Udaipur

We finally arrived in Udaipur around 5:30. We missed the boat ride by a long shot, but we'll do if before we leave in 2 days. Our ride to the hotel was supposed to be about 45 min, but due to a Muslim processional for a holiday, we were rerouted and it took a much longer time to get here. While I'm totally exhausted, the beauty if the hotel is not lost on me. We are in top of a mountain overlooking the town and lakes.  Even in the dark of night our view is spectacular.

We had dinner outside on the patio, overlooking the mountains and lake. After dinner, I took some time to get some great night photos of the infinity pool and the beautiful Hindu statues  around it. Unfortunately, the night pictures from my phone don't do the hotel justice. I'll post day pictures tomorrow. The really good night pictures were taken on my good camera and you'll have to wait to see them after I get home.

Delhi - Day 3

Today we are scheduled to fly to udaipur, but we aren't quite sure when we are actually flying out. The airline, kingfisher, keeps changing the flight times on us. So odd. Still, we are going with the flow and continuing our tour of Delhi until we know when we can leave.

We started the morning out with a reading of the "matrimonial" section in the Sunday paper. This section is an ISO section for families looking to make a match for heir son or daughter. It is quite detailed and was pretty comical to our western ears. However, most of us would not have put it past our Jewish mothers to try and do something similar to find us a match! LOL!  I don't have a copy of the paper right now, but I hope to get a picture later thus trip to give you an idea of the typed if ads listed.

What's interesting is the matrimonial section is set up by caste system.  95% of marriages in India are arranged. Our guide's marriage was arranged. He first met his wife when ur was younger and tjw 2nd time he met his wife was when he married her. Things have since changed and while he never spoke baffle to his parents his kids do. He's not sure ifbhis kids would be open to an arranged marriage.  Arranged marriages aren't about individuals, but about families. The parents think in terms of whether the match would be good for *our* family.  Also, the horoscope is important in determining whether it would be a good marriage or not.

Our first stop today was Qtab Minar. It's a tower built by one if the earlier Muslim dynasties in the 12th century. I must admit i really didn't pay much attention to what Piyush was saying about the site, do there's not much I can share.  The architecture and ruins were really neat so I just wandered around, taking lots of pictures. At one point there were a bunch of families taking family pictures and a friend offered to take a picture for one of them. The family then asked us to all join in as well, so I now have a great picture with my new Indian family. ;-)  Others then asked me to take pictures with them as well. It was as if I was back at the Great Wall when all the Chinese and Japanese men wanted pictures with me!  Blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin is a novelty here. We got lots of stares yesterday and I expect to get many more throughout the trip.

After Qtab Minar, we headed to the airport to fly to Udaipur. Our flight was originally scheduled for 12:15, but kept getting changed on us, as I mentioned above.  At this point we are supposedly leaving at 3:30. We were supposed to go on a boat ride tonight, but now of looks like we are going to miss it. Hopefully we can reschedule it for tomorrow night.

Delhi - Old and New - Day 2

This afternoon we had a tour of old and new Delhi.  We drove around a lot, but then went to Chandni Chowk which is old Delhi at its craziest.  Before I came to India, Anj had told me not to go there by myself bc I could get mugged or hurt. O didn't think it was bad at all. It was chaos, but not bad like Anj made it out to be.

We took a rickshaw ride throughout the narrow streets of Chandni Chowk, riding thru shoe stalls, Saree stalls, etc. It was total chaos with people, rickshaws, motor bikes, mini trucks, bikes, and more all trying to get to one place. We sat in an an insane traffic jam for a long time bc no one would give way to someone else. It was insane. I wish I had my point and shoot on me to take a video of the chaos. Our guide, Puyash, said he's never seen anything like it before. Of course, bc we were tied up for so long we didn't get to go see the Red Fort. I'll have to go back to see it on the back end other trip.

We did a lot of driving today to and from our different stops. This afternoon, we went to see Humayun's Tomb, which was built in the 16th century and is seen as a precursor to the Taj Mahal. It is made of red sandstone and white marble and is really very beautiful, especially when the late day sun hits it.

Afterwards, we drove to India Gate, which is a war memorial to the 90,000 soldiers of the British Indian army in WWI, but also reminiscent of the famous arch in Paris.

Tonight there was a Hindu wedding celebration outside if out hotel. Several of us stopped to look and someone (family member or mother of the bride, maybe?) asked UA if we wanted to get closer and see the bride. She even offered to let us get a picture with the bride and groom, but we declined. Felt it was too intrusive. We gave her a congratulatory salutation and moved on. She was a beautiful bride.

