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Jordan #50 – part 2

On our 3rd morning in Jordan, we woke up to a panoramic view of the red stone mountains of Petra and spent an hour gazing at the amazing site. We then drove 1.5 hours south to the Wadi Rum desert or “the valley of the moon”. It’s really more like Mars as was portrayed in the Martian. Wadi Rum was the unexpected highlight of our trip to Jordan. We had high hopes but the experience that entire day took us to a different planet.

We first stopped at the visitor center where we booked a 4 hour 4×4 tour through the desert. Our driver Najeh met us as we finished another average local meal at the village and drove us into the desert. The experience reminded us of our Tanzanian safari. As we drove through the amazing red soft sand and gazed at the amazing Martian mountains, Anjali and I were in awe of the magnitude and the beauty. The weather was fantastic as well since October is a one of the best times to visit. The tour took us to a sand dune we climbed, the little bridge and Um fourth bridge, Lawrence’s house and spring and the khazala canyon. We ended the tour a bit early, so we decided to experience the Bedouin lifestyle and took off on a camel ride in the middle of the desert!

Around 430pm exhausted we drove in search of our camp – The Space Village luxury camp. We were originally planning to stay at the Wadi Rum Night Luxury Camp but we found out a week ago that they couldn’t honor our booking since their email, website and Facebook page were hacked 5 months ago! We had trouble finding the Space Village camp and had a scare when our car got stuck in the sand and I had to push it out while Anjali guided us back to the road – thank god we didn’t have the kids with us. Once we got to the camp, it was fantastic and pure luxury glamping. It’s just 6 months old, spanking new with 30 tents with very nice hospitality. Right outside the tents is a large sand dune which is also one of the most popular spots to view the sunset. We climbed up the dune and sat while watching one of the most beautiful sunsets we’d seen. We then ran down the large sand dune to the camp where Arabic tea and shisha (or hubbly bubbly awaited us). The dinner was very local and fantastic with a rice and chicken stew cooked underground for hours. We had a great nights sleep on the very comfortable beds only disturbed by Anjali waking me up at 4am to see a sky full of stars, like we had never seen before. You really couldn’t ask for more in a days experience!

Next morning we departed Wadi Rum after a nice breakfast and drove for 4 straight hours to the Dead Sea. We got stopped a second time on the trip for a random ID check, but besides that the drive was seamless and breathtakingly beautiful just before and at the Dead Sea. Dead Sea is really a salt lake that is 400m below sea level, the lowest point on Earth. We arrived at the Marriott right at lunch time and devoured on some Italian food and wine. The Marriott is located right on the Dead Sea with a private beach and 5 pools. After relaxing for a bit we went down to the private beach for a dip in the Dead Sea. The water is 10 times saltier than a sea and it’s super easy to float almost like if you were on the moon. The salt can burn your eyes and nose though. We also put some famous Dead Sea mud on our bodies. The pool and spa was inviting after and we watched the sunset from there. After some shisha we spent our last night having a nice dinner and watching belly dancing. We spent our last morning floating in the Dead Sea and chilling in the pool before taking the red eye to Mumbai to see the kids and family. Jordan was amazing! Thank you to the grandparents again and looking forward to seeing the kids.

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Mauritius

We landed onto the island of Mauritius, and after a seamless car rental experience, we were driving through lush green mountains to arrive at the Westin Turtle Bay. We were upgraded to a lovely room with a large balcony, where we knew we’d spend many evenings! Our room was also close to the resort pool which had a large kids play area. Overall, we found the service at the resort to be impeccable, and extremely kid-friendly which significantly enhanced our experience. Every request was met with a smile, and the staff went above and beyond to make our stay special.

On the second day, we went out on a glass bottom boat and the kids enjoyed experiencing the coral reef and fish, and were well behaved. On the third day, we drove to Cassela, where the kids got an African Safari experience, witnessing impala, giraffes, zebra, lions, and little lion cubs. A few days were spent relaxing at the resort, on the beach and in the pool, and enjoying several bottles of French wine that we purchased at a local wine store. We also went out on a pedal boat that the kids enjoyed a lot. The primary language of the Mauritians is French and the population is largely Indian, living in the African continent which made for an interesting mix of cultures. Africa is Ayaan and Ariana’s fifth continent and Mauritius Ayaan’s 25th country!

Every evening, we enjoyed live music at the beachfront and then dined in one of the resorts restaurants or ordered room service in our sprawling balcony, complete with day beds, and a swing. On the fifth day we drove to the south side of the island where we saw the black river gorge national park and some beautiful Hindu temples. Our favorite was the unplanned stop to Chamarel rhumerie where we enjoyed a tour of the process of rum making and a tasting of 7 rums followed by a sumptuous lunch in their gardens. Ayaan’s tummy was upset so he didn’t eat much and slept in his stroller during lunch. One of the memories of the trip was watching Ayaan and Ariana interact and play with each other with sand toys on the beach and swim in the pool together with their puddle jumpers. Ayaan remains very caring and protective of his little sister if he suspects that she is unsafe.

