I have been going places since I started working/ learnt driving and so I thought I could combine my weeklong Dallas training with a weekend Austin trip. Last year, we had been to Mt Bonnell, and I fell in love with one of the winding + hilly roads there, and it was one of my driving goals to drive on that road. My colleagues have scared me with anecdotes of fast and furious Texas drivers. I wasnt sure if I could brave it on my own, so asked my friend Aswin, whose driving experience runs length and breadth of the US, and his roomy to accompany me.
Aswin had warned that the I-95 (the highway, not the immigration document) would be busy, so we were to start early. By the time we reached Austin, and picked up my UF friend Kapil, it was late enough to have no good restaurants open. But Kapil has contacts (:P), and he literally cajoled the maharashtrian cuisine restaurant owner. Its mind blowing to find a Maharashtrain restaurant in the US, and I had bhareet + bhakri (in India I used to dislike bhakris, its amazing how 2 yrs away from India changes you). I was worried about how spicy its going to be, as I told Aswin - my community eats less spicy food, and other people are known for the amount of spices they add! Aswin asked me to announce my surname on arrival and then the waiter should intuitively know how (un)spicy the food ought to be. Sure enough, the bhareet was so spicy that I had to ask for yogurt to calm my inflammed tastebuds. Nevertheless, Austin suddenly shot up in my list of favourite cities by simply having a Maharashtrian restaurant.
Now that I am in Florida, Aswin claims that I had no choice but adapt my choice to age 60+ men. Our night at 6th street hence involved me pointing awesome gals to Aswin, and Aswin pointing aged guys to me. My gang dared me to ask out a 60+ guitarist, he dint know English, and kept saying "yayayayaya".. which then became the mantra for our Austin trip.
Next day, we revisited the capitol. Last time, Aswin and I had chanced upon a portrait named "unknown judge". This time we decided to simply seek out the unknown judge, take a pic with him, and then explore the capitol lawns which we had skipped last year. Unfortunately, neither recalled where the judge was, and we ended reading the names of all the portraits in the capitol. Earlier, Kapil had pointed out the restaurant called "mirabeau" in his office and we had passed by the Lamar street. I was pretty excited to see the portrait of a guy called Mirabeau Lamar.This time around, I noticed a lot many paintings or floor-markings which had completely skipped our attention last year. I wonder if thats how it is if one returns to any place!
We were joined at the scenic Oasis hotel by another friend, who was with us in our last trip. We next went jet skiing. This time around I was much better than my previous attempt. But the showstopper was undoubtedly Aswin. Aswin shot around at 47 mph with me riding pillion and the jet ski literally bouncing off the waves. Ride of my life, followed by an amazing sunset at Mt Bonnell. We couldnt find the road near Mt Bonnell that had enchanted me last year..Austin I will be back - to taste the maharashtrian food, to look for my favourite drive, and to catch a closer glimpse of the lit UT Austin tower.
Aswin had warned that the I-95 (the highway, not the immigration document) would be busy, so we were to start early. By the time we reached Austin, and picked up my UF friend Kapil, it was late enough to have no good restaurants open. But Kapil has contacts (:P), and he literally cajoled the maharashtrian cuisine restaurant owner. Its mind blowing to find a Maharashtrain restaurant in the US, and I had bhareet + bhakri (in India I used to dislike bhakris, its amazing how 2 yrs away from India changes you). I was worried about how spicy its going to be, as I told Aswin - my community eats less spicy food, and other people are known for the amount of spices they add! Aswin asked me to announce my surname on arrival and then the waiter should intuitively know how (un)spicy the food ought to be. Sure enough, the bhareet was so spicy that I had to ask for yogurt to calm my inflammed tastebuds. Nevertheless, Austin suddenly shot up in my list of favourite cities by simply having a Maharashtrian restaurant.
Now that I am in Florida, Aswin claims that I had no choice but adapt my choice to age 60+ men. Our night at 6th street hence involved me pointing awesome gals to Aswin, and Aswin pointing aged guys to me. My gang dared me to ask out a 60+ guitarist, he dint know English, and kept saying "yayayayaya".. which then became the mantra for our Austin trip.
Next day, we revisited the capitol. Last time, Aswin and I had chanced upon a portrait named "unknown judge". This time we decided to simply seek out the unknown judge, take a pic with him, and then explore the capitol lawns which we had skipped last year. Unfortunately, neither recalled where the judge was, and we ended reading the names of all the portraits in the capitol. Earlier, Kapil had pointed out the restaurant called "mirabeau" in his office and we had passed by the Lamar street. I was pretty excited to see the portrait of a guy called Mirabeau Lamar.This time around, I noticed a lot many paintings or floor-markings which had completely skipped our attention last year. I wonder if thats how it is if one returns to any place!
We were joined at the scenic Oasis hotel by another friend, who was with us in our last trip. We next went jet skiing. This time around I was much better than my previous attempt. But the showstopper was undoubtedly Aswin. Aswin shot around at 47 mph with me riding pillion and the jet ski literally bouncing off the waves. Ride of my life, followed by an amazing sunset at Mt Bonnell. We couldnt find the road near Mt Bonnell that had enchanted me last year..Austin I will be back - to taste the maharashtrian food, to look for my favourite drive, and to catch a closer glimpse of the lit UT Austin tower.
