7- Steps to Make Your Own Beer

While in St. Louis, Missouri, I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Budweiser and their beer-making plant. I noticed a display board in the reception area that described the various steps involved in their beer-making process. It sounds easy but requires the highest degree of accuracy and precision in timing, temperature and quantity and the optimum conditions for producing the right quality of beer.

I share here  the 7-steps recipe of beer making. :)  Do you want to give it a try? If yes, then follow the step-by-step process as shown in the pics ---

On a serious note, my visit to the brewery was awaited with excitement as I had never visited a brewery before, and I am a teetotaller. Budweiser (Anheuser Busch) manufactures one of the top-selling beers of the country and is known for its aggressive and humorous marketing all over the world. A few of the advertising slogans, used by the owners, are`The Real Men of Genius' and `The Beer of Kings', which was later changed  to `The King of Beers'.

Since the plant is very old, the buildings, which have undergone renovations post the repeal of prohibition, are beautiful and have an aristocratic touch. The, well-bred horses, the entire process from brewing to packaging and even the delivery trucks, all make the colossal plant a place worth visiting. And, to top it all, there’s a  beer- drinking session complete with snacks, on the house, at the end of the tour--a very welcome conclusion to an almost 2 hour excursion. You are invited to tour this place through this photo album--

Washington DC

We took a road trip to Washington DC all the way from St. Louis, Missouri. It is a long drive --- almost 15 hours long --- and we took a night-halt at Charleston after driving on plains for 9 hours with brief stops for light meals. The roads were well-maintained, the view beautiful (the post-spring verdure was breathtaking), and the weather ideal. It is summer for everyone else, but for a visitor like me, who is used to a 40oC summer,18-24 degrees feels mostly pleasant but for a nip-in-the-air-feeling at times. My children joke that I tend to feel a little cold because age is catching up with me.

After our night-halt, we left Charleston post-breakfast, around 10 am, and drove via Maryland. The route was hilly, often winding up and down, and quite picturesque. It was here in Maryland, that I suddenly fell sick and had to call for emergency services. Help arrived in no time to everyone's surprise and relief, and everything was taken care of. I was told that this had happened due to multiple factors --- exertion, lack of proper sleep, low oxygen levels at height --- to name a few. It must have been an agonizing experience for my children, but it has established our faith in the 911- service of the US, once and for all. God bless my children --- they kept their calm and had the presence of mind to call for help. Thank you, reader, for bearing with this detour.

After medical aid and some rest, we proceeded with our journey to Washington. It was already dusk and we had to let go of a couple of sight-seeing places planned for that day. We did manage to halt at the `Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima' Memorial before retiring for the day. This memorial was built to commemorate the historical raising of the American flag on Mount Surbachi, during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Designed on the basis of a very popular photo taken at that moment, it depicts five marines and a navy corpsman raising the flag.

After much needed rest, we started our next day as early as possible but, thanks to the cab-driver (reminds me of our Indian taxiwallas) who took a long-ish route, we were at the Washington National Mall only by early afternoon. The national mall is an open-area park in downtown Washington that stretches from the Lincoln Memorial on one end to the US Capitol on the other. It encloses other structures such as the Washington memorial and the WW II memorial. It was developed to provide a monumental, architechtural and dignified arena to the national museums, gardens, buildings and monuments housed in that area.

Although, due to limited time, we could visit only a few of the many important buildings in downtown Washington, we did manage to admire, albeit briefly, many of them from the outside while walking from one monument to another. We saw the buildings of the National Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History and of American Indians, the Supreme Court and various other parks and art museums.

The Lincoln Memorial was built in honour of President Abraham Lincoln and lies on the west extreme of the National Mall. The building is designed in the Greek style and has a huge seated statue of Lincoln. It has, inscribed on its walls, two of his famous addresses --- the Gattysburg letter and his second inaugural speech. The building has since given platform to some famous speeches, Martin Luther King's `I have a dream' being one of them.

Between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument towards the east, lies a large Reflecting Pool that is flanked by trees on either sides. There was no water in the pool that day, unfortunately, but with water in it, it must reflect the two monuments on its extreme ends and the trees on its sides very beautifully, I believe.

In the Constitution Gardens, south-east of the Lincoln Memorial, is the Korean War Veterans Memorial constructed to honour the US service members who fought and served in the Korean war. It is a long triangular garden with a cluster of thick trees at the base of the triangle, and statues of soldiers coming out of the trees, walking towards an American flag, depicting the home-coming of the soldiers.

