Salt Lake City - Day 1

We just got back from an exciting four day weekend trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was one of the most amazing trips I have ever experienced. We returned to Boise late last night ( 7th October'2012). I am still dizzy, dazed & tipsy from the trip and I expect to remain in this state of inebriation  for a while.
But first let me fill you in on the rest of the trip to Salt Lake City undertaken last week. Continuing from my last post on Shoshone falls, we motored on to Salt Lake City (Utah) and stopped by at a highly recommended African Restaurant on South Redwood Road for lunch. The flavour of the menu is from the Oromian region in Ethiopia. We were received by a short statured docile but smiling African girl ( presumably she cooks here) and a tall strapping well built  pleasant looking African male took our order. We ordered a Vegetarian Combo (Wal Maka) plate for each of us.The thin bread named Budeena is the staple food:Thin, spongy pancake-like flatbread made from barley, rice and wheat flour and fermented over night for flavor. When available, Budenna is made with imported Tafii flour. The side dishes are served right on top of the pancake are. They have unique names like Ashakilitii, Alishaa Misira, Kochee Misira, Kochee Shiro, Raafuu, Dimaa & Dabaquila. Cannot remember which ones were served that day. Similar combos are available for non vegetarians - which has all the veggie dishes and in addition  chicken or meat is served. The vegetarian dish is pictured below: ( for more details you may log on to : www.africanrestaurant.org)

If you want to have a taste of African cuisine this is a fine place to visit. From thereon we went to down town for furniture shopping for furnishing the new house in Boise. Below is a picture of Mira our grand daughter sitting atop a table with a poignant expression.
Next we checked into Hotel Homewood Suites located on Rio Grande Street,where we had prior reservation. The accomodation was huge with two immense double bedded rooms with nice window view facing the Rio Grande Depot where you can visit to get a slice of Utah State History. Facilities included drawing room and a small kitchenette, complete with refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave. All rooms have wi-fi connectivity and large screen digital TV.

For details of Rio Grande Depot log onto: www.riogallery.org

 

After a good bit of rest and relaxation we drove to a place called Jordan in the evening and visited the Krishna Temple there. It was like finding an oasis in a desert country - a nice colourful beautiful temple where the primary deity is Lord Krishna and other deities installed are Rama,Sita,Lakshmana, Venkatachalapathy, Saraswathy, Shiva,Parvathy,Dattatraya,Nava Grahas. There was a modest gathering of devotees there - a mix of South and North Indians. Amazingly we even found an American devotee .There were two priests both hailing from Chennai. A Satyanarayana puja was in progress during our visit. We received prasadam of "kesari". Laddoos were available in packets of two at $.2.00/packet. We picked up 2 packets.

 

The temple visit was spritually energizing. It was late evening and we had by now a healthy appetite. It was time to locate a good eatery.We were delighted when spotted a nice Indian restaurant "Saffron Valley" very close to the temple - which served Indian Street Food. So we walked right in and found ourselves a nice table. The place is owned and run by an Indian lady Lavanya Mahate a green card holder who has been in the US for many years -a  person with a lot of energy and a warm and cheerful demeanour.The menu was mouth watering and we ordered respectively dahi puri,garlic cheese naan, paneer wrap, ghee dosa and gobi paratha.The food was delicious and we had a wonderful and fulfilling evening. Two young boys from Chennai were waiting on us : Sankaran and Saravanan both well mannered and courteous. Overall it a great first day at Sal Lake City. Pics taken there are posted below: