Riya's Ramblings: Ep 79 - A Visit to Vadodara

26/04/2024 16 min

Listen "Riya's Ramblings: Ep 79 - A Visit to Vadodara"

Episode Synopsis

This is part 3 of my 3-part series about my family’s visit
to India! The finale!!
(The first 2 parts were about Mumbai and Pune)
This one is about Vadodara in Gujarat, where my mom grew up.
 
We took the train from Mumbai and had a great time on the train. I loved the long distance train travel in India, so comfy!
 
Our Vadodara trip was bitter-sweet because my grandfather (my mom’s father) had passed away 3 weeks before we got there. We stayed in their house – the house where my mom grew up.
I felt privileged to be able to be a part of a religious
ceremony where we immersed my grandfather’s ashes in a river, it was very peaceful.
But we also spent some time at Surya Hotel – and the hotel breakfast there was epic! I mean, EPICC!
 
We also visited some local landmarks like the Lakshmi Vilas Palace – where the royal family of Vadodara lives.
The royal family is symbolic now but the palace very cool.
It’s 4 times the size of Buckingham Palace in London :O!!
 
We also visited Pavagadh – it’s a temple on top of a
mountain about an hour from Vadodara.
It was CRAZY crowded – super packed with so many people! What an experience!
And we saw so many monkeys, who were just chilling.
But we did look like TOTAL tourists at our excitement at seeing the monkeys.
 
We also went to Sayaji Baug – a beautiful park in the city.
It’s a bit like NYC’s Central Park with lovely fountains, play areas and even a zoo! :)
 
We also visited my mom’s college – and her engineering buildings.
It was fun to see that after visiting my dad’s college (my
Mumbai episode has more details)!
 
And I loved going to D-Mart – a local grocery store. You
might think, why? But it was so much fun to see the local products and walking to and back from the store. It honestly was one of my favorite parts!
 
We walked to a lot of places and took the auto-rickshaw for longer distances.
 
We had some great food including some street food which was absolutely delicious! Once again, the food was one of the best parts! :) :)
 
Vadodara is a super chill city compared to Mumbai and Pune, but it has an undeniable charm!
 
Shout out to Priyanka fai – for emailing me about my Mumbai episode – and to Natalie and Aimery for telling me how much they liked my travel episodes.
Email me at [email protected]
with your comments and feedback, and you will get a shoutout.

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