England Football

I have been fortunate enough to make it to the last two home England International football matches. On August 22 the boys played host to Germany for a "friendly" (I was told there is no such thing as a friendly when Germany is involved, but...). England lost the match 2 - 1, but it was an amazing experience for this American gal and a great chance to see David Beckham up close. We (my football friend Colin and myself) had amazing seats at midfield in the 6th row! Last night (September 8) the team returned to their Euro 2008 qualifying run in a must-win match against Israel. With brilliant goals by Owen, Wright-Phillips and Richards it was quite a goal scoring spectacle by England. Final score, England 3 - Israel 0. A few videos of my favorite players below...

And Finally...Omaha!

Saving the best for last of course. After the wedding weekend in Green Bay, we again jumped in the car and drove south - this time the fill 10 hour trip to get home to Omaha. I had three days to show Luke the sights and sounds of Omaha, and we managed to fit lots in. We went to the fabulous Omaha zoo, Luke went to his first baseball game (the not so big Omaha Royals), we spent an afternoon at my dad's farm and Luke got to drive both the Ford F250 truck AND a tractor, and of course in the mean time we did lots of shopping (gotta love spending those £ on the $). Of course with the realization that a return to India was right around the corner, we also filled Luke up on burgers and famous Omaha Steaks!

David and Meridith's Wedding

After three days of fun and sun at the cottage, we drove down to Green Bay for my cousin David's wedding. We all partied at Aunt Jane and Uncle Tom's house on Friday night - Donald had the margaritas flowing - and then there was more of the same plus LOTS of dancing on Saturday at the wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding overlooking the golf course and then we partied it up in the clubhouse after.

The Cottage

Luke got the chance to spend a few days with 40 of my closest relatives up north in Wisconsin at "the cottage". We had three perfect days to enjoy all of Stormy Lake's finest - water skiing, tubing, swimming - and did get into Eagle River for some candy at the old candy store.

A Weekend in England

Before heading to the states for a couple weeks, we enjoyed a beautiful weekend with the dogs in Surrey. On both Saturday and Sunday we took the dogs out to Virginia Water to let them play in the lake and run through the waterfall chasing rocks. Luke also got in a game of squash and we had "real Indian food" at the Mogul.

Portugal Pit-Stop

We made an unexpected trip to Portugal for the weekend of July 21. Luke's work sent him there for an exploratory visit (potential work opportunities) and I got to go along for the ride! We enjoyed the weekend to investigate Lisbon as a potential place to live. We enjoyed spectacular weather and evenings out to enjoy a return to western living and food! On Monday Luke spent the day at the office meeting people and finding out more about the job opportunity. I spent the day in the small village of Sintra. From Lisbon Luke returned to India. I cut my India time short by a week and returned to London directly from Lisbon.

The Taj Mahal!

On Thursday, July 12 we took a long weekend away from Mumbai and headed north to the capital city of New Delhi with a day trip scheduled to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Our day trip to the Taj was scheduled for Friday, July 13. Upon checking into the hotel we saw a sign "reminding" visitors that the Taj, because it is essentially a mosque, is closed on Fridays. So we immediately called our travel agent to ask them how we could have a trip to the Taj scheduled for a day it was closed. Realizing the mistake, they gave us a full day tour of Delhi for Friday on the house and rescheduled our trip to the Taj for Saturday! The sights of Delhi were very majestic, the most amazing being Humayun's tomb. The temperatures were scorching, reaching over 110 degrees F over the course of the day. We were soaking wet and exhausted by the late afternoon when our tour wrapped up. We were up by 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning for the four hour drive to Agra. We payed a visit to Akbar's Mausoleum before seeing the Taj and having our very WOW moment at the very deserving wonder of the world. It was breathtaking. Hot, sweaty, tired, exhausted we were on our way back to Delhi in the mid-afternoon sun and arrived back for our last night in Delhi before heading back for Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.

Trip to Jaipur

With the goal to get out and see more of India, I (Kat) took off for a solo trip up to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. I left Mumbai on July 4 (Happy 4th of July!) and stayed in Jaipur until July 7. I took a full day tour of Jaipur and enjoyed a bit of solo time to investigate the markets and in my off time relaxed at the hotel visiting with an American family also visiting Jaipur. Rajasthan is in the north of India and there was a different feel about the place - the areas of the north are poorer than the big city life of Mumbai, and the saris worn by the women were much brighter and some men wear the traditional turban head dress and have the traditional long curled mustache. Any misconceptions I went there with expecting the smaller city to be less crazy and busy than Mumbai, were quickly swept aside! Jaipur was just as hassle-loaded as Mumbai but on a bit smaller scale, although the animals on the roads were a bit bigger! Rather than just the usual people, cows, dogs, monkeys, donkeys, bikes, auto-rickshaws, taxis, busses, and cars on the road, there are camels and elephants to contend with too! My favorite sights in Jaipur were the Amber Fort and the markets and bazaars of the Old City. Jaipur is known as "the pink city" since all the walls and buildings of the Old City are painted pink! This was done in 1876 when the then Maharaja decided to give the city a fresh coat of paint to welcome the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII). He chose pink as it is a color said to be associated with hospitality. The pink was not as vibrant as you might expect even though they do give the city buildings a touch up every once in a while. A few photos of my favorite sites are here, for more pics as usual visit shutterfly!

