New Delhi - Feb 16th

Our first day in Delhi we had a nice car tour of the city. It is sprawling and feels very planned. The British planned New Delhi with lots of roundabouts, wide boulevards and buildings that are kind of Neoclassical meets Moghul. It reminded us a lot of Washington DC which makes sense because it is the capital city of India. We stopped at a Hindu temple - Birla Temple - to give our "puja" to Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and prosperity. It was a much more modern temple and because there was a big Shiva festival going on there were many Hindus out and about. One interesting architectural element is the Swastika - an ancient symbol for good fortune that was reversed, usurped and misused by Hitler and his cohorts.

After giving thanks to the goddess of prosperity we went to Kahn Market to scout out the shopping scene. Everything is hidden away up a dark set of stairs in alleyways that are filled with merchants. Once you ascend the stairways there are amazing boutiques with vibrant fabrics that are used to create more modern cut skirts, shirts and pants. We knew we were meeting up with Susie the next day so we kept our rupees in our pocket and headed back to the hotel. Then off to dinner at a nice Thai restaurant - The Spice Route - in the Imperial Hotel - as our nephew Will likes to say about his chocolate ice cream...yummmmyyy.