Child Friendly Restaurants in Pune

We visit 2 types of child friendly restaurants...
1. When our child is awake and active
2. When our child is asleep and we just take him along in his car seat

For the 1st category, we usually prefer a high chair (although you can always carry a folding high chair with you)
1. Mainland China - love the food, ambiance and their Fisher Price high chair :-) (do carry some wipes with you though, it can be quite grimy)
2. Malaka Spice Baner - excellent food, ambience, lots of place for kids to run around, nice open air seating if your child prefers that, and high chairs! Everyone was really sweet to our child there and we had an enjoyable meal
3. Boat Club - nice food, extremely family friendly, no high chair, small play area very close to the restaurant
4. PYC Club - nice food, very kid friendly, loads of place to run around in the outdoor restaurant, no high chair
5. Alto Vino: Our child was sleeping, but they do have high chairs. And excellent food. You need deep pockets though!
6. Bistro, Oakwood: Great pizzas, high chairs and loads of families there. So they don't mind the general kids chaos!
7. JW Marriot Coffee Shop:  Love this place. They have high chairs, outdoor seating, and ice cream & cakes. Perfect for a quick cuppa with a friend along with your little one.
9. Spice Kitchen: High chairs and decent food. Loads of families come along so your kids can just add to the chaos!

For the 2nd category
1. Dario's in KP. Nice place, not crowded, lots of white noise outside and nice and quiet inside, great food (its vegetarian though)
2. La Boheme: Bavdhan. Nice place, never crowded, pretty good food (some great items on the menu: lamb humus) and never very noisy
3. Alto Vino
4. Tien: In model colony. Decent food, no alcohol, very small place though. So can get loud if your child minds that
5. Brooklyn Shuffle: Great place. We took a sleeping baby and sat in a corner booth. He never budged!
6. Tertulias: Excellent food. Again took a sleeping baby. Outdoor seating - but people smoke a lot. Indoor seating can get really noisy

Jaipur - The Pink City with little ones

You always wonder (especially if you have lived in the west and got used to its comforts), how easy it would be to travel with toddlers/ babies in India. I can't speak for the entire country but Jaipur is a beautiful destination to visit with kids

Time of visit: January 2014
Duration: 5 days
Hotel: Megh Nivas

Jaipur is full of beautiful family run properties. The owners are very considerate and take great care of their guests. We booked a suite, so that it gave our son plenty of room to play and move around in.
The owner of our establishment was very nice. She would let us use her kitchen to prepare the kids meal, would let us cook using our own ingredients, water etc. She would also prepare off the menu items for the babies as per our request, for no additional charge.
The hotel had a nice garden where the babies could walk/ crawl. They also had a very friendly dog who our son had a blast chasing around the garden.
* They could not provide a baby bed. If you are particular about baby beds, you could go for any one of the chain hotels - Marriot, Taj etc. They would be sure to provide you with cribs.

We pre-bought tons of bottles of mineral water for the kids milk, food etc. I had carried my electric sterilizer to sterilize everything. But you could always ask the hotel to boil them for you if you don't want to lug it around.

January is a beautiful time to visit Jaipur. There was a nice nip in the air so the kids were very happy being bundled up in their strollers. Yet it was nice and sunny during the day, which made being outdoors very pleasant! Carry plenty of warm clothes (but plan in layering). Layering is always easier than that one thick jacket that makes your baby too hot!

Only drawback is the traffic is crazy no matter what time of the day! And for some reason, wherever we went -there was no way to avoid the city center. And within the gates of the old city we would always crawl - that did bother the kids at times.

Places to visit: Everyone is very child friendly and accommodating. In a sling you could take the babies everywhere, for strollers, read on

The stroller friendly places were:

1. Jantar Mantar
Very stroller and sling friendly and loads of fun. It is a real science marvel and would be even more exciting for older kids. For us, we were happy taking our son around in his stroller. We were there at his lunch time, so we sat on a nice bench under a tree and gave him a snack. Highly recommended!

