Pictures from Ooty - Round 1

Prima parte delle foto della gita a Ooty di qualche settimana fa.

Ooty is a lovely place with very unusual sights for South India, so after so many months in Chennai it was a welcome break. I took more than three hundred pictures in four days, but no worries: you don't have to see them all. Still, even trying to choose my favorites, I have too many to feed you at one go, so here is the first batch. The rest will follow soon.

The first few photos were taken on the way there. We stopped so that I could take some pictures of the eucalyptus forest and the kids welcomed the opportunity to take a few steps out of the car.




We bought carrots on the way. Apparently these hills are, among other things, the carrot kingdom.



That same day in the afternoon S. and I and the kids went for a walk to meet some relatives who run a school there. Rajiv and Jayadev had a blast together and they walked a very long distance without complaining too much.









When we made it back achamma and Rohan where waiting for us at the gate of the hotel.


To be continued...

It's a new life

Mysterious title, I know. What I mean is that finally my two little boys are beginning to play together and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is what I had two children for, so that we could have a lot of fun all together. Mind, Rajiv still tries his wrestling moves on Rohan at every chance he gets, but he also asks Rohan to hide with him under the green blanket and sometimes takes his hand and pulls him behind him to join some game. Mixed results so far, but we had a few very nice early morning hours the three of us together and I am very optimistic at the moment. So much that the thought of baby #3 is creeping into a dark corner of my mind - where it will probably remain, no worries :)

Videos from Ooty

I have uploaded a few more videos. If you missed the birthday video though, I recommend you watch that first.

Here we go. The first video was taken during the car ride to Ooty. We started out on the wrong foot, with Appu being sick and throwing up, but then he had lots of fun with Jayadev and papa' on the front seat. Every time they saw a sign with a trumpet they would scream "trumpet!!" and Viju chicha had to honk. Otherwise they would scream "Look ooooout!". And we saw lots of monkeys and humongous bamboo trees, none of which unfortunately made it into the video. (Lots of fun, but overall I still wish that all children had been in a car seat. Especially on that kind of road.)



Next, Rohan in the park. By the way, he could already walk quite decently at the time, but not for the camera. He could also clap, but again not for the camera - he keeps missing, as you will see, because "Batti batti le manine" is the most exciting nursery rhyme ever and he just can't contain his enthusiasm. :)





By the way, don't you love how he shakes his head? I know you do and more to the point he knows it too!

Next video: Rajiv and Jayadev loving each other to pieces.



Last but certainly not least, the toy train! There is this little train in Ooty that gives ten minute rides to children and willing adults. The approach to the train is not very inviting, but the ride itself is q lot of fun. Look out for the tunnel... UAAAAAAAAH!

A little update from the construction site

The work is stressfully going on. Will it be finished before we leave? It seems highly unlikely, but no panic yet.

This is what the site looks like at the moment.


Our flat is on the 11th floor so we had to go up with a scary construction lift. (I would have happily walked up, by the way, but nobody else shared my feelings.)

I took a few photos from the windows of the flat, so you can get an idea of what the view is going to be like.




I like dry landscapes, so this is fine, provided they don't build anuthing horrendous right in front of us in the coming years. The flat across from ours has a much better view, but I kind of remember it not being available when we picked ours, so no recriminations.

The buildings are being painted and it makes a big difference. Look.

Last week:

Yesterday:


This was our flat last week, before the workers started laying the tiles. Now it is much more messy, with piles of sand taking over the space.



(Yes, there is somebody taking a nap on the floor in the first picture.)

These are the first tiles on the wall in the bathrooms. We went with brick stile in two of them and larger tiles in the third one, but the color is always the same. We are very boring. But classy :)





We are still trying to decide what to do with the wash area. Large corner mirror? Small mirror and lots of blue tiles? Not sure...


In the meantime the most urgent concern is about the kitchen. I don't even want to tsart telling you about the amount of anxiety that it has caused us, but we seem to see the end of the ordeal at this point. We had to accept some compromises, but the kitchen tiles will be laid next week and hopefully the kitchen will be in place just before we go back to Canada.

Lots of hard work... :)

Il taglio della torta

(in albergo in montagna)

B-day!

Little Rajiv is now a little three year old boy. At the moment we are in Ooty with very little access to the net, so details and pictures will have to wait. Many thanks to all those who have send happy birthday emails and see you all later!

Il piccolo Appu ha tre anni! Purtroppo non posso scrivere molto oggi perche' siamo in un posto in montagna con accesso alla rete molto limitato, ma ci saranno molte foto e video da mercoledi' in poi, promesso. Grazie mille a tutti quelli che hanno mandato gli auguri a Rajiv, mi ha fatto molto piacere (Rajiv non coglie tutti i dettagli ma e' contentone in generale :) ).

1,2,3... jump!