After 6 nights, we departed for the St Regis which had a spectacular location next to the Le Morne mountain. The south side of the island is lush and green and stunningly beautiful. On our way to the resort we stopped at the seven colored earths, a geological formation which was beautiful. The kids also met with some very old tortoises that had been transported from the island of Seychelles when the tortoise population in Mauritius was dwindling. The St Regis lived up to its expectations after a somewhat rocky start. The kids were overjoyed as they were welcomed with gifts including new sand toys. We loved the food and cocktails and in particular the multi course a la carte breakfast with home made croissants, dim sum, cheese and charcuterie washed down with mimosas. The live saxophone musician in the evenings was extremely talented and a perfect compliment to the sunsets. The pan Asian and Japanese restaurants were fantastic. After our experience at both resorts with well built kids clubs and activities including treasure hunts, we were convinced that Mauritius is by far the most child friendly country that we’ve ever visited. Merci Mauritius – we had a fantastic time!

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Budapest

After spending the morning eating a nice breakfast and walking in the gardens surrounding the European Parliament in Brussels, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Budapest, Hungary – a new country for everyone except me. I’d been there on a road trip from Prague for a day and really enjoyed it. The flight was short and kids napped and did well overall as Brussels airways was very kid friendly. One thing that’s not great about traveling with kids in Europe is that you don’t get the stroller at the gate when you arrive. Anyway our bags came quickly and we took a taxi (no uber here) to our amazingly situated apartment at Molnar utca. The one bed apartment was great with air-conditioning (90 degrees here too) although no crib. It’s great to see the kids adapt as we’ve gone from a 3 bed apartment to sleeping in suites and 1 bed apartments, to a single hotel room and finally to 4 of us on queen bed! That evening we walked along the Danube and ate lunch at a fantastic kid friendly Greek restaurant nearby. The server was extremely nice as he gave Ariana a toy horse and Ayaan some lights that made their night!

Next morning we ate breakfast at the apartment and then strolled along the Danube to the magnificent Chain Bridge, crossing it to the Historic buda side. The funicular was closed for maintenance (reminded us of our hillevator!) so we took the open air tram up to the Buda castle. The kids of course enjoyed yet another new form of transportation. The view from the castle of the Pest side is breathtaking, but there’s not much else at the castle. Our next team stop was the Fisherman’s Bastion and Mattheaus’ church which are incredible pieces of architecture in white stone with a great view of the Hungarian parliament and chain bridge. We ate some local Hungarian food at a nearby restaurant before retreating back to our apartment to have a nap. We decided to relax that evening so we took the kids to the nearby park, bought some groceries and a bottle of wine and Anjali cooked us a nice meal.

Next morning we walked across the bridge to the Gellert thermal baths that were 10 mins away. It’s a must-do Hungarian Experience to go spend the day at the baths with its mix of different temperature indoor thermal pools in a historic building, an out door pool, bath and a restaurant. We spent most of the day here as relaxed, drank some Hungarian sparkling wine and the kids enjoyed their pool. A bonus was a live orchestra playing while we chilled poolside. That night Anjali and I celebrated the close of our home by getting a babysitter and dining at the Buddha Bar restaurant. We were very happy with the result although the process had been quite stressful.

We spent our last full day in Budapest, walking the streets. We first visited the Great synagogue, the largest in Europe. We found a great park after that where the kids enjoyed “the swing and the slide” as Ariana says. We then walked down the posh Andrassy Ave to the Heroes square, and it was clear why Budapest is sometimes called the Paris of the East. The Heroes square is situated in the main park that also houses the zoo and the most famous baths. We lost our way a bit as we exited the park in search of Doner kebabs, but eventually caught a bus back to the center – quite stressful with kids. We did eventually get some Doner kebabs that the kids munched down. We were all tired and headed back to the apartment where the kids napped while Anjali and I took turns to get a much needed Thai massage next door. The evening was predictable as we visited the children’s park again and ate some yummy Italian food accompanied with decent a Hungarian red wine. We ended the night by going to one of the open air bars on top of a boat with the kids overlooking the lit up monuments along the Danube river.

On our last morning before catching our flight to Copenhagen, we strolled down to the European Parliament building while stopping for a ride on the Budapest eye overlooking the skyline. Our stay in Budapest was pleasant and quite different that the other places we’d been to! We now traveled for 2 months and to 10 countries.