2. Part of the city palace (everything on the ground floor is very stroller friendly. As long you ask someone to help you up the initial flight of stairs. There are ramps too in some places!). We left our stroller in the big palace courtyard and took our baby to the next floors in a sling.
*We might have frustrated the tour guide a bit as our son was a bit fussy and we seemed distracted. But he was pretty sweet about it. If you have more time than we did in Jaipur - then plan Jantar Mantar and City Palace as 2 separate excursions. Our son found it a bit too much of sight seeing in one go - if you know what I mean :-)

3. Amber Fort
The guards let us use the elephant path to take the kids up. Its a rough path and quite steep in places, but if you have a good sturdy stroller you will be golden. If you have an umbrella stroller - a sling is better!
I would not say it is very sling or stroller friendly. It is an u
hill climb and would be a long walk either ways. We just walked around the fortress on the top and came back down. Did not really get around to visiting the inside of the fort - kids were out of patience by then.
Also it is at least an hour's journey to get there from the city center and a lot of it is through slow moving traffic.

4. Anokhi
Anokhi is a great shop to visit. It has a nice little cafe to it where your kids can get some nice cakes and you can get a snack

5. Madras Cafe
In the heart of the old city, in an old building, this is a must visit. They have little alcoves - so we just took a table in one of them and the kids were doing there own thing there! Great food!

The rest of the time we sat back, let the babies crawl/run around, enjoyed the atmosphere, ate good food and had a great time.

You will definitely enjoy Jaipur!!!!!

With Kids in Pune - Fun stuff to do with toddlers in Pune

Ever wondered what Pune has to offer to kids? I did! When I 1st moved here with my infant about a year back from Houston! Since then I have discovered tons of stuff you can do with kids here!
As long as they love the outdoors - and I don't know a single kid who does not!

Go hiking...

Collecting stones along the trail on top

 Law College Hill (Tekdi as Puneites call it) bang in the center of the city! Accessible from law college road, Kanchan Galli (lane next to Barista), its a 10-15 minute leisurely climb to the top of the tekdi.
We put our baby in the sling and he loved it! You can always do one of the trails on top if you want a longer hike. And what a great way to lose the Mommy weight!!!!
If you are not up to climbing it yet, drive up from ARAI road. There are multiple trails you can do on top. A couple are even stroller friendly (as long as you use a slightly sturdy stroller). 
Now that our baby is a toddler, we do a few trails, let him run around on them (we have even come across peacocks from time to time) and then we find a nice empty spot and let him do his favorite thing -play in the mud and collect rocks! He absolutely loves it. It is by far his favorite place in Pune! 

Beautiful skies at law college tekdi

Have a picnic...

Want to do a picnic away from all the hustle bustle of Pune? You won't have to go too far! Just go to the zoo!

In the kiddie cave at the zoo

Its more like a safari than a zoo really. The animals are not in cages but in huge moats. Their natural habitat has been recreated for them so you don't have to stare through a grill to spot them.
Its covered in trees and has tons of places to spread your blanket and do a little picnic.
The kids will love the tigers (especially the white tiger), but there are loads of other attractions - deer, bear, porcupine, bison, alligator, turtles, snakes, leopards etc. 
Make sure you have your walking shoes on as it is a long walk inside the zoo. It is entirely stroller friendly though : -).
It opens at 9h30 AM and remains open till 7PM. It would take you at least an hour to see the main attractions! And you could easily spend half a day there. 
Although I did not have to use the restrooms, I hear they are clean (don't expect the Ritz). 
They do not sell any food or drinks inside, so please carry your own stuff. 
There is a parking lot on the main road just before the zoo! Its not stroller friendly though.So its better if you get off with the child at the entrance and let someone else worry about parking!

Have a great time!!!!

Take them to a park/play area..

Poona Club has a great play area. They have different sections per age group and all the play gyms are per age/ height etc.
For the toddler section, they have a soft tarp on the ground making it very safe if your child slips or has a tumble!
They have the nice swings in which you can strap your child in, a little slide and a small rocking horse. Our kid loved it!
Very Stroller friendly!
Tip: Do carry bug repellent/ mosquito patches with you

Sambhaji Park has a nice play area, lot of gardens to run around in and a small puny aquarium. 
If your child is 2, the aquarium is not a bad place to take him. It takes under 5 minutes to show him the fish and then he can run around in the park. Entry is free for kids and 2 Rs/- for adults! 
The park is stroller friendly. Aquarium does not allow you to take your stroller inside, but its small enough to carry your child. They let you keep your stroller by the door and keep an eye on it for you!