Our first day was a very long day. Tomorrow starts even earlier as we continue to tour Delhi and then fly to Udaipur.

Chadni chowk
Rickshaw ride
nk it was that bad.
Guide says he never saw a traffic jam like it.

Indian army environmental and oxygen park

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4GLTE smartphone

Delhi Sunrise

That's right. Not only was I up early enough to see it, but I was even at the gym watching it come up. The beauty of jet lag and time changes. Here's your night owl who will sleep until the last possible moment up before the sunrise and doing a hill workout on the treadmill as the sun comes up. It was a nice way to start the day.

Getting ready to go down and meet the group for breakfast in a about a half hour.  So excited to really go explore Delhi today!


Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4GLTE smartphone

Delhi day 1

Today is a mellow day. I didn't go to sleep until 2am and b/c of that I slept until 12:30!  Kind of messed up the day a bit. Went to the lobby and ran into Norma from my Costa Rica trip and a friend of hers. Will probably meet up with them for some dinner.  For now, I think I'll just relax and find a throw away phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finding a phone was quite an experience. The concierge at the hotel sent me to a place nearby. It was smaller than my bathroom. While everyone speaks English here it is still hard to understand what folks are saying due to their accent. I was a bit confused for a while, but eventually figured it out.  They wanted to take my passport and photocopy it, but I refused unless I went with them. They said I should *trust* him, but there was no way I was letting it out of my sight!  So, I had another interesting experience going to the copy closet/hole in the wall. Eventually it all worked out , I got my phone and got in touch with Nidhi, Anj's cousin. I will meet up with her at the end of the trip when I return to Delhi.

One place Nidhi suggested I go today was to Dilli Haat, a shopping bazaar/market. I took a cab, during rush hour, so it took a good 45 min just to get there. The market was overwhelming. Not overwhelming with people so much as overwhelming with stalls selling so many pashminas. You should be so proud of me, I didn't buy a thing! Figured I have 2 weeks to buy stuff and if it is something I really want I can go back at the end of the trip when I am back in Delhi.

I'm beat. It's now 12:30 and I need to get some sleep.  My roommate just arrived and we've been yapping away.  Tomorrow I meet up with the rest of the group for our tour of new and old Delhi.

Namaste!

I'm here!  After a 14 hour flight I am all checked into my hotel in Delhi. The flight wasn't bad at all. I felt like I had tons of room in my seat which I didn't have for my other trips and the food wasn't bad either.  I lucked out b/c the woman sitting next to me in the middle seat didnt have a tray table and they moved her to another middle seat leaving me with even more space to spread out and sleep. Managed to sleep for 8-9 hours, even w/ a kid behind me whose parents would not control him (screeching, kicking my seat constantly, etc.). I could hear him *talking* loud and clear with my earplugs in. Sigh. I'm so used to my nieces who are such good girls and understand restaurant voices and are wonderful to fly with (so I hear).  I think I never heard the mom tell him to shush or tell him to stop kicking my seat, even when I asked her nicely.

It wasn't until later in the flight that o remembered my friend Das from law school explaining family dynamics in India. I had commented about being at an Indian restaurant and how the boy was all over the place and in the waiters' way, playing with cars on the floor, etc., while his sister sat there quiet and was reprimanded when she did something minuscule at the table. Das told me that boys are not disciplined b/c they are boys and more important in the family dynamic, while girls are kept on a tight leash and disciplined.  Recalling that conversation with Das, I believe that is probably why the parents sat there and did nothing.

Ok, so first impressions of India?

Well, I arrived at night so there's not too much I could see.  I will say that as soon as I stepped off the plane, even on the jetway, it smelled like there was a fire near by. Kind of reminded me of Beijing when we left the airport. There, it wad b/c of the coal the Chinese burned for heat. However, this was much more pronounced.  Here there was a smoky haze throughout the main arrivals area at the airport. Stepping outside was like stepping into a layer of smoke that just hovered there. Even walking into the hotel there was a haze in the main lobby.  I'm definitely nervous about how my lungs will hold up here.  The guy who picked us up at the airport said this was typical of Delhi in winter and didn't really notice it b/c that's how it always is.

Everyone seems very nice and I did not notice anyone who was clamoring to get me in their taxi or other stories I've been told. Everything was very easy. That impression will probably change tomorrow. ;-)

I'm staying tonite at the Janakapur Hilton. Beautiful hotel and very security conscious. Not only was the undercarriage of our van checked for bombs at the gate into the hotel, but we also had to go thru security before entering the lobby.  Crazy!