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Tuscany

Tuscany was the only place in our entire trip that Gaurav and I had been to together, but had always wanted to return, and so we decided to repeat! A short drive from Florence, and we entered the beautiful town of San Gimignano. The heat was oppressive though, and the kids weren’t cooperating. Surprisingly and much to our dismay, Ayaan has developed somewhat of an aversion to pizza which made meal time challenging. And then, when we asked Ayaan to stop being on the phone once lunch was served, he uttered the dreaded bad word. And for that moment, the heat combined with the tantrum made me wonder whether coming to Tuscany (and the entire trip in general) was a good idea. We retreated to our agriturismo and after an unsuccessful attempt at getting the kids to nap, spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool overlooking the sprawling vineyards. The kids eventually had a late nap and Gaurav and I decided to leverage the opportunity to enjoy dinner without the kids at a beautiful restaurant back in the town of San Gimignano. We tried the pici – a simple spaghetti with garlic and the dessert Ive long craved since I left Italy – a chocolate panna cotta…that first bite, and it made me feel for that moment, that coming back to Tuscany (and the trip in general) was all worth it!

The next morning, we were off to a better start. We drove to Chianti for our appointment at Antinori, extremely excited to be visiting the ‘alma mater’ of one of our favorites – Tignanello. The winery was exceptionally stunning – founded back in the 14th century, it underwent a 100 million upgrade in 2012. From the wine making process and equipment to the tasting rooms and experience and of course, the wines itself, we were blown away! Following the tour and tasting, we enjoyed a fantastic lunch overlooking the vineyards and left several bottles of wine later.

Our next stop was Amorelli where a very friendly server talked us through a wine, olive oil and balsamic tasting paired with cheese, prosciutto and olives. We were surprised to learn that balsamic was the most expensive item on their menu (the best, and what Italians consider only real balsamic) is made only from grapes and aged for 10-36 years. Wow! That evening, in anticipation of Ariana’s second birthday, we went to a toy store to buy her gifts. We were pleased to find a wonderful kids play area above, complete with bouncy houses, water play, slides, ball houses and much more! The kids spent a fantastic hour there playing with each other and local kids. It’s fascinating to see that kids don’t really need to speak the same language to have a blast.

The next morning, Ariana opened her gifts and was thrilled with her new walking/talking (albeit in Italian) doggie and baby stroller. We then drove to Montalcino because we love Brunellos! We started at Altesino and then headed to Barbi for lunch where the kids enjoyed playing outdoors with their new toys. Our last stop was Banfi where I was excited to see the association with Cornell’s Hotel School #hotelieforlife. That evening, Gaurav had reserved a table at a wonderful terrace overlooking he vineyards to celebrate Ariana’s birthday. We started off by allowing her to open her bubbles and entertain herself until the food arrived. After a dinner of chicken and French fries, she devoured a panna cotta while we all sang to her. Later that evening, the kids enjoyed coconut gelato in the square before calling it a night. happy Birthday Ariana – we love you!

Being a part of Ariana’s exponential growth over the past six weeks has been particularly gratifying for us. Traveling with kids isn’t always easy but, for us, it’s been so worth it!

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My day with the kiddos

I spent 24 hours with Ayaan and Ariana alone in Marbella while Anjali flew to Frankfurt for the night with her parents. It was my first night with them alone outside our Sausalito home (luckily I do have plenty of experience single parenting with Anjali’s work travel!) and I was nervous. We decided to check into the Westin from the Airbnb since I felt it’ll be easier in a hotel to manage both of them. We were lucky enough to get a good rate and an upgrade to a huge suite, and also change our reservations in Granada and Madrid by a day without much hassle. My luck is never great when Anjali is traveling as Ariana woke up from her nap with a light fever.

I decided to take it chill and we spent most of the time in our room outside of going for a walk around the resort, pool and golf course with the goal of getting hot milk. The Westin is a beautiful property with great service and a fantastic hilltop view of the mountains, sea and the Marbella area.

So how did I entertain the kids? Ayaan and I first made coffee while Ariana napped. Ayaan of course took all of the sugar packets and cream and added to his cup of coffee (he did not drink it, but did manage to drop it on the couch!). Ayaan and I then ate an apple and a peach that the nice lady delivered to our room complimentary. Once Ariana woke up feeling better things got a little crazier. She ate her favorite popcorn while I cut Ayaan’s nails. And as a treat both of them got cookies that they gobbled down like monsters.

We had a nice dinner in the room with their favorite chicken nuggets, fries and fruit leftovers. And then things really got fun. Ayaan asked “Daddy can I please play with Ariana for some time?”. And he turned to Ariana and said “Ariana let’s play 5 little monkeys” and they both started singing and jumping on the bed! Once the kids were in bed, daddy finally got some free time to watch the England-Colombia game.

