Oct 16-17.
It doesn’t quite take three days to get there, but it almost feels as if it does. We leave on Wednesday night, fly through London and will arrive in Bangalore (Bengaluru) early Friday morning. As is usually the case, we plan these trips so far in advance that when they actually arrive, it’s almost a surprise.
I had been to Northeast India last fall on a trip that Carol did not join me on. which you’d know if you’d followed the blog last year, as you should have. It’s actually not too late to read about it now, if you want to go back to last year’s blog, but you won’t, will you? http://dualartspress.com/here-we-go-again-tribal-india
Anyway, that was a great trip and I returned home to tell Carol that she’d have loved it, and that we should go this year. There’s a big festival that I attended and wanted Carol to experience. The festival dates change from year to year. This year, they conflicted with our grandson Max’s 7th birthday. This would not have been a problem for me and, for Max, it would have meant another birthday celebration. But Carol wasn’t buying it, so I lost my 823rd consecutive tie vote.
I wrote to our fabulous Delhi travel agent, Shonali Datta, Shonali@banyantours.com, to tell her that we couldn’t go this year, but we’d go in 2021, Shonali wrote back that she had some other ideas for us for this year. So, I asked her to send an itinerary, she did, we loved it, and here we are on the plane.
The plane, by the way, is a double-decker and we’re on the top deck, which would be really cool if I were, say, 65 years younger. We’re flying British Air, business class, and it’s actually not all that comfortable. In fact, to be honest, I generally pay no attention to the type of aircraft, but this one is the least comfortable damn plane I’ve ever ridden in. It’s the Airbus A380, so, if you have a choice, avoid it. We’ve eaten enough in the Business Lounge at O’Hare that I completely pass on dinner. Breakfast, just before landing, is okay.
An aside here on the value of a terrific travel agent. This morning I awoke to a notice that two flights we were taking within India had been canceled, and the airline was no longer flying those routes. Imagine how you’d feel getting that notice on the day you are leaving if you’d “had the fun of” or “saved money by” booking the trip yourself. Now imagine getting the notice from your travel agent and, in the same email, being told here is how we’ve solved the problem for you (hired you a driver to another city and booked you on a flight from there to your destination).
India is one of my absolute favorite destinations. It’s Foreign, with a capital F, interesting and overwhelms all of the senses. To me, only Africa rivals it. Carol and I first went there in November, 2006 and this will be my fifth and Carol’s third trip there. Aside from my trip last Fall, mentioned above, I spent four or five days there without Carol when I went to Bhutan for the second time, in April, 2010.
We’ve not been to any of the places we’re going on this trip, but we know that the itinerary Shonali has planned includes widely diverse experiences ranging from leopards to shepherds (she told us that one area we were going to was famous for both of those). I won’t try to summarize the different types of experiences built into our itinerary, but let you experience the diversity of the trip as we encounter it, along the way.
We’re pretty experienced in these kinds of trips, so we tend to do what we do to prepare, and repeat it. This time, though, I’m trying three fairly significant changes.
First, I packed in a suitcase I can carry on so as not to have to check any luggage. One key to doing that is to plan to do laundry pretty-much everyplace we stay, which allows you to pack fewer changes of clothes. Generally hotel laundry is relatively expensive, but it certainly is not going to affect our overall trip cost materially. And launderers need to live, too, y’know. Actually, I wound up checking the suitcase for this leg of the trip. We packed a large box with six copies of our book, WHERE THE SACRED DWELLS, NAMASTE, for distribution to people on this trip and, as long as we needed to check that, I checked my bag, too. But I won’t on other legs.
The other thing that will allow me to pack in less space is a big change for me. I bought the new iPhone 11, and have decided that that will be my camera for this trip. They’ve improved things so much that, after discussions with my friend and photographer pro, Nick Sinnott, I’ve concluded that I’m unlikely to be losing much by using just the iPhone. And that fits SOOOOOO well with my general laziness gene. We’ll see how it goes. If I find I miss it, I can always go back to taking my camera and lenses on my next trip. But I’m thinking and hoping that this is the right decision for me at this point in my “career”. You can play around quite a bit with photographing on the iPhone 11. Here’s a shot of our takeoff from Chicago.
And the final change is prompted by the fact that on a couple fairly recent vacations, I’ve tripped and fallen. I can, of course, explain these as aberrant, insignificant events. And I do. But old farts fall. And they sometimes hurt themselves. Badly. So, I’m taking walking sticks, something that friends have recommended to me for years, to compensate for the fact that we humans are not really meant to walk on two legs. I’ve tried out the sticks in Lincoln Park, and I think they’ll really help with balance. Though this means more to pack, they’re collapsible, and so can fit into carry-on luggage.
Carol and I both have had really nasty coughs for weeks that we’ve been unable to shake. We’ve both been to the doctor and had tests that have not revealed anything useful. We’re hoping to get rid of them soon. Otherwise, I told Carol, we could become the first Reconstuctionist Jews to have our ashes spread on the Ganges. She didn’t seem to think that was funny. Poor girl has VERY little sense of humor. But I’m going to continue to work on that.
