The Thirsty Travellers Part 4: The Hangover

So destination 4 for us with bright and sunny Florida. It was our home stop half way through the trip. Home cooked food, homely atmosphere and a super time with my aunt and uncle. When you think of Florida, Disney is one of the few things that pops into your mind. Our Florida visit could not be complete without a visit of one of Disney's theme parks in Orlando; our choice for the trip - Disney's Animal Kingdom.How 4 days flew by we did not know but it was time to move along to one of the most anticipated part of our trip - Las Vegas. The weekend we visited Vegas was the official start to the Vegas party season. I was so informed by my big bro cousin and i saw evidence to that by the load of college goers on our flight whose excitement, dancing, singing etc could not be contained :)

As we drove to Planet Hollywood; our hotel stay while in Vegas, I was amazed by the concrete marvel that is Las Vegas city which is literally built on a desert. The Strip is of course the most famous part of Vegas, which has all the age old and famous hotels - Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Paris, Venetian, New York New York and so many newer ones that have popped up. The sheer grandiosity of the place leaves you astonished, not to mention the number of people who are there to share and soak in the sights as well. Most of you would have heard the phrase 'anything goes' - well my friend; Vegas redefines that phrase. I saw quite a few things that made go - arre aisa bhi ho sakta hai... Bikini clad women shopping and sitting in restaurants grabbin' a bite, strapping on a big bottle/ canister full of margarita to your back and sipping away as you walk the Strip, people giving you flyer invitations for "Girls Girls Girls" ... Welcome to Las Vegas !!!! So among all that as you walk from one hotel to another; you also see a huge bunch of fellow tourists exploring the sites with you. Not surprisingly a whole lot are Indians - well we are over a billion people so we are everywhere. So the Kanjeevaram clad or salwar suit wearing aunties and sweater and sport shoes wearing uncles are spotted looking very pleased with themselves as they pose for snaps next to statues in Caesar's Palace or taking a boat ride (as in Venice) in the Venetian. The gambling lot you find in Vegas are of a whole different spectrum. They are unmoved and unfazed by everything around them. No wonder casinos keep it smart by having no clocks and no windows - noone knows what time of the day it is and how long they have been there. I in fact even saw a pole dancer in a cage right in between a poker table. It must have been high stakes coz the 10 odd men sitting there were not sparing a glance for the semi nude dancer in the cage.

Anyway, so we dressed up and headed out to experience the craziness that is Las Vegas. A warning - some of the upcoming events were not remembered by me but as told by my sister and cousins; need i mention why i don't remember. We did a few drinks in one place in the Bellagio before we headed to Pure - a night club in Caesar's Palace. Crowded doesn't begin to describe the club and reaching the washroom by battling the massive crowd of guys on the dance floor proved to be quite the task.The lights, music and alcohol were already beginning to entertain me but since when is little enough. Surely a few drinks and a few more and a few more later, I was very very  "entertained" so i decide my shoes are keeping me from all the fun so off went the shoes. Random conversations have happened with random guys, loads of photographs have happened - kinda shows you the before and after picture. Apparently I went missing for a good few minutes which got my very sober sister to go hunting for me in that very crowded club. She returned to our table to find me quietly sitting in the corner :D So when we girls were finally packed off to the hotel at 4 am, i walked, shoes in hand and very very happy. However our hotel security guard wasn't too happy to see me barefeet. Apparently he started by telling me, convincing me and finally yelling at me to wear my shoes :D.

Hangover welcomed me the next morning but who cares - what happens in vegas, stays in Vegas :) It was time to move on.. LA - here we come !!!

The Thirsty Travellers Part 3: In the President's backyard

After 5 days in NYC, A day and half in Boston was probably not enough to see the entire city. But Boston is a beautiful city. The is the perfect example of how history can be preserved and enjoyed. We sisters made our made through the Boston metro and found places we wanted to go see (read: Harvard University etc). We managed 3/4th of the Freedom Trail walk and in all our joy treated ourselves to the famous Mike's pastry. It was time to head out of Boston; a short flight later and we were in the capital of USA.

When a tourist thinks of Washington DC, there are a few standard images that come to mind - The White house, the Capitol building, Lincoln memorial, Smithsonian, Museum of Natural history.. We did all that and more, on our last trip with the parents. This time, with one big brother living in Washington DC, the experience was a whole different one. Kudos to my brother for all the trouble he took planning details of this trip; we did discover a lot of things we wouldn't have as mere tourists. A must visit in DC is the Newseum - a museum dedicated to the press,journalism and all things in the print media. you would find stories that have altered history that are displayed there and there is tons of reading material, visual and auditory aids to help you understand the story. You can pretend to be reading breaking news in their make shift studio while technology projects images on the green screen behind you. The Newseum salutes all contributions to the field of journalism and pays homage to all those reporters and their crew from the world over who have died/  been killed while they tried to bring the truth to light.  Don't miss this fascinating place; it takes the idea of a museum to a different level. The Georgetown river front was our next destination where we sat sipping on our drinks by the river watching the boats go by. A boat ride was booked for us too that got us a view of the Capitol building, Lincoln memorial etc.

One of the best experiences i had was watching a baseball game at the Nationals Baseball stadium where the home team Washington Nationals took on the Baltimore Orioles. If you have seen a baseball stadium, you would know the seats go way up high. We got the ones on the absolute last row which while being scary to climb up and down, gave us the most magnificent view of the game and the whole stadium. We understood the game bit by bit and loved the energy of the crowd. Keep in mind some very key differences in the way stadiums; there are clearly marked entrances and exits, enough space to manage a crowd with pushing and shoving, space for wheelchairs to be parked to view the game etc. A lot of curses came flying my way when i forgot to carry my passport (main ID proof) so we couldn't go to the beer games and concert outside :( Stupid Stupid me !!!

Our last morning in Washington DC we say bye bye to our big bro who would head to work and we would see after 5 days in Vegas. With a whole morning to kill, we headed off to check the much recommended Holocaust museum. Mother nature decided to surprise us with a little rain that morning. We had to hunt a bit before two police women pointed us to the museum - right across the road it was from where we were.. We decide to grab a bite before heading in and stopped at a hot dog stand right outside run by a Middle Eastern man. As i was fishing for cash to pay, the man asked Pooh if she would like mustard and swirled the bottle at her. The result - a spray of mustard on her face LOL. Now i wasn't looking so it took me a few seconds to realize what happened. It was only when the man started apologizing profusely (he probably thought we would yell and scream and sue him) that i saw what happened. It was beyond funny coz my sister kept saying no no its ok i am fine and wiped her face clean. I know on the inside she was fuming and cribbing going .. duddee what the hell :S:S:S ... As for me, i am shameless, i laughed all through :D

Once we were done with the museum we headed back and grabbed lunch - Sushi... we ate sooo much of it on this trip and we still crave for more. Packed and armed with our bags, it was time to head to the airport for destination no 4 - Florida !!!!