Indeed we all had a mesmerizing summer in 2012 !! Special reason for this was the visit of my parents to US. They both retired from their respective Government service in June 2012 and I thought that it would be appropriate for them to spend the remaining summer and fall with us.
We began the preparation for the dreaded thing called - US Visa early in March and they had their Visa done in April. It was important to have it done when you are in active service. Everything went smooth and they were all clear to board the flight.
I had booked them for Air India as they had a connection to Newark which is more comfortable to travel from Harrisburg but unfortunately as is the case with them they had that flight cancelled. So the substitute arrangement was Jet Airways which I must say is THE best service compared to all other carriers.
Once here, it was the start of the party time. My project was finishing up in a week's time and I had already booked my vacation for 2 weeks. Once the vacation week started, all to be done was, Go North, Go South, Go East and Go West.
We traveled to Corning (Amazing Glass Museum), Niagara Falls (What more to say of it) in one trip. In another trip we traveled Washington D.C. In the next one it was the Big Apple and traditional India from NJ. And to the west it was Pittsburgh and Palace of Gold. To top it all was the Longwood Gardens fireworks.
And then there were Central Pennsylvania delights like, Dutch Wonderland, Hershey Park, Knoebels and Penns Cave. It was variety of food, bowling, mini golf, Chicken Wings and much much more.
Great satisfaction was that they really got some time to have rest and cool off. All the life it's been the same cycle day in and day out. And it became a forced rest against their nature since they had little avenues unlike Singapore visit where they could roam around on their own.
Youtube turned out to be a great boon for my father as all along he had been a great movie buff. He watched many a movies he always had wanted to watch from the 50's and 60's which are difficult to be seen even on Indian television.
And mother also didn't miss on her stuff, be it Balika Vadhu or of course shopping. She and Sharvari would visit all the range of shops - almost daily which was really crazy. Sometimes it was Window shopping and some times Real shopping. But she indeed had a great time with it which mattered the most to me.
Both of them have traveled extensively in India and hence are pretty open to trying different cuisines. They took an amazing liking to Chipotle and the last lunch they had in US before returning back was the Burrito Bowl. And of course all the recipes were noted so no wonder a India Burrito Bowl is on the way out from Aai's kitchen. Experimentation with American food also came out well with them. But the really praise was of course for good Indian Restaurants. Wherever during travel we encountered India Restaurants that was their numero uno choice.
Dussehra and Diwali was celebrated with great fervor and it was very satisfying to celebrate the most important festival to us with them in two consecutive years. All the home made stuff like Chivda, Ladoo and Chakali was simply amazing unlike the ones bought readymade from the stores.
All in all, it was simply sensational visit and we all had such a great time together. Really wonderful to cherish all the time. Looking forward to take them to Europe as now Asia and US continents have been conquered. But beyond that more importantly looking to spend Diwali 2013 with them anywhere in the world and more favorably in Akola.
