even inside a bottle. Laptops must be removed from bags and placed in a separate container for the scanning process.All done, I was at the departure lounge by 4 am for a 6.30 am flight!

For a tuesday morning flight to London, the aircraft was only about 30% full. Interesting thing is while I was in the lounge, I saw an elderly lady dressed in traditional sari and in a wheelchair, speaking tamil. She got up and walked down our row and I offered to help with her bag. She was pleased and struck up a conversation. Turns out she was Meenakshi Mami, from Palakkad, and very familiar with Appam. And get this, she was travelling upto JFK! The world is a really small place- Palakkad iyers everywhere!

BLR to London- BA 118

Once on board the flight, I found my seats fairly comfortable, given that I had chosen the front row(16J & 16K) which gives additional legroom. The flight from BLR to LDN is a 3+3+3 seater, but the front row has only 2+3+2, which meant Gy and I had a cosy corner of our own and getting up to use the bathroom was fairly simple.

BA 118 took off at exactly 6.30 am and was a very smooth flight. Gy was most thrilled with the view from the window when the flight was taking off. I was a little worried that she might have been airsick,but she handled the whole journey beautifully. By 7.15, they served a sumptuous breakfast comprising upma, masala dosa, sambar n chutney, bun n butter, a chocolate croissant,fruit salad, orange juice and tea/coffee as an option. Whew! I polished off the upma and dosa and the fruit salad and nibbled on the last of Gy's croissant. Had tea to complete the meal. Gy had the croissant and a bit of buttered bun. Then it was time to snooze. Gy, tummy full, was very sleepy. I arranged her pillow and her blanket for her and she was asleep under 2 minutes. She slept from 8 am to 1 pm. Good thing too, as she was very sleepy.

I tried to nap, but it was no use, so I decided to watch some movie. Scrolled through the menu and found 'Wake up, Sid' and chanced it. Good move. A very smart and savvy movie, well directed and well enacted. Good work by Ranbir and Konona. Very fluid and natural storyline and the whole idea of ' boy falls in love at first sight' is not done, which was brilliant! Really worth a watch.

Post movie, decided to snooze, but felt my ears popping, so asked the air hostess for some candy. She had none, but brought a snack box filled to the brim with goodies. This again is given to all passengers about halfway through the flight. Interesting assortment of cookies/ crackers/ chocolate raisins/ bun n butter/cupcake and mineral water. Again, good food, but very heavy. Could only take the crackers and the raisins. Cookies were finished by Gayathri as were the raisins.

An hour later, it was time for lunch and food was not bad at all. Main course was rice/dal and mix veg sabzi. There was an aloo-channa- lettuce salad which was made well, not too spicy.Then there was a raita and lime pickle(made rajasthani style-yum!). Used the raita as curd. Very filling meal indeed. Gy was not in the mood for rice and I requested for some pasta. The steward checked and said they had veg pasta available and got it specially for her. She loved it and slurped it down to the last morsel! The tomatoes in the pasta were finely minced and Gy simply enjoyed the meal. Very satisfying journey from Blr to Ldn.

At Heathrow

Touched down at HRW at 11: 45 am (LNDN time), half an hour early. Good pilot and good landing. Then it was off the flight and onto the shuttle bus that took us to Terminal 5. Long walk down the terminal to security check, which was a very long wait, almost 45 minutes. Couple of places, they let us ahead as Gy was there, but we had to wait in queue at security check.

At checkpoint, we had to remove all bags and place them in trays for scanning. Laptop removed from bag( but not from its case), removed gold bangles, but not chain and rings. Since gy and I were wearing floaters, we were not asked to remove shoes. Funny thing is they did body search for Gy, but not for me!

Huge airport but not very well organised, in my opinion.Bit of confusion regarding which terminal to go to, where to wait and seemed understaffed to handle such large crowds of travellers.

Then it was off to the departures lounge which was bit crowded, I felt. But the really good thing was the restrooms. Gy needed to do her big job and was I glad at the size of the loos! Huge! I managed to fit gy, myself and our 3 bags inside the loo!! She did her job and then I changed her clothes and socks. She was excited at the hand dryers in the restrooms:)

I did manage to get wi-fi access via my netbook and connected to Boingo Hotspot in the Dep Lounge. Turns out that it is a paid service and when i accessed skype, it took a few Euros off my skype credit for accessing the wi-fi. Managed a brief call to Appam via skypeout. Voice and call quality was crystal clear. Told them I had landed safely at HRW and was waiting for next flight.

For some reason, post that, I was unable to get net access once again. Noticed that my cellphone was still receiving a signal and tried calling, but I got a 'calls barred' message on the display screen. Took a chance and sent an sms to Gopu and another to Amma, saying I was in HRW. Both went through! Even got replies from both. But international roaming rates are around 15/- INR per outgoing sms.But i heard that receiving sms is free!!Wow! Need to recheck. So need to keep that in mind.

Kept watching the display screens for info on my flight. Was not impressed with the size of the screens. Could have been bigger. Flight was scheduled to leave at 5pm, and I was waiting in the lounge from 1.45 onwards. Around 2.15 the flight number popped up on screen with the msg 'gate opens at 1555', but gate # was not yet up. Had to periodically check the screen which was a bit tedious, as Gayathri was asleep on me from 2.30 to 3.45. Getting up and walking around was not an option with her on me.

Another grouse is the seeming lack of water options! At security check they made me discard the packed bottle of water that BA had givn me on the flight. And I had to walk around for almost 30 minutes to locate a water fountain as even purchasing a bottle seemed difficult! Surprising , for such a large and famous airport.

Gate # popped up around 1535. It was b42 which meant another long walk to a different lounge. Gy was cranky when i woke her up to walk that distance. had no choice, as carrying her plus 2 backpacks and a small suitcase was next to impossible! Poor thing. but the high-speed transit train improved her mood. And then it was up 2 escalators to B42. Flight was scheduled to leave at 5pm and by 4.45 the gate was still not open! Finally at 4.50, they started letting us board. And we took off only at 5.45. Captain said something about some unexpected delays.

HRW verdict. Huge airport, but not managed very well.