Well, well, well. Now who doesn't want to go to America, the land of many opportunities? I surely wanted to visit the place but was not very keen on settling out there (as most of my friends and relatives have done). My wish was fulfilled when I got to visit the place this February. Though the trip was essentially work related, I took time off to visit my sister and sister-in-law.
In Seattle, WA, we were booked into the Marriot hotel. The room was awesome. It had all the basic necessities unlike in India. The first day I was a bit jet lagged and so I mostly confined myself to the room apart from stepping out for dinner to an Australian restaurant called Outback. On the second day, it snowed! I have not seen snow in my entire lifetime (except in movies) so it was quite exhilarating for me! At the end of the day, we had an official dinner at an Italian restaurant. On the third day, I went around the city with my colleagues. We visited the 'Pike' market which is a central marketplace like Pondi Bazaar in Chennai. We then went shopping at Macy's and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Shiro. On the fourth and last day, we visited the Space Needle which takes you around 6000 feet above sea-level (I can't guarantee that I have the right numbers). The view was amazing! We could see the entire city and more! However, we didn't feel it was worth the $15 we paid for the ticket. We also visited my house owner who lives in WA. Then we visited the 'World's First Starbucks' in Seattle. We had dinner at a French boloungerie and then continued onwards to the airport to board the flight.
My next stop was Atlanta, Georgia. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law live there along with their cute little baby. Fortunately, during my visit, my mom-in-law and dad-in-law were also in Atlanta. So I had a good time with the whole family! Surprisingly, when I landed in Atlanta, again there was a snow storm! It was my wish come true the second time around! In Atlanta, I was actually 'vacationing' in the sense that I was just lazing around doing nothing :) My day would consist of getting up, getting ready, eating, watching TV, playing with the baby, occasionally stepping out to visit places and then again back to bed. It was nice! The first outing was to the Riverpoint Mall (I am not very good with names) where we shopped for clothes and other things. Then I went to Walmart to shop for gifts for my friends. We also visited the Swami Narayana temple which was very beautiful. Another day, we visited downtown Atlanta and saw many interesting places. On the way we saw the King and Queen building; a magnificent structure that looks like the king and queen chess pieces. When we reached downtown, we first saw the Coca-cola factory. Then we visited the Titanic Aquarium, the largest aquarium in Georgia. It was fantastic! We saw different varieties of fishes, whales, sharks, and colorful sea creatures. We also went for a 3-D show about fishes. It was very cute. The aquarium was built in such a way that it could hold gallons and gallons of water - so much water that could flood the whole of Georgia if released! After we came out of the aquarium, we had our lunch at a North Indian restaurant called Haveli and then took a stroll in the Centennial Olympic Park. The Park had the names of all the participants in the Olympics that was held there long ago. We also played at the Musical Fountain which would dance to the tune of the music and we could dance along with it. Finally, we visited the CNN Centre and took a tour where they explained how the news shows are conducted. We took the world's longest elevator up to the newsroom! We returned home after a long and eventful day. The next day, I left Atlanta and traveled on to my next destination.
Destination 3 - St.Louis, Illinois. Home of 'modelmyl' and 'labakh das' (i.e. my sister and brother-in-law). From the airport, we went around shopping for groceries and then we went home and had a nice dinner. We then went to the St.Claires Mall and did some window shopping. Next day, I watched movies back-to-back in the morning and had delicious cereals. In the evening, we went to this Mexican restaurant called Tex Mex. Another day (it was quite chill), we went downtown to visit tourist sites. We saw the St.Louis Arch which is like the space needle in Seattle that shows the whole view of the city. We then went to the St.Louis Riverfront. Then we went driving through the city and my bro-in-law (bil) took some stunning snaps of me in front of the United States Court House. After that we came home and had some delicious Thai food prepared by my bil. Next day we went to the St.Louis Union Station; official train station for St.Louis. Amazing to see shops, fountains, restaurants etc. in a train station. It was huge! From the train station, we went to the Anheuser Busch beer company for a tour. This is the company that produces the famous Budweiser beer. It was a nice tour where we learned about the process of beer making and practically experienced it. We saw different beer bottles being displayed and the carts that were used to transport them during earlier days. We also saw the horses that used to pull those carts (real horses). Then we toured the factory and finally we joined the tourists for some beer sampling. After the beer company tour, we visited a casino. unfortunately, they didn't believe I was over 21 and so refused to let me in. So we headed back home. On the way, we had the Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Delicious is not the word! I loved it!! It was so good that I ate four in a row! If I would miss anything about the US, it would be Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The next day (which was also my last day in America), we went to Chicago (a five hour car drive from St.Louis). Chicago was the US I saw in the movies. Huge buildings towering above us. Overwhelming to look at! Incidentally, it was also St.Patrick's day and I could see a lot of green around me. We went to the Magnificent Mile which was filled with people. It was a mile long walk with all kinds of shops and visiting places on the way. We went on the Chicago River walk and saw the Seers Tower (similar to space needle or the arch). We then saw the huge statues of the Old Man and Lady (I don't know what it is actually called) and then saw a building which won an award. Then we went to the Disney store, Apple shop and had coffee at Starbucks. It was so much fun that I didn't realize I was late for my flight! So we rushed to the airport and then I got into my plane at the nick of time (thankfully!).
So overall it was a nice trip though there is still much left to see. My first impression of America is that it is a nice place to visit but not a nice place to live in. I feel it is very impersonal and if one doesn't know anyone then they would be lost in that country. I would prefer to live in India with it's chaos and commotion :) However, I would surely love to travel more and spend sometime there again given a chance. Of course, this time I would take my husband along with me (or the other way around)!
