Eden Prairie, Minnesota

23 - 28, November 2010

We had been to Eden Prairie for Phani's nephew's birthday on the Thanks giving weekend! The time from Thanks Giving till End of the Year is Holiday season in USA.

Eden Prairie is a city in Minnesota which is in the Mid-western United states. And like all the other states, Minneapolis is the biggest city of this state but Saint Paul is the capital city ;-) which is also the Twin city of Minneapolis! If you have read my first post you will know why I made a wink for the capital. This is one city which Phani loved after his first visit and would talk about very often!

Eden Prairie is on the Bank of Minnesota river which is a tributary of the Mississippi River. Eden Prairie has been tagged in the "Best places to live" in the USA. The winters are supposed to be very cold. It was winter when we visited this place and the whole city and the surroundings was already covered with snow like a white blanket.  It was my first snow experience too!!! Loved the place!!! Phani's first visit was in summer and it makes me feel this place is worth a visit in the summers too...may be I can feel for myself why the city is so popular. Hoping to see our cousins next time in the summer ;-O I have read that Eden Prairie is known for having the least unemployment rate of 5% and is supposedly family-friendly which means lot of safety to the people living here and better schools, it has nature's beauty embedded with 17 lakes around for swimming in the summer to skating in the winters. Also it is supposed that the residents are some of the healthiest in the nation. Probably that justifies why it's in the "The Best Places to Live"!

We had been to Minneapolis downtown and it lies on the bank of the second largest river in the USA, Mississippi! Minneapolis is called the City of lakes. Our cousin who we came to visit works in Minneapolis downtown for Oracle.

I wish I was a better photographer! Couldn't capture the buildings more clearly :(

Another place of interest is Mall of America. Its the second largest mall in the USA but has the highest number of stores with place for dining and theaters as well. Celebration was in the air with Christmas round the corner.

The holiday season showed itself in the decorations of the mall. The Christmas trees look less green and more white?!!! Yes, that's how a natural Christmas tree would look like here because the snow settles all over the tree wherever possible! This Mall is very happening with lots of rides for kids of all ages and adults too. Me and Phani got into Orange streak coaster and Ferris Wheel. We are not so "rides crazy" so kept ourselves just to these and accompanied our nephew for the little rides which he enjoyed thoroughly. And how can I forget mentioning the caricature me and phani got done ;-) Honestly, din't look like our faces but it was fun and something different from the usual!

Looking back I see Minneapolis as a best of a lot of things. Although seen very few places feels like we have covered the best of kinds like for the place of stay, the shopping mall and of course the rivers! The color white is what comes into my mind for this city as the time that we have been there, it was really really white...wish to call it a "Fairy land".