Austin

Woke up in morning late had breakfast, lazed around a bit called India for quite sometime. Shyam was at work. Packed all the clothes and then got ready to leave. Our flight was at 12:57. Shyam came back and we rushed to the airport. As usual we were barely there on time! But we got lucky, we parked at the airport, the shuttle was right there we got on to it and managed to e-check in. Even the security check was a breeze. We had plenty of time to spare and got lunch even! It didnt take of on time due to bad weather. The flight attendant made us check in a bag due to lack of space in the plane! The flight was long. As we had to change planes in Chicago. Then finally we were on our way to Austin!!

We reached there half an hour late. Venki was already waiting for us. We went to the baggage claim and guess that our bag was missing!! Since the flight from DC to Chicago was delayed we barely had 15 mins to change flights. Our baggage didnt make it. It was supposedly on the next flight here. So either we had to go back and pick it up or have it delivered. So we asked to have it delivered.

We then went to his apt on Lake Austin Blvd, which is in downtown Austin and the continuation of 6th street. Rajani was waiting for us with Indian coffee made in a filter!! Yum. We relaxed a bit and then head out to Zilcher Park and went for a walk around the trail. It was really nice and seemed a lot like Mysore to me!

Then we came back freshened up and went to the other side of downtown. We went to a place called Vespaio for dinner and Italian restaurant. It was a very nice place and we had very different and interesting food. Also I got to try a crab cake. I really liked it!

From there we walked down the street to go into a bar with live music. I realized I didnt have my id. So Venki took us back home I got my id and then we went back to 6th street to a place called Little Woodrows. We were there till late and came back home and talked for some more time and then went to sleep. Our bag hadnt been delivered so I tried calling the airport to no avail.

Saturday, Aug 30th 2003

Shyam was the first to wake up and he tried to wake all of us up. It didnt work with me so he went and woke up Venki and then the two of them set off to the airport to pick up the bag!

Rajani and I lazed around and caught up, saw some pictures, she made rave idli, and I made the chutney. By this time the guys came back from the airport. We had brunch got ready and headed out to San Antonio which is 2 hours away from Austin.

We reached there around 2:00pm. Straight away we went to this place called El Mercado, which means market in Spanish, on my insistence since I wanted to shop there. We were there for nearly 3 hours. After shopping we got some food there and walked around there.

Then we went to La villita near the river walk, which is the part of the old towne! There I only window shopped and then we went down to the river walk, which is basically this canal and hotels, shops on either banks. There is also a nice amphitheater along the river.

We walked on the river walk, so many people on either side, very festive and happy. We went to this place called the Jim Cullums Landing a live music place. We sat down there on the back outdoors overlooking the walkway. It was really hot there, actually the whole day. Guess what Texans do to cool the place down, outdoors?? They have over head sprinkler system that periodically go off every 15 mins minutes with a mist of water to keep everyone cool. We were there for quite sometime and then went to a Mexican restaurant on the other side for dinner. In the meanwhile we walked around some more saw the Alamo, the Texas war memorial.

Shyam had been cribbing all morning since he didnt want to spend too much time in the car instead he wanted to just hang out by the pool in Venkis apartment. But after going to San Antonio downtown he really enjoyed himself!!!

We left San Antonio pretty late and headed back to Austin. Poor Venki had to drive alone since all of us were very tired and sleepy thanx to the heat!

Sunday 31st, August 2003

We woke up and got ready and headed out to do kayaking on the Lake Austin, which is all a part of the Colorado river. We did that for an hour and then went to Cepulinos for lunch. It was nice caf and is apparently run by the same people as a fancy restaurant called Jefferys, which is George Bush favorite restaurant. After we came home lazed around and debate whether or not go to the ATV (All terrain vehicle) rental place, which you ride on dirt tracks. But it was 100 miles away and we came to the consensus that we didnt want to be in the car for so long especially on Shyams insistence.

Instead we headed out to lake Travis again another part of the Colorado river. We could see people water skiing, on motorboats, jet skis. The hotel was in a very nice location way above the water and different levels so that everyone could have a good view of the Lake. To dampen our spirits it started raining. But I guess the rain underestimated our enthusiam. We sat there under 2 big umbrellas and one small and hung out there for quite some time.

From there we went to the University Memorial thats the place all the UT (University Texas), students hangout. They have bowling and pool there. So we played pool there Rajani and I did a lot of practice and learning of the game. There is a tower thats the UT tower that is lit up according to the game that was played in the city. The UT football and basketball teams are the heart of the Univ. So whenever they win they have the tower lit up burnt orange in color, which is the color of the univ. Even the street names around the univ are burnt orange in color instead of the usual green. The logo is the longhorn. The white long horn on the burnt orange looks really good.

Then from there we went to 4th street to a Spanish bar and restaurant called Malaga which serves Tapas. Tapas are like samplers of food. So you basically get to try different dishes and they give you very little in each. Its a lot of fun. We enjoyed trying everything. Except Shyamu had become a little hasidu huli by then!! After dinner we went out to find a live band playing really good music. BTW, Austin is the worlds live music capital!!! Rajani had to go into work early on Mon morning for a while so we dropped her off home and came back to the live band place. They were really good and played for quite sometime and I had a good time dancing. Then we walked around downtown some more and then headed home by 2:30am. It was kind of sad that Rajani couldnt be with us the whole time and that our holiday was going to end soon!

Monday 1st, September 2003

Rajani woke up early and headed to work so that she could come back and spend time with us. We woke up pretty late and were ready only by the time Rajani came home. I woke up Shyam by telling him we had only 5 more hours in Austin!!!

We then went to another part of the Colorado river to a caf called Mozarts that had wireless internet access and of course Shyam was totally enthused by that. Also this was a popular joint for coffee and breakfast. Can you imagine there were out off food!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways we snacked a bit there sitting outdoors and then headed to the restaurant next door called Hula Hut. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Hula Hut. Then came back to their apartment picked up our stuff and then did a quick stop at the UT to pick up the burnt orange T shirts that are really cool. Shyam wore it in the airport and wore his amigos hat.

Then we headed to the airport and checked in. I had bought a mirror, metal frame with 1 tiles inlaid, at San Antonio that was pretty big and wouldnt fit width wise in my bag so I had to carry it. Also after 9/11 they are very strict so I wasnt sure if I would have trouble carrying it. They said it was ok after seeing it. So that was one worry less. We then said are thank yous and good byes to Venki and Rajani for the good time we had and headed to the gate. The plane took off on time and we reached Chicago where we decided to get dinner. We ordered a bagel sandwich and a salad. I paid and wandered off to get some juice. Guess what my dear husband does??? He picks up the brown paper bag puts the salad in without checking whether that guy gave us the sandwich or not. Then we board the pane and I take it out to have dinner and what do I see no sandwich!!!! I was so disappointed. He tried to con me into believing that I dropped and then we figured out that it was he and not I!!!!
Anyways we landed in DC close to mid night and got to our car and headed back on all familiar roads back home. The holiday was over soo quickly!