A place so bountiful

I went to Minneapolis for a conference last week. My second trip to this beautiful city. Minnesotta (state) thats up north can get cold even in summer..Last time when we went in september the place was cold and this time in Peak summer when we went..it was cold too:)) Rightly said by one of the postcards "Minnesotta: If the cold doesn't get you, the windchill will" Hahahaa... Newyas, we had a blast. First of all, free stay at 'Radisson' doesn't happen often in one's life;) One funny incident happened. And maybe I am god's chosen one to go through such 'fantabulous'experiences;) So while I checked in I asked at the counter who my 'roomate'was..She mentioned an Indian name..and which was a Guy's name...so obviously I dint wanna share my room with a guy.Period. Me: I think thats a guy Official: No..the person has registered as a 'female' Me: Err.. Official: Let the person come..we can find out I opened the huge room and was glad that I was all by myself. A girl was walking in front of me. In some wierd fashion, we hit it off at that instant. She was also from Bombay and well in my experience, I can so connect to them. To some I might be biased..but well, in my opinion..I have always found fellow Mumbaiyya's quite approachable and initaite conversation with. I asked her "So well, who is this person from your univ" She said"OMG! He is a guy and you DONT want to share the room with him" I gasped and exclaimed to one of my american friends. Guys are sometimes wierd: Friend: Thats the thing about America. U can stay in the same room with 'a guy'.The room has two beds in it. Thankfully, an American girl L came to my rescue and give him a good hearing. L: Well, even an american girl wont be in the same room with a 'random guy'. Guys have rules of their own.Huh! Finally, I spent the night with L. One more experience..that goes down the memory lane. In a new place, yet another stranger came forward to help me! Then comes the beautiful majestic 'Lake Superior', the world's largest Fresh water lake. A lake thats vast enough to swallow an entire cargo ship. Amazing..aint it?? They had posted a signboard there saying 'No swiming' which was strange coz none in their right frame of mind would even dream of that. But the best thing was, there was no restrain or serrated bars to prevent people from jumping into the water! We were taken on a 'Cruise' too. My first cruise ride that too free of cost. Although, am no too big on that. Two reasons: I do not know swimming and I get sea-sick. My first ship ride to Elephanta caves in Mumbai (when I was 10) was horrible..coz I kept throwing up. So I wanted to see if this phobia has reduced in 15 years..Naah! it did not. The moment I stared into the dark water in the background of night, there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. But the evening was the most memorable one. Met some wonderful people on the shore. There was live jazz music on the cruise. One musician asked me which song I wanted to hear and what were we doing in there. I replied: We have a boring life. We are PhD students. Seldom get holidays. He said:Our life is boring! Well maybe 'grass is always greener on the other side' One more thing that I noticed was with an old faculty who was accompanying us on the ride. Him and his wife (both in their late 70's) danced to glory. They were the only 'young'couple who danced till they couldn't dance anymore. We stood there watching and clapping! They had music in their feet and probably at that age one is more contended... Lastly, this picture is my favourite one. So we were on the banks of Superior where we saw a flock of seagulls. Thankfully, in the trip I had a friend who was equally crazy as me. That sight reminded me of this famous place in Dadar 'Kabootar Khana'. We decided to feed the seagulls with some 'popocorn' This pic was captured by my friend who caught the action 'live'. The seagulls finished the entire packet in less than 5 minutes. The moment they saw the popcorns hurled at them, they would catch it..beautiful sight it was:) We were taken to this excellent Body World museum. An artistic exhibition of human plastinates. Wike does an excellent job of defining this place, here. Although, it was scientific, there were some things over there, which completely grossed me out! Lastly, this US navy cargo ship that we got to visit! Cannot imagine that the cargo ship was so much like an entire house! With all the comfort n everything. And the entry fees being merely $3:) The guy who explained the history of the ship basically was so full of life (all at age of 15-16). Of the trivia he explained...it came as a surprise that such a big and huge ship built in 1938 was discarded for $ 1 in 1970:) In the basement of the ship, there lay a poster of Edmund Fitzerald ship. This was a huge huge ship and the last ship that sank in the massive Lake Superior in 70s. For all those interested in reading about it, can read it here. It was extremely interesting, the way a place is associated with so much of history! This was my second visit to this land of lakes. And each time I go there is something to explore! Although, I could not visit 'Mall of America' (which has more than 520 stores), I still think..that there's a lot to a place than just its malls and stores! Minus the weather, Minnesotta is a wonderful place to be. Rich in fresh air, fresh water, beautiful locales! P.S:- My next post will be my trip to California on friday!