I am in London at Heathrow terminal 5 which seems to be over its many troubles from earlier in the week.  I am on expensive wifi and only have a few minutes which I will use to give you the real story, really quickly about our Bangalore trip.

No, Sarah is not going to Srinigar.  That was an April Fools joke,  although I did enjoy several conversations with very concerned people.

We had debated where to go on vacation for Spring Break for weeks.  We considered Kerala, Hong Kong, Dubai, stay home, Kanyakumari etc.   In the end we suffered from too many choices until there were only two choices left: stay home or go somewhere within driving distance. 

We reserved hotel rooms in Bangalore and Mysore.  We drove to Bangalore on Sunday afternoon and spent Monday sightseeing.   The highlight of the morning for the kids was finishing the historical sites (Tippu's Palace, Bull Temple, etc) and go to  McDonalds  for lunch.  I warned them not to expect the same food as they where used to in the US.   They ended up being very disappointed.   There was no beef, even though this was cosmopolitan Bangalore, famous for its beef.   The fries were the only thing close.

What we did enjoy, too much is the donut shop across the street.  Joshua kept coming up with excuses to go back.  The donuts in this shop were better than any donut I have ever had, including Krispy Kreme.   The best we have eaten in India, hands down.

The following morning we were supposed to drive to Mysore and wonderful town where we were booked into a palace that was turned into a luxury hotel.   But when we met our driver he was very nervous about going, saying that he wanted to get out of the state of Karnatika and back to our state of Tamil Nadu as soon as possible.  The reason was a news report of a water dispute between the two states.  Farmers in villages along the road between Bangalore and Mysore were stopping cars with Tamil Nadu plates (indicated  by the "TN" as the first part of the number) and beating the occupants and stoning the cars.

We considered the odds and risks, and with my work adding its ever present stress we decided to go home early.   The hostilities aside, it was a nice relaxing trip.  It was what I needed before a more stressful trip to Phoenix and LA.   I get to Phoenix late Saturday night and  stay until the following Sunday.  After that I have a few days in LA then back to India.