"My Stay in columbus" Top 5 Page for this destination Columbus by abi_maha

Columbus Travel Guide: 493 reviews and 821 photos

Lights, Christmas, ACTION! :) - Columbus

Festivities begin in Columbus Easton!

We have started headed out every evening now as the entire city is gearing up for thanksgiving and Christmas!! All the bare trees are lit up with lights, huge christmas trees are up in every mall and neighborhood and the chime of bells and music is everywhere! It is such a wonderful feling and I am truly loving it!
This a pic of how the Easton Town Center is all set for Xmas, the setting is complete with horse drawn carriages and almost everyone sporting a Xmas red cap! :D Oh, I wish this season would last forever!:))

Highball halloween

Highball Halloween '09!

This was our first halloween ever and it was truly an experience we will remember for a long time! What enthusiasm from the people, they had all dressed up remarkably well I must say! Men as women, women as men, some celebrity look alikes, some cartoon look alikes, my jaw dropped wen a bunch of them came dressed as Mt Rushmore!
This ball began with a kids fancy dress, then we had a wonderful 'Dogoween Party' some of the prize winners were truly awesome!! as my collage shows.. and then we had a fashion show for halloween which showcased some interesting outfits! A riot of colors and imagination let loose! Then we had a DJ party while the localites got to walk the stage after a short registration and pre-selection process!

Columbus and the community we live in

Just outside our house

For some vague reason AJ likes the BA a lot! So obviously when he books my tickets to Columbus, Ohio he books it on BA, which means I fly from Bangalore to London (thats 10.5 hours), stopover at London for 2 hours, then fly London to Chicago ( Another 9 hours), stop over here for 2 hours with a very hurried luggage transfer(!!) and then fly Chicago to Columbus for an hour by which time I really thought my legs had lost all motoring capabilities!! (Phew!) So it was no surprise that when I came out to meet AJ I was acting like a zombie!
I was busy wondering how do so many Indians commute all the way here so many times a year??! I mean truly what motivates them to sometimes even relocate so far away from home? For somebody who has spent her life settled in and around a ten kilometers radius in Bangalore, these were puzzling thoughts indeed!
This was just before I landed in Chicago...and my first experience of being in the US has also been good. people are very friendly, the service in retail outlets is fantastic, I love the way they greet every customer who enters their store and they always have something nice to say as we leave the store! Traveling is a breeze here with the nice wide roads and distances are immaterial! (I will write a page dedicated to help Indians coming here for the first time, I remember all the trepidation i had before coming here esp w.r.t driving)Contrary to my belief that all of US had only skyscrapers and congested construction Columbus is a very quaint and nice place to live in. (No wonder AJ is enjoying himself so much here!) And keeping with my perception of the US the roads are AMAZING!! What an asset to have! And so well planned! Everybody seems to own a car to commute around, so I don't see much of public transport, but then with roads like these even a dud can drive! I love the lane system and the planning for a seperate lane for people who want to digress from the given road! Now why cant the many Indians who have lived here come back to our country and help make our roads a little better I wonder...? Maybe we should send the Minister for transport/infrastructure on a study trip here.....?
Our community(Christopher Wren) is awesome, look alike buildings, mostly made of wood (which is something that we are not used to in India), spacious rooms and quaint balconies with nice views of the lawns outside which has a thriving animal life- squirrels and birds- make for a nice place to live in.
The Columbus Zoo is awesome as my tips will prove, I have detailed out our trip to the zoo so you will know what to expect when you get there! Have also just been to the German Village- a quaint lil area that has a nice book store called Loft. I will upload those pics & tips soon enough. As my holiday here is getting over I do feel I am going to miss this nice city and it's conveniences once I get back. However, getting back home is something else all together!! :D
My latest addiction are the 12 metroparks in and around Columbus. Have just created a separate tip on that! It is such a wonderful passtime, the huge parks are great bursts of fresh air to one's lungs and a fascinating home for some awesome birds and animals!

Latest Tips:
Metro Park 2: Pickerinton Ponds
Off the beaten track : Calling all canines (posted 16th Nov 09)
Off the beaten track: Hoover state preserve (posted 1st dec '09)

Pros and Cons

Pros:Quieter than expected, a nice place to live
Cons:Get a car, cant depend on the public transport!
In a nutshell:Shopping, living and driving...hmmmm....

Last visit to Columbus: Nov 2009
Intro Updated Dec 29, 2010
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Reviews (26)

Hoover state preserve Off The Beaten Path (4)

The Hoover dam reservoir is in itself a great place to spend a few hours but recently we heard of the Hoover state... more travel advice

Bird Hiking in Blendonwoods Metro Park Off The Beaten Path (4)

We headed off to join like minded folks in Blendonwood park for a bird hike one of these sunny sundays. Finally we got... more travel advice

Calling all canines! Off The Beaten Path (4)

I know I can't stop gushing about the metro park systems here and yesterday we went for another very interesting program... more travel advice

You see many grass hoppers here - Columbus

Pickerington Ponds 2 Things to Do (18)

We got some real close shots of insects while here at Pickerington so I am creating another tip to share the pics with... more travel advice

Restaurants (1)
South Indian Delicacies at it's best!

Shopping (3)
See All Spices that are familiar to an Indian!

Travelogues (1)

Written Nov 27, 2009

0 photos

First Snow of 2009 in Columbus

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Comments (5)

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balhannah Dec 7, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Am envious of you getting to see all of those Birds! Wonder what the purple one was, what colour! Once again, lovely photos and good info.
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mallyak Dec 2, 2009 at 10:46 PM

Lovely pics5/5!And woody wood pecker looks superb!
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goutammitra Dec 1, 2009 at 5:41 PM

Beautiful additions. You may visit my Digha page. I have visited Mandarmani last month. I have added only ahotel tip but shall add more soon.
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Dester Nov 17, 2009 at 5:28 PM

Wow, I never knew there was so much to do in Columbus, you were in Dayton too, that is so cool. It is a great airshow.
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Donna_in_India Jul 14, 2009 at 7:09 AM

Abi - your title is too funny! There are so many Indians here now. :-) BA is good but the trip for you is so long! We are lucky to take the non-stop from Bom to NY - about 16 hours total!