Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Southampton

Typically Southampton isn't the first spot you would choose to visit when you think of England, but when I was invited to a wedding anniversary party from one of my Indian friends from the mountbatten program Krutika, I couldn't resist.

When I arrived at Southampton, I noticed a large bay with huge cruise ships and a large shopping center. I called my friends and they were going to be a while to pick me up. So instead of going to the bay sight seeing. I took the opportunity to shop at the massive Ikea. It was fun to walk through the large halls of furniture, accessories and goodies. I bought some coffee and some sweets to give to the party hosts.

My friend Abhi arrived and called me to pick me up. Four of us squeezed into the back of the hired car and set off where to? Ikea...The hosts had postponed the party for the rain. So here I was walking into Ikea again. Luckily a few of my friends decided to get something small to eat to tide them over. I walked with Prashanth and his wife Reshmi over to McDonalds. This was a cultural experience for sure! We had a hearty MickeyD's meal and walked back to Ikea, picked up our friends and made our way to the party.

The party was a fabulous barbeque, complete with little kids running around and corn on the cob(with indian spices of course). The women were all dressed in colorful traditional outfits and some of the men as well. We sat and chatted about all sorts of things. I met some lovely people, ate rice and curry with my hands and would not be let out the door without a bowl of icecream to share.

Overall it was a fun experience. I was able to spend some more time with these friends, meet some new people and roam the walls of ikea which is always a treat.

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