Miscellany

Boaz has recovered.  I thought I had escaped the infection and celebrated appropriately with a bottle of wine on Sunday.  Now I'm starting to feel crappy.  I've also been terrible about remembering to take pictures while wandering Pune, but I'll throw a few out to you while I spend some time resting.

Speaking of wine:  Alcohol is pretty expensive here.  The cheapest wines I can find are still over $5.  I've found a couple in that range that I like.  You can easily spend $30 on a domestic bottle of wine that is about on par with a $5 bottle at home.  I haven't found any reds I really like yet.  That's always a little trickier.  This system won't scale, but for the moment I take pictures of bottles I like or hate.

 

For all kinds of shopping, getting in the thick of the crowded bustle of India, and a look at one of the oldest parts of Pune, head to Camp.  We've made many trips for dinner, just to browse, and to come up short when looking for something specific like office chairs and mosquito nets.

 

View from the second story of a restaurant in Camp.  You can get a sense of the older architecture.  Buildings like these are crammed together, forming snaking alleys off the main roads.  There's an incredible variety of patterns to the lattice and ironwork on balconies that are often covered with drying laundry.  That row of parked two-wheelers is a ubiquitous sight, as it's arguably the most popular mode of transportation.

 

A crappy cell phone photo of a beautiful smog-enabled sunset.

One of Boaz's favorite places to go out is the bar at this Egyptian themed hotel.  It apparently has new ownership.  The bar, with outdoor seating at the top of this hill, is now cartoon-saxophone-playing-teddybear themed.  There is even a giant inflatable mascot blocking much of the view from the otherwise lovely patio.