First Vacation in USA....(dec' 06)--Atlanta

Looking at the skyline of Atlanta , finally I feel like I have come to USA....because Raleigh is like a village and it does not have any skyline or the city like feeling.....

(This pic has been taken by kunal, so doesnt really give the true picture of the skyline)

Kunal, Nirali and myself have come to Atlanta for a few days and plan to celebrate christmas and new year in Atlanta itself......

First Day: We met Yuvaraj (after about 5 months and were very pleased to meet him..) and was good to see that he hasnt changed a bit......
Saw Atlantic Station, a new tourist spot in Atlanta which host a number of malls and coffee shops and other hang out places....The place was very well decorated for the christmas eve,...(They have a huge 3 storied christmas tree in the courtyard between the tall buildings....)

One thing I noticed that these people celebrate christmas on a really huge scale which none of the Indian festivals can beat.....

They light up every nook and corner and that too with different kinds of lightings.....

As you can see in the picture the height of the christmas tree ...












The lighting on the streets is really amazing.....

Also travelled in the train after a long time (and I truly missed the local trains back in mumbai....)Was trying to draw analogies between the stations and was successful in figuring out the "Dadar" of Atlanta(Marta trains)..... :)

Second Day:
Had lunch at a great Indian Restaurant (Menu : Ragda Patties, Dahi Vada, Paani Puri, Pav Bhaji, Dosa, Uttapa, Noodles, Biryani, Kheer.........) awesome menu and I had everything.... :)

You can imagine a desi going to a desi restaurant in USA .....
After lunch we headed off to the Stone Mountains ( an awesome place ...worth watching.....)


(Kunal,myself and nirali at the Stone Mountain.. The sculpture on the mountain is amazingly huge....)


We walked the trail to the top of the mountain and it was a great experience....It reminded me of the days when I used to climb the Mulund Tekri with my friends.....Missed Maulik and Rushabh ....

We came down by ropeway (called the skyride...) and then later watched the laser show which was truly entertaining for the kids which had come to celebrate the christmas weekend......

To view the entire album of this day click here.