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Oh, Beautiful India!!!! Part 1

India, a place where I was born. A place where my family is from. A place where you call home.

Gitesh and I went back to India after 11years.  It was the boys first time, which made this whole trip very interesting.  Gitesh and I didn't know what to expect from this trip.  We would soon find out if the boys will come to love India or not.

We took a red eye flight to Bombay.  Thankfully, all three of the boys slept.  Not well enough but they slept.  As soon as we were out of the airport, the layers of clothing started to come off.  It was 90 degrees.  It was so hot and sunny, something we haven't really seen since we left Raleigh.  Thankfully we had a short ride to our hotel.

Our room wasn't ready so we went to have lunch at the restaurant that was in the hotel.  Staying at the JW felt like we were more in the USA than India.  The restaurant had some amazing cake displays that should belong on Food Network.

Ready for lunch!

Once we got to our room, all the boys wanted to do was go to the pool.  It was a very low key day.  

This is the LIFE!

Talk about amazing costumer service!  After we were done swimming we came up to our room to find an apology note with some treats for not having our room ready when we arrived at the hotel late morning.  We have never, ever had service quite like this before. 

We all had a very hard time waking up the next morning.  The time change had somehow taken a toll on us.  We missed breakfast and we almost missed lunch.  The boys just did not want to walk up.  Between not sleeping well on the plane and swimming the evening before, their body needed lots of rest.  

We got ready quickly and took a taxi to see Gateway of India.  Before we got there, we made a detour to stop for lunch at McDonalds.  This is becoming a habit of ours.  It's interesting that we never eat McDonalds, but whenever we are on vacation, we go there for a meal as a family.  This McDonalds was right across from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the historic railway station in Mumbai that was build it 1887.  

We headed for the Gateway of India.  However, the boys were finding the day very hot and humid. I had to remind them a few times how this is winter.  They then asked me if it's so hot in winter, how hot does it get in summer?

After the Gateway, we took the boys to "The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel" that located right across the Gateway.  The first thing the boys said was "why aren't we staying here?"  Yeah, Gitesh, "why aren't we staying at the Taj?"  It was very nice hotel.  We had small treats from one of the shops there.  That's all we could have afforded from there.

Few of the notable people who visited the hotel

Our evening ended nicely.  We had ordered take out from a referral that taxi driver told us about.  The food was very yummy.  

See you Mumbai in a few days!  Can't wait to explore more!  Tomorrow we set for Baroda!

Copenhagen/Legoland

A long while back--last October to be exact, we took a short family trip with Gitesh's parents to Denmark.  The highlight of the trip was of course, Legoland.  This will make our third Legoland location in 1 1/2 year.

We started out on a very early flight to Copenhagen, a very beautiful city that had too much to offer and not a whole lot of time.  

By the time we settled into our hotel and relaxed a bit, it was time for lunch.  We found an indian restaurant that was open for lunch.  As we were walking on the streets, we noticed how the cyclist  had their own lanes.  So, there was a walkway for the pedestrians, cyclist lane, and the road for the cars.  There was street lights for the walkers, bikers, and the car drivers all over Copenhagen. I thought it was the most fascinating thing I has ever seen.  

After lunch, we walked passed the town square where the boys had a great time just running around chasing birds.

Hans Christian Andersen

Town Hall

We now headed for Tivoli Gardens.  Tivoli been opened since 1843, and is the second oldest amusement park in the world.  We didn't know what to expect, but were amazed at how wonderful the whole park is and how well maintained it was. The park had some really good rides, some I haven't seen before.  Its so big that we didn't get a chance to see it all.  The boys had a great day enjoying rides and eating treats all day long.

The next morning, the boys had a chance to burn some energy at the outdoor workout area.  It's was right on the river where joggers can stop and do some workouts.  The more time I'm spending my time here, the more I'm falling in love with it.  

We made a short stop before we started our drive to Legoland, to see "The Little Mermaid."

The Little Mermaid

Onto the drive to Legoland.  It was long drive.  We realized how Legoland is built in the middle of nowhere. The Legoland Factory is also right next to the park.  It's too bad that we were not abel to see it.  We did make a small stop on our drive to see the North Sea.  Boy, it was cold out there.  

A sign that made us all laugh!

We finally reached Legoland Hotel!!!  It was a total surprise for the boys!  They wanted to stay at the hotel since they discovered it in California.  They were so excited that when we went to our room, they ran around like little crazy people. 

It's the morning of Legoland!!! The boys couldn't wait to start there day!  This is the original Legoland that was build in 1968.  The age is showing on this park.  The boys were thrilled to be at the first Legoland Park.  

What a fun day!!!! We headed back to Copenhagen that same evening to fly back home in the morning.  It was a short but very fun mini vacation.  I hope Gitesh's parents had a great time as much as we did!