The University Town

Technorati Tags: Chicago,travel,Ann Arbor,University of Michigan,Bill Bryson,Zingerman’s,Mifrah

My husband loves traveling. So it was only a matter of time before we set out of the cozy confines of Chicago. At least for the weekend.

So we embarked on our first little getaway. The destination chosen was Ann Arbor, Michigan- a place Javed has visited nearly a hundred times, AA being home to Michigan University; where best friend Hirak and wife Sumedha are pursuing their Ph.D’s.

So off we were on a frosty Friday evening towards the railway station. So frosty was it, that Javed put ‘Vanilla Morning’ as his Gtalk status. Sure looked like we were walking in a humongous freezer with heaps of ice cream everywhere. A picturesque journey to the station, if not the snuggest.

Luckily for us, at least the train left on time. As for reaching the destination, the lesser said about Amtrak, the better. Anyway, reach we did, at almost midnight, hardly a time to soak in the environs of a new place. But what I saw in the next couple of days was this: AA is a quaint little town, very unlike Chicago. Quite streets, old gabled houses of wood. Each looking as if it had sprung to life from your bed time story book. Or Barbie’s doll house set. Open, airy porches with white washed wooden chairs. Icicles hanging from railings. A church that seemed to tell the tale of generations gone by. Old world charm. Mingled with Starbucks and Urban Outfitters. Stuff that post cards are made of. Here are some pics Javed clicked on his last visit. Much better in summer, I must say.

Anyway, Hirak came to pick us up from the station in his dainty little car (it has just two doors!) and once inside their cozy house (and a few helpings of chocolate walnut cake baked for the newly wedded couple), it was show time. Well, at least for Hirak and Javed. I looked with amusement as my husband guffawed uproariously to his old pal’s jokes. Quite a switch from his otherwise mild demeanor. Oh well. Old friendships die hard, I guess.

After a whole day of lounging before the TV (the weather didn’t seem very inviting), we needed to get out of the house. Dinner thus was reserved at this beautifully done up Middle Eastern restaurant called Lashish.

The decor was just as appetizing as the delicious food. Highly recommended if you are one for crunchy Falafels, tender Kababs and Shwerma or juicy Bakhlavas. Add good service and its a scrumptious affair.  And the best part? It’s Halal! Go dig in!

The evening rounded up with some hilarious games of cards and Amir Khan’s latest flick on dyslexic children, Taare Zameen Par, a movie I found a tad bit disappointing; the brickbats for which I will reserve for a better time. For now we move on to the next day, when Hirak and Sumedha gave us a tour of the University campus. Or at at least a part of it. Whatever they could squeeze in the time we had. For one, it IS a HUGE place! Nothing like what we have back home. Being one of the most well endowed universities in the country has its share of up sides. And it shows. The sprawling campus and state of the art infrastructure is good enough to make even studying addictive. Which is saying a lot.

After about two hours of being impressed by the Uni’s formidable structures, we descended to mundanities again. One of the things I happened to observe, is that no matter how academically inclined a girl might be, her first love, for all it’s worth, is still going to be – shopping. And ice cream. And well chocolate too. A fact consolidated by Sumedha’s forceful invasions of the fashion stores. And ice cream parlors. Just the kind of accomplice I needed. So while the husbands rolled their eyes to the heavens, the wives’ club marched into the stores with aplomb. Of course that did not deter them from wise cracking. Men, after all, will be MEN; a fact I have gotten used to after being brought up with three brothers.

After a brief stint in a souvenir store for University of Michigan (all the items had huge ‘M’s on them, ha!) the four of us walked down the streets of the University Town, contemplating on what we could do before it was time for good byes. The option of a movie was vetoed and so the three book lovers and one book liker (me, if you haven’t guessed) traipsed into a uniquely antique bookstore called the Dawn Treader Bookshop. The store has an incredible collection (and a mummy coffin shaped book case!), plus the oldest editions of P.G. Wodehouse and several autographed books to boot. While my self proclaimed artist of a husband picked up a book on sketching landscapes and a book on New writings from the Middle East, I picked up The Mother Tongue a humorous review of ‘English & How it got that way’ by Bill Bryson, a writer my husband has gotten me hooked to lately.

After a few more rounds of jokes and laughter (and some hot onion bhajias, yum!) Hirak suggested we go to Ann Arbor’s famed Zingerman’s bakehouse and creamery. Amtrak did not let us down. As expected, the train was running late again, so we could squeeze a good half hour in this place which has got a wide variety of bread, cheese, chocolates, you-name-its. And all of them fresher than fresh, exclusive and somewhat expensive. But good stuff is good stuff. Hubby picked some sour dough with chocolate chips and Sumedha made us try an assortment of cheese. Now I must say, I have a somewhat conservative taste in food; I don’t even have fruit in the middle of a meal because fruit is sweet and well, curry is spicy. Too much confusion for the taste buds. But if you like sampling new flavors and tastes, it’s THE place for you. Check out their site to see what this exotic eatery’s all about.

Well folks. That’s all for now. More after the next weekend, Inshalah. Toodle-loo!