The kids slept really well and woke up late! We had a nice breakfast at the buffet where the kids had cereal, oatmeal, watermelon, orange juice and churros with chocolate strawberry sauce (as Ariana says “Mama not happy”). We then hit the kiddie pool and sang, danced and played with the ball in it. Now after our bath we’re off to pick up mama at Malaga airport and head to Granada!

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Luxury in Southern Spain

After breakfast, I picked up a Hertz rental car to drive to Marbella with Ayaan and Anjali’s parents’ bags, while Anjali drove the Peugeot with the rest of the gang. The 2 hour 45 mins drive from Seville to Marbella was winding and gorgeous across many mountains, lakes and changing landscapes. Both kids napped for almost the entire time and Ayaan woke up as we approached Marbella saying “Daddy this is so beautiful, it feels like Hawaii.” And it sure does with amazing weather, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and mountains.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb in a complex near Puerto Banus with a resort style pool, a great restaurant and hookah! The guests were very nice and it was probably one of my best Airbnb experiences too date (I still prefer the comforts of a hotel to be honest). We spent the first evening dipping in the warm pool, eating some Lobster paella and watching the thrilling games between Argentina-France and Portugal-Uruguay. At night, I put the kids to bed while Anjali took her parents to a nice Indian meal. And for the second time on the trip, we headed out after dinner while MIL watched the kids. We walked down the buzzing Puerto Banus – a harbor with high-end yachts, open bars with people overflowing to the streets, house music and Ferraris everywhere. It was a fun night out after a while for just the two of us after the hectic month of June.

On our second day, we hit the pool again on another beautiful day after which we strolled Puerto Banus in the day and ate at the locally recommended Picasso pizzeria overlooking the sea and the yachts. The children and us were super excited to get some Chicken Tikka pizza!

After lunch I got to watch Spain lose among the locals which was quite an experience. Kids woke up late from their nap so we headed to the old town in Marbella for a stroll and dinner in the square. The old town reminded us of a Greek town, specifically Mykonos, with its tiled cobbled streets, roses everywhere and cathedrals. I ended the night smoking some double apple hookah and watching Croatia beat Denmark in penalties!

Our last day as a family in Marbella got to a relaxing start at the beach. The kids are finally at the age where they love the beach and can independently play with each other and their sand toys. One of my favorite parts about this journey is taking the time to observe Ayaan and Ariana interact without having to rush. Ayaan has become a real big brother fetching water for Ariana from the sea!

We ate lunch at our Airbnb and after putting the kids to sleep MIL took care of the kids while Anjali and I headed out to Nikki beach for some chill music and rose at the pool and beach. We ate dinner as a family at Tuk Tuk, an Asian fusion restaurant that was great.

Marbella and Puerto Banus have definitely been the highlight of the journey so far!

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Algarve

A short 2.25 hour drive from Lisbon brought us to the beautiful Pine Cliffs, A luxury collection resort on the beach. We enjoyed an al fresco lunch of gazpacho and fajitas before hitting the resort pools. A bottle of rose and a lot of splashes later, we enjoyed a Japanese dinner at an elegant outdoor restaurant by Chef Olivier. Ariana enjoyed bonding with her masi while devouring sushi (see video). Later that evening, we enjoyed a nightcap of Madeira on our deck before drifting off to sleep.

placeholder://We started the next day with a sumptuous breakfast and then spent some time enjoying the kids club. Ayaan and Ariana got to ride in some real John Deere trucks and jump in a bouncy house! Ariana has started speaking a few full sentences since our trip began and it’s been a pleasure to witness her progression real-time. Her favorites include expressing her preferences – “I like masi!” or “I don’t like this”.

We then joined the rest of the family and drove along the coast to Praia de Benagil. Ayaan and Ariana enjoyed playing by the beach, and then we took a boat which guided us through an awe-inspiring landscape of limestone formations and crystal clear blue aqua!

That evening, we grabbed drinks and dinner at the hotel bar where we had prime seats to watch the Portugal vs Iran and Spain vs Morocco World Cup games.

The next morning, we headed to the stunning hotel beach that was lined with cliffs of orange hues on one side and surrounded by clear blue water on the other. We had lunch at Mare, the hotel’s beach side bar before heading to the pool where Ariana napped and Ayaan enjoyed an ice cream with Nani. In the evening, we headed back to the kids club where the kids got to ride a motorized car!

This evening, we’re looking forward to having the babysitter watch the kids while we enjoy a nice meal with my parents at Pescadore, the hotels seafood restaurant. After the meal, Gaurav and I opened the bottle of Sassacaia that we’d saved from SF and enjoyed it against this beautiful backdrop of illuminated orange cliffs…Overall, Algarve (and the Pine Cliffs resort) was stunning and did a solid job of differentiating itself from other beach destinations.