From this memorial we walked in the garden alongside the Reflecting Pool to reach the World War II Memorial which also lies in the Mall between the pool to its west and the Washington Monument to its east. It was made to honour the American Military and the civilians of the WW II period. It has a series of pillars and a couple of arches standing in a circle surrounding a huge pool with fountains. The close-to-perfect symmetry of the whole place gives it an awe-inspiring effect.

With no time to spare, we moved on to the next, very imposing monument that had not escaped our view even once during our walk in the mall --- the Washington Monument. This is one of the many monuments dedicated to President George Washington. Made of marble and granite, it is an obelisk which was founded in 1848 and could be completed only in 1884. It is the tallest stone obelisk in the world and was the tallest monument before the Eiffel tower was completed in 1889.

After a short break for lunch, we decided to visit the the National Gallery of Art. My daughter and son-in-law had already been to this place during their earlier visit to DC, but they liked the place, it's collection and display of art so much that they did not mind seeing it again. And why not? After all, who would not like to be in the august company of great works of art by stalwarts like Piccasso, Van Gogh and Tiepolo, to name a few? The gallery consists of two inter-connected blocks --- the under-ground East building with modern art and sculpture, and  the West Building housing different collections of American and European art. The collection consists of art pieces donated by various art connoisseurs, the only painting in America by Da Vinci and the world's largest mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder.

We were really tired by the time we came out of the art gallery and appropriately chose the adjacent Sculpture Garden to relax. Inside, the garden has an array of modern sculptures displayed all around among trees and flower-beds. As we returned to our hotel, we noticed beautifully painted houses with traditional facades in the city.

On the fourth day, i.e., the penultimate day of our trip, we started still earlier as we had visitors' passes to Capitol for the 12 am slot. We had more than a couple of hours at our disposal before this, which we used to see the Washington National Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The church lies in the west-north quarter of the city and to reach there we had to pass through the extremely beautiful diplomatic area that houses a number of foreign embassies and foreign diplomats' official residences. The place had a very calm and serene atmosphere with so much greenery on both sides of the avenues and the sloping front-lawns of the residences that it looked like a valley. Soon we were standing in front of the cathedral.

 The height, size and the design of the church made us stand in total awe for some time. It is the sixth tallest church in the world and the second tallest in USA. Inside, the church is equally magnificant with mixed Gothic style, pointed arches and stained window glasses one of which is a space window signifying man's landing on the moon and holds a fraction of the lunar rock at its centre ( Pls see pic). The seventh storey is room to a viewing gallery  from where you can admire a beautiful panoramic view of the entire city.


It was time to rush to the US Capitol as we did not want our alloted appointment to be cancelled. One has to report at the underground visitor center there before being allowed in for the guided tour. We were first shown a small film about the history of the building in the visitors' theater and afterwards, we were ushered in to a guided tour.

The US Capitol beautifully sits atop the Capitol Hill and lies to the east of the Washington Monument on the eastern most end of the Mall. There are many official buildings -- the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress etc., in the Capitol Hill area. Its central dome is built above a rotunda and has a statue on its top, the Statue of Freedom. Its two wings have a senate chamber and the house of representatives chamber. The rotunda is a very large circular structure under the dome and its center has the Apotheosis of Washington, the famous fresco. Just below the windows there is a band bearing 19 paintings of American history.  Below this band, are present large paintings and statues of famous people standing tall on pedestals in a circular arrangement The National Statuary Hall  houses a collection of hundred statues of famous people donated by fifty states. After exiting from the Capitol visitor center (back side of the Capitol), we took a complete round of the place, to see the facade which is very beautiful.


At the Capitol Square we saw the Peace Monument, the James S. Garfield Monument and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial and in the process we missed the opportunity to go through the service tunnel to reach the Library of Congress. We walked down to the Mall and went to the library.

 The Library of Congress is a research library and the largest library in the world in terms of book-shelf space and the number of books. It is housed in an architecturally-rich building and while going through it, I felt as if I was in an art museum. The library is spread over three bildings, all interconnected by underground passageways. The main building or the Congress of Libary bldg is the Thomas Jefferson building and has  a circular reading room which is open to members only. Visitors can have a glimpse of this hall from a small balcony above. The remaining part is open to all and is a mine of excellent sculptures and murals. All the frescos on the ceilings and passageways are, in fact, murals created with very small pieces of different colored stones. The library is also known for having a copy of the Gutenberg bible on display. (see pic album).


