Grandad's shop

Thank you Google for posting this picture of my Grandad's shop!  It has changed a bit in recent years, but in essentials it is same.  They are still selling newspapers, comics and sweets there :)  The upstairs windows are the same as when we slept in that bedroom 35 years ago.

Great aunt Iris is a trooper

So proud of my great aunt Iris!!  She's my grandfather's little sister.  Junior to him by 8 years.  I have met her a few times during my life, with rather long delays between visits.  Planning to see her again in a couple of months :D  When my kids will meet their great GREAT aunt for the first time :D

Thank you Auntie Marie for sending me this excellent picture.  Dear Marie is another "great" aunt of mine.  Great in the usual sense of the word, I mean.  Hehehe.  So nice she's in this picture too!

Mussourie with Dadi

When I first mentioned to Dadi the idea of heading up to Mussourie with the kids during the Easter break, it took her two seconds to come up with a brilliant plan.  She had the perfect hotel in mind, and the car was selected as the ideal mode of transport for the voyage.

The road was excellent.  If a little skinny in places.  Before we even left the hot dusty plain, signs of the abundance of water appeared.  Green crops stretched as far as the eye could see.  Then the hills started.  We skirted Rajaji National Park, where the monkeys were everywhere on the sides of the road.  Our cameras were put to the test trying to catch moving monkeys from a moving car.  Even stationary monkeys were a challenge.  

A very impressive rocky river bed followed us part way up the hill.  Then we were in Dehradun.  After that, the road began s-bending up the mountain.  Kids became nauseous, but before anyone could spoil the upholstery, we pulled in to the very imposing resort which was to be our home for the next three days. 

The kids were agape when they saw the pool, the playground, the skating rink, the games room and the bowling alley!! Their mother was equally overwhelmed when she saw we were perched on a peak with views down to Dehradun on one side (pretty twinkling lights) and views to Mussourie village on the other (sparse lights strung out along the few pieces of constructable land the wooded hills afforded).  A very very very beautiful part of the world!

On the move again

Easter holidays at last.  Time to make the trek home to Delhi. Just a short break this time. To get us in the mood for our long haul, we started out with an evening in the company of KLM, Schipol and our favourite airport hotel, Citizen M.

The KLM crew were super nice to the kids.  Schipol airport was cheerful with it's shopping mall atmosphere and still open at 9pm.  Citizen M, well, you have to stay there to get it.  Do you get a bedroom with a bath, or a bathroom with a bed?  Who knows.  Who cares.  Just switch on the mood lighting, pick your channel and chill out.  Don't bother with the breakfast.  You are just opposite the terminal/mall which has all the breakfast options you could want.

No denying it's Spring

Geneva Motor Show

We have been wondering for years why Geneva puts up with 10 days of traffic chaos every March, and why people come streaming in to Geneva on those same 10 days from all over Europe just to see the "Salon" (literally: show room).

The Salon International de l'Auto is apparently "Europe's biggest car show".   We avid car enthusiasts finally put the pedal to the metal and got ourselves on the highway of love...

We arrived at midday, and it took us till 3pm to discover there was more than one hall to see.  In fact, there were five.  All the big names were there.  Maserati, Lambourghini, Tata.  But oddly, we couldn't find the stable for our beloved Holden breed anywhere!  By 3.30pm we were dead tired and ready to split, but that was the moment we noticed that other people's kids were milking all the desks for freebies.  Once Reyes, Zubair and Laura cottoned on to that, they had a totally new lease on life.  At 4.30pm we had to drag them out before we missed another train and all our other planned activities for the day.  Next time we know: plan the WHOLE day for the show!

Scouts weekend de neige

As Reyes, Emma and Laura tried to sneak out of Geneva for a scouting weekend in the mountains this morning, the papparazzi were there in force. Much was to be recorded for posterity: the celebration of independence, the spirit of adventure, and the huge disparity in size between scout and rucksack.