Amsterdam

On our return trip, we took the opportunity to step out of the airport in Amsterdam, Holland. Although it wasn't the hight of the tourist season, we did manage to find a tour to take us around town. Our first stop was a wooden shoe factory where those charming wooden shoes, so associated with Holland, are made. Yes, some people really do where them, although I hear that running in them can cause blisters.

Another thing Holland is so famous for..........................The rain.

Rembrandt was from Holland and the people here seemed particularly proud to call him Dutch. A number of his works are on display at the art museam.

Of course Caden was really more interested in going on a boat cruise. Amsterdam is know as being the Venice of the North with a long naval history.

No, not that one... This one:

Christmas Time is Here Again

Christmas is a wonderful gathering at the Zurick household, not just because one can be assured of being spoiled with everything from filet steaks to a seafood feast that has put the household on the watch list with the International Marine Fisheries Organization, but also because of friends and family reconnecting with each other. Caden was, of course connecting with Santa Claus, but he was happy to savour grandma and grandpa's cooking as much as the rest of us.

Gift giving can be quite the adventure and leaves pretty much everyone exhausted at the end of it.

In a last minute revision to his letter to Santa Claus, Caden got his train that he was wishing for. Grandpa was more than happy to help him set it up, complete with a landing strip for fighter planes in the middle.

And, of course, the best part about being home... Getting together with the family; all of them.

....And Caden finally got to make his snowman

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but with belly dancers....

"We three ex-pats from India are,
Bearing gifts, we travel so far,
Gulf Air, Northwest, KL & M,
On to Minnesota's stars...."

Our adventure back to Minnesota began with a lay-over in Bahrain. As soon as we stepped from the plane, things began to start looking a lot like Christmas. The airport in Bahrain was really decked out for the holidays and one would have thought that they had stepped into a mall in the US, except that the snow had a desert tint to it, and the stores were Gucci, Prada and Rolex, ...and you could pick up a Bentley in the Duty Free shop (I wonder how that works with the carry-on restrictions).
The Santa display was robotic and very elaborate.

Our next stop took us to Cairo, Egypt, and the holiday spirit was in full swing there with Christmas music on the radio and decorations everywhere.
We took a dinner cruise on the Nile, complete with entertainment.
Caden's reaction to the belly dancer was summed up in just one word, "Wow!"
The tour of the Museum of Antiquities was quite good, but with so much to exhibit, if one took just one minute to look at each of the items on display, they would be there for 30 years (that doesn't include the 2/3 of the exhibit that was out of the rotation at the time of our visit). We had to settle for the highlights, but it was well worth the visit.

A trip to the Citadel and, of course the pyramids..

"Um, Ma'am, when I said the Holy Family stayed here, I meant Jesus, Mary and Joseph"
Cairo was a very fun town to visit and we would highly recommend the trip.
Of course what trip wouldn't be complete without a Hookah cafe stop?

Cricket Anyone?

Cricket is, to say, an obsession in India. I'm not promoting any nuisance behavior here; but if one wanted to "get away" with something in India, one need only wait for a cricket match (if the behavior is particularly offensive, wait until it is an India-Pakistan game). It seems that every spare piece of open field has a cricket game going on and we even have a 10-year old neighbor who is going to a professional cricket camp. So there you have it, Cricket is a little more than the national pass-time here.
Recently, Tracy and Angela were wrangled in to supporting one of the Target India teams during an annual challenge. Their team didn't win, but everyone seemed to have fun. Even the kids got into the spirit and now tennis balls are cricket balls in their eyes.

"I won't be home for Christmas...we're going home"

HOORAY!!!!! A couple weeks ago, I'd been sad thinking of missing my first family Christmas at home, and what to do with Caden (I assume Santa can make it to India but) and my mom kept talking about canceling Christmas... when all the signs started to come together. My backfill started at work, goal-setting season is upon us and I needed to take a business trip to MN...before the end of January. I can imagine mom's dismay if I showed up on the 29th...what if I took a week off before the business trip? And so my trip to MN was decided. After a little deliberation (the tickets cost HOW much?!?!?!?!), Wade and I decided to just do it and buy tickets for him and Caden. It's only money, and Christmas is priceless.
Then the conversation turned to how to get there...should we stop somewhere along the way to break up the journey? It was cheaper to negligibly more expensive to stop someplace in Europe...let's check the globe, what place are "on the way" between Bangalore and Minneapolis? Huh, you should fly right over Cairo...And so also decided, what the heck, if you're going for broke...let's make a stop in Cairo our Christmas present to each other. And so not only are we going to be in MN for Christmas, we get to stop in Egypt along the way!! It seems surreal. On our flight to Port Blair last week Caden asked if we were going to Egypt now..."no honey, that's next week" was the bemusing reply. :)
I feel incredibly lucky and happy to be going home...and Egpyt. WOW. But Christmas has snuck up on me (maybe because it's 80 and there are no holiday displays to be found). And I'm not ready. And it's that sort of college days strange when people ask you if you'll be "home" for Christmas...uh, which home?? I'm going to miss everyone here (and oddly perhaps, being here/home for Christmas) and it's just a short trip.. seems this place is more home than I thought. Yet, the dreams of family, and food and driving have started...I can't wait to see everyone and am truly blessed.
Happy Holidays everyone, and wish you all the best in the New Year!

A little R&R…Finally

we finally made it to Havelock Island (Via Ferry) and were one of the very few visitors not on our honeymoon. Apparently, with the wedding season in full swing in India, the Andaman Islands is the honeymoon haven. The stay here was nothing but fun in the sun (with lots of sunscreen), good food and playing on the beach.

Although the Andamans boast some of the best diving in the world, we were not able to partake as we had left our certification cards behind; so we decided to get the fish to come to us – with a little hook, line and sinker action. Caden had been looking forward to fishing with Grandpa Bill for months and could hardly control himself. We were rewarded with a variety of fish, including mackerel and barracuda. Angela would like to have it on the record that she caught the first barracuda using a hand-line: although we won't discuss who caught the biggest barracuda...

Fishing poles are unfamiliar in India and the boat guides watched in bemusement as a mackerel stripped off all of my 6 lb line through the drag (the fact that they kept the boat moving in the opposite direction probably didn't help either) – the fish is getting bigger by the day….

Port Blair

Angela caught up to us the evening prior to leaving for Port Blair and we all went off the Indian mainland for the first time since arriving in February. Port Blair is a formal penal port with the Cellular Jail comprising the most significant historical landmark. However, the island's government has done a good job in paying tribute to the island's more indigenous inhabitants, who appear to be of a more Indonesian decent. Today, a fair number of the islands are restricted to both Foreigners and Indian Nationals, with the later having access to a few more islands than we did based on our complexions. Port Blair is located on South Andaman Island and is the largest city in the Andaman Nicobar islands, an archipelago of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal. Although our trip was altered at the last minute because the ferry decided not to run on the day of our arrival, we managed to find a beach by the Peerless Resort to get our feet wet. Having an afternoon, we made use of a tour and saw the museums, port and cellular jail. Caden decided that jails were not for him and was pretty much ready to go as soon as we set foot there.