 It was well past noon of the last day of our tour and we had to head back to St. Louis. We took a different route to Charleston this time to avoid the roller-coaster ride that had caused my sickness earlier. Our journey back was no less adventurous as we had to drive through miles of thick mist and no visibility. We were literally passing through descending clouds on the hills that gave the place a very ghostly effect and forced us to slow down to less than 20mph. This was a different experience altogether adding to our already full-of-incidents trip.


To have a visual journey, you may view this album -

My trip to the US of A - part II

In continuation of my earlier observations, I want to share some more of my impressions of the US here-

* People here don't drink water from taps. They have devised anti-gravitational fountains to drink water from and are quite adept at it. I have so far not been able to defy gravity and whenever I tried to do so , the water landed in my eyes, nose or on my face but never in my mouth. This explains America's supremacy over the rest of the world in rocket science.

* Things are considered antique not by their antiquity but by their not being in the US. Plz see the pics here to understand what I want to say. Americans are welcome to India to see elephants and Belans!

* I found some billboards very amusing as a first-timer to the US, though people living here may find nothing unusual in them.

* Also either there is a shortage of names or so it seems to me (when it comes to naming places etc.),--->

* One fact that has left me completely impressed is the special care and respect they hold for disabled, small kids and their mothers by being very considerate to their special needs. There is provision for taking prams to almost every public place; there is always at least one big enough toilet in the rest areas for mothers to go in with the small kid/pram; there is  provision of a spread for baby-nappy changing in rest areas; for shopper mothers in the departmental stores, some trolleys are equipped with baby seats; there are reserved parking places (nearest to the entrance) for the handicaps....

* Last but not the least, I have understood the meaning of gender equality here in true sense. Hats off to the American woman! 

Missouri Botanical Garden or Mobot or MBG, St. Louis



Before I share a few more of my observations on life in the US, I'd like to talk about my visits to some places in and around St. Louis. My daughter and son-in-law have been the perfect hosts and are trying their best to make my stay as memorable as possible. Out of the places visited so far, I'd first like to write about the Missouri Botanical Garden as I am dying to share its photos that I took with my new camera ( I have bought a new camera with some upgraded  features).

The Missouri Botanical garden was founded by Henry shaw in 1859 and  has since been a public garden (never closed) and a major research centre. The garden is magnificent and has a rare collection of plants  and some architecturally beautiful buildings. It is a national historical garden and one of the world leaders in botanical research.

I am lucky to be here in St. Louis this year which has been declared the International Year of Forests by the UN. What better way to celebrate this than  visiting such a significant garden ?

The whole place is divided into many sections which have different small theme gardens depending on the collection of the flora and fauna grown there. A summarised list is-

 1. Magnolia Grove

2. Gladney Rose garden

3. Ottoman Garden ; Predominantly with water features like fountains and decorative taps etc.

4. Sensory Garden

5. Hosta Garden

6. Bulb garden

7. Iris Garden

8. Dry Streambed Garden

9. Daylily Garden

10.Victorian garden

11.Strassenfest German Garden

12. Pfautch Bavarian Garden

13. English Woodland

14. Japanese Garden or Seiwa-en: This is a wet path strolling garden with lawns and paths surrounding a lake stylled Japanese way with lots of Bonsai plantation.

15. Carver Garden

16. Boxwood Garden: The house of slow-growing evergreen shrubs and small trees.

17. Lehmann Rose Garden

18. Chinese Garden

19. Dwarf Conifer Garden

20. Rock garden

21. Azalea-Rhododendron Garden

Besides these gardens, there are other structures whch are worth seeing-

1. Linnean house: The oldest, continually operating greenhouse largely houses Camellias.

2. Spink Garden

3. Mausoleum

4. Tower Grove House: This house and the herb garden are Shaw's Victorian country house in Italian style.

5. Observatory

6. Maze

7. Koi fish Feeding

8. Center for Home Gardening

9. Children's Garden

10. Climatron and the Reflecting pools: It is the world's first geodesic greenhouse.

11. Temperate House

12. Gardenland tram

 I recommend a minimum of three hours  for a complete tour inside. Be sure to make enquiries at the office on the recommended sections as these vary from season to season. This way, one can avoid spending time in areas where the plants are not in full bloom.

