Hi to all from Goa,
It is now two days before I head back home and I've had another fabulous visit with Leslie, Abhi, Devi and all of their friends. We traveled to Ahmedabad to visit Abhi's family and to also see the city. We were guests of Abhi's mother and spent a couple of days in a 450 year old house. It was amazing and I will get into more detail in a future newsletter.
I met Usha, Abhi's dad's sister. At the age of 17, Usha was imprisoned by the British for being a Freedom Fighter with Gandhi. She has written several books in Gujarati, the language of her state. We hit it off immediately. In the pictures below, you will see Usha signing one of her books that she gave to me.
From Ahmedabad, we drove to Udaipur and spent two days and one night at the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel. Udaipur is as beautiful as you see in the pictures below and I have many, many more to share.
As you all know, the main reason for my trip to India was to return with my daughter and grand daughter from their Christmas visit spent in the States. We have had a fantastic visit, which has included three trips to the ocean already and we still have two more days.
We also did a fair amount of shopping and I have many pictures to share of various shops.
I'm going to cut this short. It is 12:45 am Indian time and I am writing this after a nice long day at the beach and a fun barbeque with a few of Leslie and Abhi's friends. Time for bed!
I will share much more in weeks to come. I went a little crazy and have taken over 800 pictures!
It's been sunny and 80 to 90 degrees each day. It is so hard to imagine that most of you readers are in the middle of the blizzard of 2014. Happy shoveling... just kidding. I hope everyone is safe and sound and the storm does not create too much hardship.
All the best,
Norm

Leslie & Devi at Ahmedabad Airport Norm's bedroom in Ahmedabad

Courtyard with swing Abhi's mother Kinnar with Devi and Norm

Usha signing her book Rural Rajasthan

City Palace, Udaipur Lake Palace, Udaipur

Jagmandir Island Palace, Udaipur Indian women on a boat ride from Jagmandir
Firefighting equipment at palace hotel