You have to leave room in life to Dream.
~Buffy Sainte-Marie

Sunday, November 16, 2008

That's a New One

This morning I decided to roll myself out of bed around 10. I didn't want to sleep away too much of my one of two days to travel. I showered and got ready. Neetha came to the hotel at noon. She was so sweet - she was a few minutes late because she was trying to find a flower shop to buy some flowers to welcome me to India!



We rode in an interesting type of taxi... it didn't have doors and it was kind of a cross between a motorcycle and a golf cart. I didn't get a picture, but I will before we leave. We took this to a shopping area that was just done the street from where the General Mills offices are. We ate lunch at Noko, which is known for their sizzlers. I had a fish satellite. It was very tasty! It had a bunch of veggies and some fish smothered in a tasty sauce. I also had a lime soda. I was so stuffed! Then we walked around while we waited for Vaishali to join us (she was running late). We ended up at a store that sells milk candy... It was interesting. When Vaishali found us, Neetha left to go help a friend find a sari for her wedding. Vaishali's roommate was with so the three of us headed out.



First thing to do was negotiate with a taxi driver to be our driver for the day. That took a lot of Hindi words. :) Then we were off to the British part of town. We started off at the markets where Vaishali helped barter for some stuff. I got some bracelets, some shawls and a shirt. I also got some stuff painted on my hands. After that we went to the Gateway of India. It was pretty cool. It would have been cooler if it had been less crowded and not under construction. Then we went to the Queen's Necklace. It felt wonderful to have a breeze! We sat there for some time enjoying it. Then we went to a restaurant for dinner. It was a veg place. We split two dishes. I have already forgotten what they were, but I liked them both. It amazed me how little of the food it took to fill me up. Although, I suppose I may have been still full from lunch. From there we were going to go to a church, but it closed at 7 and it was nearing that time. Instead we went to a bay of some sort where people just hang out in the evening. We sat there for a while then decided to head back to my hotel. So here I am. I'm about ready to hop in the shower then snuggle into bed. Oh, on one of the times walking back to our car, we a barber shop that was set up like a street vendor. There was a guy getting a shave (with a razor like you see in old time movies) and another guy was just getting ready to have his beard trimmed. Interesting.