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One of the great things about summer is the series of short weekend trips that we try to cram in a span of a couple of months. I love how making the most of sunshine and warm weather is the goal of a lifetime! 🙂

We planned a weekend in Charleston, SC to celebrate our parents wedding anniversary on their most recent visit to the US. There were lots of places that made it to the short list (New Orleans, Santa Fe (New Mexico), Charleston), but Charleston presented the shortest travel time, and we were really jonesing for some southern food. So, here’s my list of 10 good reasons why this makes it a most relaxing weekend trip with the fam!

[Having been there a couple of times, we stayed away from the typical plantation tours, ghost tours, submarine as we had covered these in prior trips (highly recommend if this is your first trip). We just wanted to kick back and relax this weekend.]

1. Beautiful sunny weather almost every time we visit

Continue reading “How to Spend a Weekend in Charleston”

Delhi for me has always defined “home” – a place that remained constant while growing up in 6 countries across two continents! Summer always meant going to Delhi for a couple of months to be with grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins; lots of food, playing made-up games on the terrace, spending late nights chatting about the year’s events and of course shopping (and lots of it)!

But exploring the Mughal sites of Delhi and Agra never quite made the list… In our defence, we’d been to several museums (A/C indoors providing a respite from the summer heat), parks (great picnic spot for late-evening family gatherings including of course the mid-night-ice cream-run!!) and temples (always a festival around the corner); we just never got around to visiting the historical sites of Old Delhi!

Battling crowds at the Mughal ruins in sweltering summer heat was somehow akin to picking the short straw, and (un)surprisingly nobody ever volunteered! 🙂

So with that realization in mind, our visits to India NOW (in a grown up state) do, in fact, cover some historical site! Sadly, Agra shall have to wait for next time

We hired a private taxi for a day and charted out the sites with our driver. Our Itinerary: Rashtrapati Bhavan –> Red Fort –> Humayun Tomb –> Lotus Temple –> ISKCON Temple (yeah! good luck with traffic)

1. Rashtrapati Bhavan: This refers to the 320 acres of presidential estate that comprises of the president’s official residence, halls, guest rooms and offices including the large Mughal gardens, employee/staff quarters etc.