We stayed at the Country Inn Suites, a 2 1/2 star - the room was clean and well furnished and the staff courteous ( will recommend ? yes.).On Sat morn we set out to State Street in the heart of Madison but got diverted by the farmer's market that was on. Much like the Indian "santhe" or "bazaar", farmer's markets are huge draw with the local folk. The mood is really festive and the compulsive shoppers are happy ! We succumbed into buying cheese, fresh basil, giant aubergines (that Y loves to hate) and some freshly made salsa.
Next stop was the Museum of history, Wisconsin. One section of the exhibits trace the migration of the Native Indians and their history. It was interesting to note that the front desk was manned by a potential student of archaeology and she was earning her way into college. It is commendable that the University system in the USA emphasises original work and contribution along with financial sufficiency. Both of these are super catalysts to academic progress.
Madison is proud to be the pioneer of Dairy farming in the country and the University has its own dairy and outlet as continuing research. They take their cows quite seriously and the whole city has plasticine models of cows decorated by local artists. This one, dressed as Uncle Sam, caught my eye.State street offers a variety of cuisines and we lunched at a Greek restaurant. Post the meal, we walked around the University campus a bit before we headed out to Mount Horeb, 14 miles from downtown Madison.
The singular attraction in that city of 5000 people is a Mustard Museum that has over 20,000 different types of mustard ( a sauce made primarily of mustard and flavoured differently acc. to taste).
It was interesting to see how important mustard was to the British - endorsed by no less than W.C.Grace.
But wait, I must not forget to mention the Trolls that dot the main street in Mt. Horeb. Those are definite tourist attractions too. See this picture of the troll trio :).A few miles further is the Cave of the Mounds. We took a tour and were led through over a mile of stalactites and stalacmites. Here is one way to remember which one grows in which direction ( courtesy the tour guide). A stalactite stays tight on the ceiling and stalac"mite" get there one day ! Ha ha.. Interestingly, the caves are a constant 50F ( around 10C) round the year.
After an excellent meal of tofu kababs at a Nepali place downtown and a short walk downtown, we called it a day.
Sunday dawned bright and very pleasant. We walked along the Lake Monona and had a good look at the University campus spread along its shores. UofM has a pride of place being ranked 13th in the country. Har Gobind Khurana, our desi Nobel laureate, was an alumni of this institution.
We left Madison at 11:30 AM and headed towards Baraboo, WI where the International Crane Foundation allows visitors to get familiar with these large, loud, ungainly but extremely lovable birds. It was the most rewarding stop for me. The ICF continues to be a breeding and rehabilitation site for many endangered cranes including the Whooping Cranes. I was surprised to learn that cranes are closer to coots than to egrets. Looks can be deceptive indeed !
The tall single bird is the Indian Sarus crane, the largest of the species. This one, Majnu, is 44 years old and continues to helps its communal cause by breeding ! Its latest mate is called Chandini. Laila is a "used to be"..We had an uneventful journey back. But as a friend said, driving into the garage from a vacation always rudely shocks one into reality !
