The Apple Orchard and Corn Festival

A trip home would not be complete without a visit to my grandparents home in Oakwood, Illinois. I had a very nice long weekend with them, and despite the India-like heat we went to the apple orchard and Urbana Corn Festival. Here are some photos from our excursions .

A lane of apple trees . . .

No, I am not on safari, but searching for apples at the orchard in August! Hence, why I have to look very hard.

Wait, Leslie (my cousin) finds one for the apple pie we will make tomorrow!
Ah, yes, the perfect apple!
We finish our bushel go inside to enjoy some fresh cider . . .
Now, we are off to the Urbana Corn Festival in the afternoon. Here Aunt Betsy poses as "corn." Ha-Ha!

We all buy some ears of corn to enjoy and watch people salsa. Then, it's off to Monical's Pizza for dinner!

The Bachelorette Party and Wedding

Alina and Matt got married! So, of course there was a bachelorette party and a wedding. Here are some photos from the festivities!

At the hotel, we decided to play some games before go clubbing. Here we are creating a wedding dress out of toilet paper on Lindsay. . .

Here Alina is with all her "brides" . . .
After the toilet paper wedding dress game, we decided to play "truth or dare." Here Lindsay and I were "dared" to put on giraffe masks and go introduce ourselves to some other guests of the hotel.
Here we are with our new friends that were staying down the hall . . .
Lindsay in the bush . . .
Alina opens some gifts . . .

Matt and Alina get "crowned" at the rehearsal ceremony . . .

Rob and Melina pose for a quick photo before dinner at La Pita . . .

Here we all are at dinner . . .
Matt and Alina cut their yummy cake from Iversen's . . .

The happy couple during their first dance . . .

Oh Canada!

We flew from Mumbai to Detroit on August 6th, and we arrived happily back home. Of course, we started laughing hysterically at the airport when we picked up the company car. Needless to say, it is a little bigger and more luxurious than what have become accustomed to driving around Pune.


We were home for a few days, then we left for our road trip to Stratford, Ontario to the Shakespeare Festival. Here is the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at during our mini-holiday.

Paul lounges in an Adirondack chair after having some good red wine and a slice of banana cream pie.

We walk to dinner at the local pub and cross the bridge to admire this scenic view.

Even Canada has goat festivals! Not only in India . . .
Here Bob, Ina, Paul and myself pose for a quick photo after our dinner and before we head out to see "Cabaret."
Tomorrow, we head back home to Detroit and prepare for Matthew and Alina's wedding.

A Day at the Races

It was a "sunny" Sunday when we decided to attend the Pune Horse Races. Paul, myself, Molly, and our friend Oliver got all dressed up to go watch the ponies. We got lucky since Oliver was with us, he was able to talk us into the Lufthansa private party tent. We dined on sausages and Warsteiner for the afternoon.

Here we ventured out of the party to view the horses before placing our bets . . .

And they are off . . .

After losing the race, Paul, myself, Molly and Oliver pose for a photo.

By 5 o'clock, it was time to go home. Here is some traffic in downtown Pune we encountered on the way home.

The Ellora Caves at Aurangabad

No, this is not a photo-still from an Indiana Jones movie. But one of the many caves at the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad. There is a series of over a hundred caves carved out of the native rock to by the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist devotees.

Here is a photo of the exterior of one of the Brahmin caves--


Of course, I wanted to have a photo with this voluptuous lady . . .

And Paul with this big-bellied man! What is important to note is that all of these reliefs are carved out of the rock inside of the temple that was carved out of the mountain.

Buddha--
Molly and I pose with this vacationing Indian family.

A relief in a Buddhist temple that mixes Hindu and Buddhist beliefs in the picture.
The famous Buddhist "cathedral" cave. Note how the boning of the arches resemble the nave of a cathedral . . .
Here we are outside the cluster of Buddhist caves . . .
Elephants in relief . . .

Our day ends at the caves. This little chap is begging for bananas, but is too shy to pose for my photo.