Since we have a couple hours in London with access to the Business Lounge, I’m going to post this now, and leave you in doubt as to whether we make it to India. If we do make it, I’m hoping that this blog will become a lot more interesting to you. And to me.
October 15, 2019
Well, we’re off to India tomorrow night. So, as usual, a few days ago, I tested my blog site to make sure it was working and, as usual, it was completely fucked up. (I had to type that twice, because my iPad put in “ducked up”. My iPad should know me better than that by now. I’ve never ducked up anything up.). A few days before that, I’d written, jokingly, to my web guy, Glenn Crocker, to let him know I was about to travel, so that he should expect an emergency call to deal with a disaster.
So, in my usual distraught state, the only state in which Glenn has experienced me, I called Glenn. And, as usual, after we messed around and did a bunch of things I’d never have done on my own, Glenn fixed it. So, if you ever need anything fixed or any web help, contact Glenn, he’s great. (glenn@netmud.com). Better not tell him I suggested it, though, or he might not respond to your email.
So, I should tell you a tiny bit about India, stuff you probably already know.
India is a part of South Asia and its northern frontiers are defined largely by the Himalayan mountain range, where the country borders China, Bhutan and Nepal. It shares its western border with Pakistan separated by the plains of Punjab and the Thar Desert. In the northeast the forested mountain regions of the Chin and Kachin hills separate India from Burma. In the south, the Arabian Sea to the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast, and the Indian Ocean to the South bind it.
The Ganges, which is the most sacred river in India, is the longest river and the Gangetic plain which occupies the north central and eastern India is the most densely population area in the country, while the rocky Deccan plateau occupies most of the peninsular India. This vast land mass is home to varied vegetarian and climates – ranging from alpine to equatorial.
Historically the Indus Valley civilization, which existed in the northwestern part of the Continent from 3300 to 1300 BC, is considered the earliest urban culture to exist. Since then until Independence in 1947, India was ruled variously by the several foreign powers with the dominant being the Muslim and the British. Muslim rule started in the 11th Century an culminated in the great Mughal Empire which was annexed by the British East India Company in the 18th century, ending with Independence in 1947, with the division of the sub continent and the formation of two countries – India and Pakistan. India became a republic on 26th January 1950.
India is the birthplace of four of the world’s major religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Of the current population of 1 .2 billion, Hindus form the largest religious group, followed by the Muslims and the Christians.
Here’s a map of India, with the places we’ll be visiting highlighted in little brown boxes.
And, just for the hell of it, here’s a couple photos from last year’s trip to India. 
I’ll meet you on the plane to tell you a bit about how this trip came about.
August 12.
Well, I guess its a sign that you’ve had a pretty good trip when a 16-hour flight delay turns into a lucky break. The extra day allowed for an interesting trip on the Thames and a lovely visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Gardens, enhanced by the beautiful Chihuli glass sculptures on display there. To be sure, the delay caused logistical challenges and additional expense (which I hope American Airlines will reimburse us for), but, given the choice, I definitely would have opted for the extra time. The girls,who were tired and prepared to go home yesterday, would probably have opted to do that, but enjoyed the day, too.
The overarching high point of the trip was being with the girls. Not only do we love our granddaughters because they’re our granddaughters, we love them for the people they’ve become. They are terrific travel companions–curious, game, flexible, grateful and enthusiastic. And just great fun, with excellent and sophisticated senses of humor. There’s nobody we’d rather take a trip with.
Through careful planning, Carol managed to combine three important aspects of our experience–the touristy things one should do on a first trip to London, a good deal of theater and music that the girls have particular interest in and visits with eleven friends, all in nine (really ten, as it turned out) days. Because it was just the four of us, we were able to make last minute changes/additions on the fly. As the girls would say, “kudos to Gee-Gee.”
We were extremely lucky with the weather. We had only a modest amount of rain that did not interfere with any of our plans. And even more importantly, the temperature was very moderate and even cool. A hot spell such as what England experienced earlier in the summer would have changed the nature and enjoyment of our experience dramatically.
Indeed, Carol pointed out that even her mistake in booking that required us to move a night earlier than she’d intended proved fortuitous, because it left us in a place where we could store all of our bags during our activities on our extra day.
I debated whether to take my good camera and a couple lenses, ultimately deciding to take them. And I didn’t use them at all. This was really a trip to record our experiences, not to make a feint at creating art. There were a very few times when using my better camera could have been advantageous. But having only the iPhone was rather liberating, and I’m not at all unhappy having decided to do so.
