Sorry this has taken so long to post. We have departed the land of the FREE and now have to pay by the minute for internet access. I’m typing this up and my husband will post it from work.
Thursday Oct 18 – Indianapolis to Detroit to Amsterdam
Airport in Indy was no problem. While we were there we realized that our tickets were first class. Never ridden in first(business) class before. There was nothing special about the trip to Detroit – just over an hour long. When we entered the plane in Detroit – first class was huge. I couldn’t even touch the seat in front of me with my feet. The chairs almost fully reclined. I think I’ve been spoiled because the thought of several 8 hour flights in coach with 2 kids does not thrill me. There was video on demand and we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as Die hard. The service was excellent and there were like 4 courses to our meal. It took forever to finally get to dessert and I felt like I ate the first half of the trip. Who can complain about eating constantly? J
We arrived in Amsterdam at almost 6 in the morning local time. We also discovered upon further examination of our tickets that we had just over 24 hours in the Netherlands. Our hotel was about 15 minutes from the airport. We slept the first 6 hours and then went to explore. We were pretty far from the historic downtown tourist section – and after walking for 30-45 minutes just to find a place that had food – I decided I was too wiped out to continue – but we did find out the lay of the land and know how to use the busses and train. We hope to do some more sightseeing on our way back. We ate dinner at the restaurant hotel – very nice and European. I had pasta and my husband had venison. I teased him that he had to leave the country to actually get deer meat. J
Friday October 19 – Amsterdam to Mumbai
We left Amsterdam at 10 in the morning and arrived at Mumbai (Bombay) at 10 PM something local time. We cleared customs rather quickly. Just showed our passport and visa and we cleared immigration, our bags were x-rayed and that was customs. The Hyatt had a driver waiting (not necessarily for us) and the hotel was about 5 minutes away. I was expecting horrible smells – but haven’t experienced anything as of yet. India is a land of extremes. We were in a hotel with marble bathrooms and a clear glass sink (I told my husband I don’t EVER want a glass sink – every water droplet shows) and across the street are shanty’s with people with no electricity and no running water. I didn’t sleep well that night and the next morning sickness decided to kick in full force. I skipped breakfast and our driver came at 9 for our 3+ hour trip to Pune. We saw many new things on our way. my husband said he saw several people going in the street and I looked to see a little boy peeing out his front door. I saw kids my girls’ age playing in a trash heap. I saw several families plowing their fields with a pair of oxen and a wooden plow. It reminded me of listening to “Little House on the Prairie” on our Branson trip.
{note added by SAHMIND's hubby: Mumbai (Bombay) is a city of 30 million people, Pune is a small town of only 4 million. everywhere is far more crowded than you will feel in Indiana, but you do get the sense that Mumbai is larger. }
Traffic in India can only be described as organized chaos. Everyone is cutting you off – but everybody yields as well. Many of the truck said “Horn OK Please”. Horns are used to let people know you are there and to get them to yield. I was not nearly as freaked out as my husband thought I would be.
We arrived at Pune around lunch time – for which I was very grateful. We got room service and I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak sub – yes I got beef my first meal in Pune. We are on the 8th floor and our room overlooks a train station. Once again we are in the height of luxury and we can look out our window and see utter squalor. Our hotel has 5 restaurants: an Indian one on the rooftop (by the pool), an asian/Thai one, a multi cuisine bistro and a bar. We chose the Asian one and it was very nice. The servers hold your chair for you and put your napkin in your lap. If you leave your seat – they will re-fold your napkin next to your plate. We felt like royalty and not the middle class we are used to. Everyone is constantly asking if we had a good trip and if we like our rooms.
P.S. we will try to post pictures soon
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