I haven't thought much yet about what I'm doing tomorrow. Apparently 15 or so folks have already arrived, but I don't know who. All I know is I need to make myself go to sleep soon so I can acclimate to the time zone and be ready to go the next day.

Testing

I got a new phone a few months ago and now that I'm headed to India in a few days, I need to refresh my memory on sending posts and pictures to the blog while I'm gone.

Let's try this picture from the plane home from Florida last month.

Home Improvements - Front "Yard" Edition

Ok, so "yard" is a bit of a stretch, more like front SIDEWALK, but that's what you get when you live in a city. As I walk through my neighborhood, I am constantly looking at all of the plants and window boxes folks have out on the sidewalk and the front of the house. I have had window box envy ever since I moved into my house.

I finally called this guy in Jenkintown, Ed Wreen, who makes a lot of the window boxes you see in Fairmount. He came over and we discussed what would work best, and 2 weeks later I had these 2 beautiful wrought iron, made to order, window boxes.

Ed had a lot of designs on his webpage, but really, the ones that I liked the most were these simple ones in the neighborhood with "collars" on the posts. Ed had no problem making the boxes with these collars and I really like them. Unfortunately, Ed does not also provide the inserts for the boxes. I looked at some online and at the big box stores and decided I eventually want to build my own inserts later this summer. For now, I bought 6 already potted flower pots at Home Depot and placed them in the boxes. I think they look great!

What do you think?



Here's the whole look of my front "yard" from the street.

Home Improvements - backyard edition

Now that it is springtime, I have been (ok, my handyman has been) very busy making a few additions to my house. One of the first things on the list was to level out my backyard space. When the sellers replaced the water/sewer line to the street, they did not extend the pipe (and, the drain) to its original location in the center of the patio. Instead, they placed the drain in the corner where the walkway meets the large part of the patio. By doing this, the sellers sloped the patio so that the water would run down into the drain. That's fine, but the slope was such that I could only put my table and chairs in a certain location and the grill, which was placed at the most level part, was not level either. Hot dogs had to be placed a certain way so they didn't roll off the grill.

I spoke with my handyman about leveling and putting in pavers. He thought that would be more hassle than it was worth and suggested leveling the patio by adding a wooden platform/floor. This would allow any water to continue to flow toward the drain w/o all the hassles of digging up the back and messing w/ my a/c unit. The idea was to have the wooden planks flush against the highest part of the patio and then on pillars, or whatever they are, where it is above the current grade.

Below are 2 progress pictures where you can see how the 2x4s were placed and how high the platform is at the deepest part of the patio by the drain. Sorry for the poor picture quality. The camera on my blackberry is shot from being tossed around in my purse.



In the picture above, you can see how the beams are flush against the far side of the patio. However, in the picture below, you can see just how sloped the patio was.



The platform/deck was finished a couple weeks ago and I am sooooooo happy! How great it is to sit at my table in the middle of the patio! I could not do that before w/o wobbling. My plants are also no longer sloped. It is so nice!





The next step will be to add some planters and/or a bench w/ storage. We'll talk more about this in the next couple weeks. Once those are added, we plan to stain the whole thing to match the wood coloring on the fence. I was also thinking it would be cool to add a partial percola, but I'm not sure if that would work. It might block some of the sun coming in my windows, and I don't want that.

It is so nice to site out there now. My neighbor, who actually grew up in my house, has already told me that she is jealous and wants one for herself.

For now, I'll stick w/ the little bistro table and chair set I found on craigslist last year. Next year, I'll buy something different, maybe a little table w/ an umbrella? I was eyeing a cute little set at Target, but not sure if it's in the cards to purchase this year.

Updates

Mmmm, seems I've been neglecting things again. Before I left for Costa Rica, I finished the Dipped Infinity Scarf, which seems to be all the rage lately. I bought my yarn from Black Bunny Fibers, which Carol dyed in a beautiful Oceana colorway.



As much as I loved it, I thought it would make a great birthday present for my sister. As I expected, she LOVED it and wouldn't take it off all weekend, even though it was pushing 90 degrees outside. Here I am modeling it just after I finished it:



Just before I left for Costa Rica, I started my first ever Pi Shawl, by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I decided to be very basic (since it was my traveling project) and do the concentric circles version of the pattern. I had a bitch of a time getting it started b/c I don't crochet and the cast on required the use of my left hand, which is basically useless. Here's a picture of it as I was just getting started.





I am making it out of Madeline Tosh Prairie, in this gorgeous Moss colorway.

I know I owe some pictures from Costa Rica. I ran out space on the account and have figured out how to add pictures (from flikr) w/o exceeding my space limit. I'll add pics to the original posts soon.