Monsoon Weekend

It is the weekend of June 30 and by now the monsoon is really into full swing. For the second weekend in a row our plans to get out and meet friends in Mumbai were put on hold because we could not drive off Madh Island. This weekend was far worse than last. The sky opened on Friday night and by Sunday afternoon there had not been one break in the torrents of rain coming down. It is a major understatement to say Mumbai is totally unprepared for the rains (even though they happen every year with this force). All the roads are flooded and even in some places the roads themselves are wearing away because the roads are that bad and the rains that hard. With cabin fever settling in, Luke tried to go out and get a hair cut on Saturday and only made it a few hundred meters before being forced to turn back because he could not walk down the road! A brave, but still long-haired man!

Madh Village

On Saturday, June 23 we made a visit to our local village. Just a short walk from the apartment is Madh village. It is a very impoverished fishing village right on the inlet in the Arabian Sea. Because of the impending monsoon, the fishing boats have been beached and the unused baskets held down with rocks to prevent them from blowing out to sea in the heavy winds. Our walk through the village was certainly the excitement of the day for many - Madh village is very much off the beaten track and not many tourists (any?) make their way through the town. We were followed through the town by quite a few of the local village children and Luke managed to find a few little puppies along the way and made a few friends.

Watching the Rain

After what was possibly the longest work week in Luke's career (at least here in India), we decided to stay home this Friday night. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful night to sit and watch the monsoon rains pour from the skies from our apartment balcony. So, we popped open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and sipped champagne while listening to the rumbling thunder storms and watching the lightening storm light up the Arabian sea. I tried to snap a few photos with a slow shutter speed, so our pics are a bit blurry and the night sky appears a bit brighter than it really was, but hopefully you can see the force of the rain and the beauty of the sky!

Shooting in Mumbai

Today I went out to HyperCity to get some stuff for the flat. As Philip (the driver) and I were driving back into the Madh Island area from Malad, I started to notice just how many signs there were along the side of the road advertising shooting facilities. I turned to Philip and asked him what exactly were people shooting out here? He replied, "bollywood movies and tv soap operas". That made me smile.

Airport Baksheesh

My entry into India was not a smooth experience. In London duty free I had purchased two bottles of wine and two bottles of champagne. Little did I know you can only bring two bottles of any alcohol into the country. My bags were scanned as I was leaving Mumbai airport and the bottles discovered. Again, still unaware I was doing anything wrong, I was surprised when I was pulled aside and brought over to the customs police. I was then brought up to speed on the rules and regulations of duty free allowances and told I had to pay a customs charge on the bottles of wine. For wine that was valued at £21.00 for both bottles (and I told them it was worth £12) they wanted to charge me £50 (that is about one month's wages for the average Indian). My Egyptian experience served me well and after a bit of bartering and back room conversations, I walked out paying £15.00 in duty on my two bottles of wine. Welcome to India!

Hilton Brunch

We just returned from the Sunday morning buffet brunch at our hotel. There were two fun highlights of brunch (who would think brunch would have highlights!).

First, as we walked into the restaurant, I saw my friends Brij and Lynn - two very good friends from Cairo! They have been in Mumbai for two years now and we had plans to see them for dinner tonight. It was a fun surprise to see them just a bit early!

The second highlight was Luke got to have a full English breakfast, complete with bacon. He was very excited!

Today, we lounge by the pool before heading to Donna and Bill's for dinner.

The Gateway to India

I arrived yesterday afternoon after an overnight flight from London. Luke and Phillip were there to greet me when I arrived and we jumped into the car and Phillip drove us to our weekend retreat spot, the Mumbai Hilton. Luke of course came armed with the necessary cool and refreshing beverages - a tall cold bottle of water, and a cold beer. Emphasis on the word cold for both of those, Mumbai is HOT and HUMID. We spent the day yesterday exploring the hotel complex and spent a bit of time lounging by the pool. Then out came all the gifts and necessary provisions from London - Twiglets, Fudges Cheddar Melts, red wine and champagne. We enjoyed a nice date night at the Hilton last night, dining on chinese food at the local restaurant, India Jones.

Today was our first full day of experiencing Mumbai together. We slept in until almost noon but made a quick session of getting ready and headed out walking for The Gateway to India. It was about a 20-minute walk and we were both soaking with sweat by the time we arrived. The Gatweay is "the thing to see in Mumbai" and it was pretty cool. It is a large structure dedicated to the landing of George V and his Queen Mary in 1911. After fending off the locals selling postcards and trips out to Elephant Island, we went in search of ice cream. This seach led us back to our hotel via a local taxi ride - Luke's first! A fun experience that was just like riding a taxi in Cairo - crazy driving, no stopping, lots of honking and white knuckles by the passengers fearing for our lives in the back seat. We spent the rest of our afternoon lounging by the pool and are just now thinking about how we might spend our evening. We are thinking...Indian fare for dinner! Yum (although I think after eating Indian for a month, Luke is a bit less enthusiastic). Luke is here looking out the window of our hotel room and just saw a man walking down the road with a monkey on a leash. Only in Mumbai??