SOJOURN – far away from the madding crowd

 WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR…THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!

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After uploading this cookie post, my daughter and I took off for a vacation to a friend’s (that’s why you didn’t receive a visit from me at your blog). The visit had been long pending and the winter holidays & the lovely weather gave us an excuse we had been waiting for. After a pleasant drive, we reached our destination and we were greeted by a rather colder weather than we had anticipated. And although the nights were quite chilly, the balmy sun made the day time very pleasant. It was simply wonderful having our breakfast sitting in the lawn, soaking up the sun, listening to chirping of birds and to the tinkling bells around the necks of bovine creatures. Heavenly!

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Her old colonial style house was such a beauty – long veranda, big lawn, large rooms with high ceilings, a kitchen garden besides so many lovely plants and peace all around. It was such a drastic change of environ for us especially coming from a buzzing, crowded and noisy city such as Mumbai. We didn’t miss the opportunity to take lazy and aimless walks around the arid and stony surrounding, clicking a few pics here and there.

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It really was fun in the kitchen too; we cooked up a storm! We dished out this Bengal style Mustard Fish Curry and this Goan Prawn Curry. And then we thought of baking a cake for her newly bought oven. I had in my mind a tried and tested recipe that I have been baking for God knows how long. But then with its impeccable timing, Murphy’s Law struck. The cake that I baked turned out dry and flat and it was perhaps the worst cake of my life! My daughter called it ‘nightmare on a platter’. We tried soaking it up with a syrup but it really wasn’t my day and no amount of ideas could salvage the cake. I was not only disappointed but also embarrassed the way my most ‘perfect’ recipe would be remembered in the history of her oven:-P

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Before winding up the holiday, we gave a visit to the Sula Vineyards near Nashik. It was my first ever visit to a vineyard/winery. Sula Winery is the brainchild of Stanford educated Rajeev Samant who quit his job at Silicon Valley to live the ‘rural life’.  After trying his hands at various crops he then pursued his, then seemingly eccentric, dream of making wine in India. Taking help from Kerry Damskey, an eminent Californian winemaker, he kickstarted his dream venture at Nashik in 1997. They planted the French Sauvignon and Californian Chenin Blanc variety and in 2000, Sula released its first wine. The proud moment for the promoter came in 2002 when Wine Spectator (world’s No. 1 wine magazine) did a five page feature on Sula. The winery and vineyard was thrown open to public in 2005 and since then it is one of the most visited wineries in the world. The guided tour gives one a peek into the various steps of wine making, maturing (barrel and tank), bottling procedure etc. The estate now also has a 30-room vineyard resort.

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For info on the various Sula Wines click HERE

Besides spending some quality time with my friend, this chhota break spent close to nature was truly rejuvenating and is recommended to all souls that want to a break from the chaos of city life.

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Thanks for visiting and see you soon again.

17 thoughts on “SOJOURN – far away from the madding crowd

  1. Beautiful photos! Enjoy your vacation time.
    Happy New Year Taruna! here’s wishing you and your family all the best for this year!

  2. OMG, you said Nashik….I remember my childhood days there when my Dad used to work for the Air Force and HAAL and all those village areas where they used to farm. We used to visit vineyards and Mom used to make big container like barrels of wine. It was a beautiful place. I cannot wait to see more snaps Taruna.

  3. Sometimes we need to get away from the routine hustle and bustle to catch a break. Lovely photos, and it sounds like you had a refreshing time away 🙂

  4. Wow!!!!
    Lovely pics, you really have a great sight. The way you ensure your camera listens to you and sync with your eyes and sight is amazing.
    Great Going
    Wish a very happy new year, as you said, the best is yet to come. Cheers!!

  5. What a lovely place to get away and relax and bring in the new year. Thanks for sharing your trip and these beautiful pics! Happy 2015!

  6. The building around there… I could have believed that this was europe in the last picture. Just for an instance at least. Looks like a charming place to chill out. Wish you too a belated happy new year

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