Information is available at the Ridgway Visitor Center. One can collect a map here and follow it to see the garden, or, there are guided walking tours and narrated tram tours. Besides, various weekend activities and festivities are on with music, food and fun. Festivals, exhibits and presentations are included with garden admission; some programs like canopy tree-climbing , great green adventures etc. have separate fees.

Please allow me to take you on a tour to this massive garden-place through my photo album.

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My trip to the US of A - Part I

After much resistance to the invitation from my children to visit USA, I was gradually convinced to consent to the offer. My reasons for hesitation were multi-fold; the top-most being the thought of long flying hours which I feared could aggravate my back problems. Another fear was leaving home for so long; I knew that I will face a huge pile of accumulated work once I go back. Last but not the least I would miss my routine and social circle.

The fact that I would see my children and meet them and would get to spend time with them, weighed heavier against the reasons for my not coming.

Once I set off, I completed my journey comfortably as I found the hospitality level of Lufthansa airlines quite high. The staff (ground as well as on-board) was very polite, courteous and helpful. The food served was good and offered various choices. The airline though, should seriously consider updating its air-crafts - the seats were too congested, reading lights were very dim and fell somewhere else. There should be individual TV screens for the passenger’s entertainment as common screens are a thing of the past now. Moreover, their programmes lacked variety. Showing satellite pictures of the position of your plane for hours together is too much on the nerves of already tired passengers. Apart from these inconveniences, it was a hassle-free journey and I landed in one piece at St. Louis.

I was out of jet-lag soon (which I think I never really suffered from as my sleep pattern in India was quite erratic or Americanized as I am a late sleeper and late riser there). Here it has become an `early to bed and early to rise’ kind of a thing which suits me very well.

My children have already started taking me around and I am surprised to see these places which I was not expecting in and around a small town-place like St. Louis.

I want to share a few interesting observations about America compared to back home in India -

People are trustworthy here. The whole establishment runs on mutual trust and honesty. You can do shopping from choosing stuff to billing and paying yourself without any checking on you and nobody takes advantage of that.

If you have ordered something by mail and if you are not at home when the delivery arrives, the parcel will be dropped at your door-step and you will find it safely lying there when you return home. The parcel may contain an article worth 10 dollars or worth a thousand dollars!

 The staff on duty at tourist sites is very polite and most of these places may not charge you any entry fee but sometimes there is a request for a humble donation for the upkeep of the place, that too in a very dignified way.  

People wait with patience in queues and there is no elbowing and pushing to `get in/out first’. India and Indians........this happens only in amrika?

Americans, I observe, have no concept of saving, conservation and preservation of personal, public or natural resources. Everything is produced on mass scale to use and throw. I find it quite disturbing when I see there are a few electric lights in porch driveway/street etc which are switched on 24/7 and that is mandatory and residents have no control on switching on/off of these lights! Telling of global warming to the whole world?   

 Every food package comes with the accurate calorie count (speaks of a very health-conscience state); on the contrary, I feel Americans indulge too much in eating and people are mostly over-weight, plump or obese here. This means no one is bothered about what is written on the food packet. This is another case of preaching and not practicing.   


I fail to understand why the size of a dime (10c) is smaller than that of a five pence coin?...strange. Why the cost of the metal of one penny is more than one penny…..and no one is melting it unlike in India when people had started melting the 20-paise coin to sell the metal for more than 20 paise .   


Wal-Mart is India’s Big Bazaar….ditto. `Isse sasta aur achchha aur kahin nahi’.

I had heard that the weather forecast is quite correct and dependable in the US. This is right also, but….I have noticed that the forecast announced for a day in advance of 4-5 days is changed according to the changing weather before somebody can say you said so. In other words it means that you look out of the window, see some dark clouds and announce possibility of it raining. i.e., what you see, you get!

 I   I have seen a very interesting thing here. Parents tie a small, soft toy at the waist of their small kid and this toy has a long belt, like a leash, which is held by the parent when the child is walking along on the road. And I have also seen people walking their dogs in prams. This is just the opposite of what we do back home- we walk our pets tied to a leash and carry small kids in prams!

         Motorcycles are allowed to emanate any decibels of noise!

        I saw this friendly discrimination at a local store for the benefit of the Asian community living here – whole of the Indian Sub-continent clubbed together in one aisle – yes we are so alike!!