The four of us talked about our experiences, identified twenty separate experiences and each of us ranked them 1-20. That the process was not easy attests to the fact that we had many special experiences. We created a system of allocating points to the experiences based on our individual rankings and, while there were clearly differences in our levels of enjoyment, there was a rather high consistency between those ranked in the top and bottom six. I know you’re dying to know how they came out, so here they are:
1. Come from Away (musical play)
2/3. A tie–tour of Buckingham Palace/tour of The Globe Theater
4. Day in Chipping Campden
5. Tree (musical play)
6. The Mousetrap
And the bottom six were:
20. Thames boat ride (the very short one we took early in the trip; ride to Kew Gardens ranked much higher)
19. British Museum (probably because it was on our very first day, so that we were tired and had less than an hour to explore)
18. Covent Garden
17. Taming of the Shrew
16. Petticoat Lane and Spitalsfield Market
15. Sever’s House (House arranged as if it were in the 18th century)
The eight experiences not listed as top or bottom six were all excellent, and we loved seeing all of our friend (which we did not list as “experiences”).
To sum it up: this was one of the very best trips that Carol and I have taken (and we’ve taken some very, very good ones)
I’ll close with a photo of the two who made this trip so magical for us.
August 11
Our flight back to Chicago is at 3:15PM today, but when we wake, I have a notice from American that that flight has been delayed 16 hours, until 7 AM tomorrow. At first I think there’s been a mistake or, worse, that I’ve booked the flight for the wrong day. A call to American confirms that the message meant what it said,
So, first, I book a Holiday Inn near the airport. A young Colombian, who has been gracious since we checked in to our one-day flat says it will be no problem for him to hold our bags for the day. When, on our way out, I give him $10 for his help and kindness, he says, sweetly, tucking the bill away, that this will be sentimental for him and that maybe he’ll see us in Chicago.
We decide to go to Kew Gardens, recommended by the Feldmans, where there is a Chihuli glass show. I insist that we take the boat on the Thames to Kew. Though it’s a bit chilly on the boat, we have great views of Parliament, bridges spanning the Thames and rowers and, as the guide on the boat says, “the luxury affordable apartments” that stretch along the river
.A different perspective on London and environs. 
  
 
When we reach the Kew Gardens dock, we walk some distance before reaching the Gardens. We walk around and, after lunch in a garden cafe, take the chain of cars through the lovely gardens interspersed with stunning Chihuli glassware. Carol and the girls cut the ride short to see more of Chihuli’s work, which is housed indoors, while I finish the ride.   
We take the tube back to our flat, collect our bags and Uber out to the Holiday Inn near Heathrow. We check into our rooms and go down to the small, very ordinary hotel restaurant, where we have a shockingly good, nicely-presented dinner.  We have apparently happened on the Michelin Holiday Inn. After dinner, the four of us play gin rummy and banana grams in the restaurant, then retire to rest for tomorrow’s early getaway.
August 10.
John Edwards is a Welsh painter, who we met when we took Jodi and Wendy to London in 1985. Shortly before we were scheduled to return home, I admired a painting of John’s hung in a London gallery window. When I inquired of the gallery owner whether she had any other works of a John’s she said no, but she would in a couple of days, because they were opening a show of his then. I said that we’d be gone by then, so the gallery owner called John and we were invited to visit him that afternoon in his home/gallery in a former biscuit factory in SE London. Carol and I, with Jodi and Wendy, hit it off with John and wound up buying six paintings, assuring the success of his show. We’ve remained friends of John’s and have seen him several times in Chicago and London. We love his somewhat zany personality, and his paintings, too. Here is John in 1985.
At 8 this morning, John came to our flat for breakfast, traveling an hour or more from Ipswich, where he lives in a remodeled tannery. (Yes, John has moved from a biscuit factory to a tannery, in which he seems very happy.). it was great to spend a couple hours catching up with John, hear about his many recent projects and introduce him to Zoe and Phoebe.
Here is a photo of one of John’s recent paintings. 
He’s to send us photos of other paintings, and we may wind up adding to our collection of Edwards’ paintings.
Carol miscalculated the date on which we leave London (tomorrow), so we needed to pack up and move to another flat this morning. Not ideal, but that’s why God made Uber, so we called one and got the move done.
We tubed to Piccadilly Circus and walked along very fashionable, upscale Regent Street for some 45 minutes or so, before settling in to a very nice pub for lunch.
I’ve about had it with tubes at this point, so we taxied over to the Phoenix Theater to see a terrific musical, Come from Away, that had been very highly touted to us by our friends from Atlanta with whom we’ll be traveling to Japan next April, Robert Cook and Joseph Hanson, who had seen it in New York. The play is based on the real life story of a Newfoundland town that absorbed some 700 people who were diverted there because they were on flights when 911 occurred. We met Tom Handler and Judith at the show, and Judith arranged for us to get a backstage tour by a friend of her daughters who works on sets for the theater.
After the backstage activities, we spent an hour with Tom and Judith over coffee in a very pleasant old pastry/coffee shop, then said goodbye, as they were going to the Proms tonight
Carol had made a dinner reservation for us and the girls at a very good French restaurant in SoHo, called Margaux. Excellent meal, after which we took a taxi to our “newly-moved-into flat” and reviewed the trip together (more about this review tomorrow).
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