MandiCrocker: Delhi Day Two

It is definitely Spring in the Methow Valley. The snow is melting fast around these parts although Lost River is still too covered to start thinking about gardening. They have begun working on the pass and are planning to have it open by May if everything goes accordingly. When the pass opens, so do the Seattle tourist floodgates. It gets busier at the store and last minute wedding details (or very big ones!) become more difficult. We're trying to enjoy the quiet and the snow capped mountains for as long as we can...

I'm still relishing India... and gluttonously craving more adventure. Instead, I blog. :)

On our second day of adventure, we went to The Lotus Temple in Delhi. It is beautiful! Not to my surprise, the temple has won numerous architectural awards. It is surrounded by lovely gardens and nine ponds.

According to Wikipedia, "Like all other Bahai Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion, or any distinction, as emphasized in Bahai texts." You can basically pray, chant, read, etc. in any religion, regardless of the language, as an act of worship without any denominational restrictions.

Photography and shoes are not allowed inside. Religious pictures, statues and images are also not allowed and altars can only be included as an architectural feature. Inside it is very beautiful, quiet and peaceful. With the lack of spiritual decor, it actually reminded me of a more contemporary evangelical church with marble floors and wooden pews.

After praying and mediating for a bit, we came back out and enjoyed the view.

It was a great collection of individiuals... tourists, worshippers, locals, etc.

The grounds were lovely as well. This place has attracted over 70 million people and since it's inauguration as a house of worship in 1986, there are years it has surpassed The Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal in tourism. Who knew?!

Anyone know what kind of flower this is? :)

Such vibrant colors!

Stace really enjoyed it here...

She was a bit verklempt. ;)

Selfies, selfies, selfies. No one was taking any in this picture... But I know they were planning them!! ;)

There were also orange trees!!!

We were still a bit jet lagged and it was fairly hot out. We hopped back into a tuk tuk-- which, by the way, is like riding in the crazy bus from Harry Potter. The chaos of the traffic, weaving in and out, the continuous honking... It was exhilirating! I loved it!! We finally made our way back to our part of town. I like this picture... all the reflections of people's faces.

We at lunch at a place that felt very LA- ha!

Contemporary, sleek... We were definitely in a bigger city. :)

It was delicious!!

These are our 'after dinner mints.' They're silver painted cardamom balls. I ate one. They are super intense. And interesting. And now that I know that, I never need to eat one again. Yay!!!

This was our hotel the first couple of nights. It took great convincing to get our driver to believe this is where we were staying. But finally, very late at night, the man inside sleeping on the cot on the floor, got up and turned the light on when we called, and let us in. They opened this great big archaic looking book and we had to 'sign in' and write where we were from, the length of our stay, our address, etc. This happened everywhere we went. They took photocopies of our passports. In our technological age, even when everyone has a smartphone, this kind of 'paperwork' is astonishing.

Before catching the train to Agra, we strolled around our neighborhood.

It is just thrilling to be able to take pictures some place I've never been! Always looking for a new way of seeing something, or looking for the thing or the moment that is special...

You never know when magic is going to happen!

Like a chance at winning the lottery everywhere you look!

And I miss it!

These two wing nuts are almost on their way home!

Random thought: I can't wait to revamp this blog! When the wedding is over, I'm probably going to go over to Wordpress and start a different blog. This one has served me for many years and holds many memories but I've changed. It started off as a 'cooking what scares me' blog and that was 12,000 years ago. It is something else. I am something else. We'll see!