Chittaranjan Vatika
Full of trees, covered in shade (great park to take your kids to even in the midst of summer). 
It has something for all ages, that's why we love this place. Our kid loves to play on the merry-go-round and in the sand pit. I love the fact that there are no hawkers here - so no one dirtying the place with bhel etc. It is really a park just for kids to play in!

The park has a nice path that you can take the stroller on too!

Tip: Parking is very difficult to find. Find a friend to go with :-)

If its raining.. 

take them to Kids Ahoy in E-Square

They have a more complicated play area, but your kid will love it! Ladders, slides that land in a pool of bright colored balls, trampoline et all. They have helpers to bring your kid down slides if he can't make it down on his own.
They also have a separate section for even younger kids (blocks, toys, for crawlers etc.)
You have to carry a pair of socks for yourself and kids. No bare feet allowed.
Tip: Supervision required for kids under the age of 3 in some sections. You have to climb down by the stairs, the elevator only takes you up (so best to leave your strollers/ car seats in the car). 

Phoenix market city mall..
Extremely stroller friendly (they have elevators and travelators everywhere). 
They have a food court, with a play area, and nice shops! 
On weekends, they have special activities going on for kids! You could easily spend a day here!!

Initiation to history.. Pataleshwar Caves

*not stroller friendly. We took our baby in a sling.
Its very peaceful though and never crowded. Making it a great initiation to history! Bang in the center of the city, parking can be a problem. Do take a friend with you, so he can let you off by the entrance.





More stuff to do coming up....

Voyages with babies

I am back. This time with a different approach to Mes Voyages - Voyages with babies! Yes a whole new adventure! And I promise its just as enjoyable! Our child is currently 16 months old and we have traveled with him since he was 3.5 months old. 

Places visited so far: Houston, Goa & Jaipur. (Soon to come Europe - I know!!! Am just as curious about this destination).

Hold on though, let's first tackle the biggest anxiety of vacationing with babies, the very dreaded plane travel!

Plane travel: 

Pick plane times that come closest to your baby's sleep routine (especially on long haul flights! The best piece of travel advice my MIL gave me). Don't worry if this increases your travel time by a couple of hours. A couple of additional hours of a sleeping baby in the plane is any day better than a few less hours but an awake cranky baby

Lap child? If your child can crawl then negative. It is absolutely worth getting a paid seat for your child. An unhappy child, fed up, frustrated, cranky and on your LAP! No thanks! Our baby did great. He slept for 11 out of 16. Ate, pooped and took another nap. All this he did on his seat (keeping us free to watch movies ;))

I also carried his car seat with me into the plane on 1 of the segments. At this point, its all about comfort. If your child is used to spending a long time in his/her car seat and taking naps in it then take it along. Otherwise, just spread a blanket on the seat, put his seat belt on and let him nap. 

If you are going to use a bassinet, Lufthansa has the widest and most comfortable bassinets. Could easily accommodate a 8 month old baby.

Plane restrooms - Not the most child friendly place. However, there is always at least 1 restroom in the plane with a changing station. I changed pee pee diapers in his seat and poo poo in the restroom. You can make a little diaper changing kit so you don't have to lug your entire diaper bag into the tiny restroom. If your child goes through 6 diapers a day, carry 12 for your flight. If he goes through 2 change of clothes in a day carry 4. Which brings us to the next question -- what and how much should I carry with me?

Carry on bag - Keep 1 set of everything you need in your diaper bag and the spares in your cabin bag. I kept 4 diapers, a change of clothes(all sleep suits - easiest to travel in), 2 meals, 3 formula servings, 3 teets and 3 disposable water refills for the bottle, pacifier, sterilizing wipes, 1 blanket, 2 favorite toys, 2 important medicines in the diaper bag. 

In the carry on bag, keep little pouches/packets of food, clothes, diaper stuff, toys, medicine. So you don't have to drag the entire bag down and hunt through everything but can just grab what you need.

We traveled  with our travel system and checked in our sling!

Tip - Ear numbing drops! Just put a few drops 10 minutes before take off and landing. They numb the ears for about 30 minutes. Work like a charm. They are prescription medicine. 

Happy flying with les enfants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!