1 April - New Delhi

This morning we had a nice sleep-in and enjoyed breakfast via room service! It was nice to take it easy, watch the news, have tea and read about the sites we were visiting that day. Here are the places we visited on April Fools Day:

* The parliament grounds and President's house. Only from the outside, but still - very beautiful! My favourite feature was the elephant shaped shrubs decorating the lawn!



* India Gate - a tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in WWI. This place was a funny introduction to India. The spinning, bouncing, useless toys you could buy here were endless! As were the grabs by local woman. OUCH! Hands-off, please!



* Humayun's Tomb. Wow! Who knew this beauty existed in Delhi!



* Lotus Temple - A Bahai House of Worship. It wasn't until this year that we even heard of the Bahai faith (from new friends in Kuwait!), and now we can't wait to learn more about it. Besides the stunning design, the temple stole our hearts by welcoming followers of all faiths and we enjoyed learning about other religions in the visitor's center. We admire the aspect of "universal peace" and "elimination of prejudice" that are central to the Bahai philosophy. Trip highlight, INDEED!



* The Carpet/Everything Store. Nice to see - but you know how these places are, especially if you visited us in Egypt! They lure you in, serve you tea and juice, teach you how the various items are made, and then rip you off. Yep - here is where I saw the most expensive pashmina of all time - $425!!! SERIOUSLY?! Thanks for the tea and SEE YA LATER!



* Qutb Minar. A.K.A. Say CHEESE! Here we were invited into the photo albums of many Indian families. (Insert babies and small children being thrown at me HERE). I couldn't just drop the poor things.....YEESH!



We saw quite a few things, didn't we?! Ah - the activities you are capable of when you're feeling healthy! After touring the city, we went for drinks and appetizers at the hotel restaurant and then headed out to "Pindi" for dinner (<-----AMAZING!!!!). At dinner, we engaged in conversation with other travelers from the West and enjoyed sharing travel adventures with each other. Following dinner, we returned to the hotel to REST UP for another great day in India!

April Fool's Day!

Lindsay: (after realizing that the date was April 1st) Hunnie....let's make a "no jokes" pact. I don't want to be joked with today.

Phil: NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lindsay: HUN!!!!!! I'm tired!!! PLEASE!!!!!

He wasn't buying it. But luckily, he forgot to pull a prank :)

31 March - Getting There!

Yahoo! This was an exciting day for us - all we had to do was survive ONE FINAL DAY with students and it was off to the airport to begin our Spring Break!

We flew Emirates Air to Dubai and then continued our journey onto Delhi. It was our first time flying with this airline and we were really impressed with the amenities on board! There were so many entertainment options and we had a great time watching "Little Fockers" and episodes of "Friends" together. Pressing "play" and "pause" at the same time gave us a good laugh, too :)

In addition to superb t.v., Phil enjoyed his first beer in FOREVER aboard the flight and I splurged with a glass of red! The perks made the ride go by fast and we were in India before we knew it!

When we got to Delhi, the luggage was quickly found and we were picked up by the head of our tour company, Saad. Saad reviewed our trip details back at the hotel and at 5 a.m. we fell right to sleep, excited for the first day of REAL SIGHTSEEING!

Loss of Evidence for Conviction.

While unpacking from our trip.....

Lindsay: No!!!!! Did you throw out my half-filled water bottle from India?

Phil: Yes.....

Lindsay: (annoyed) Ugh!!! Phil!!!

Phil: What did I do?!!

Lindsay: I was going to look at a sample of it at school to see what critter almost killed me! Now, we'll never know. The whole bacteria kingdom gets a bad rep.

Thank you to VICKI BOWMAN for your generous donation to Team Diabetes!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmm......

Phil drinking street tea in Varanasi.


Old Delhi. Where's Bell when you need them?



Bottle opener on the back of the bathroom door. We called the front desk after 15 minutes of searching.


The shopping cow. Ahem - a store not frequented by us.


Despite the warning, we used it anyways.

Thank you to KATHY WHATLEY for your generous donation to Team Diabetes!

CONGRATULATIONS, MEGAN!

Here's why:

1) YOU ARE THE TOUGHEST PERSON I KNOW! (Sorry Phil)

2) For being featured in "The Londoner" and being a source of inspiration and knowledge for so many. Read Megan's blog HERE!

3) For completing (and applying!) your Stott Pilates training! WOWEE! We can't wait to take lessons with you this summer. (Do I need to apologize to Phil for this one too? BAHA.)

CONGRATULATIONS, EM!

For two reasons:

1) For becoming the adoptive parent of sweet little "Cow" (featured above).

2) For your ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY! Keep writing. I will always read.

HUNNIES, WE'RE HOME!

Well, we're back. ALIVE. Tired. But good!

Our trip to India was quite the adventure and we can't wait to share it with you! Just give me a few days to make some posts :)

Yesterday we spent the afternoon catching up with Pat and Kelly, who had a fabulous time in Sri Lanka with Lal! It was fun to hear about eachother's tales and show off the souvenirs we brought back. I also spent some time loading photos onto my computer (this could have taken a record amount of time...) and managed to put up two albums on facebook so far. Phil was eager to catch up on Survivor and we watched in awe last night, as (SPOILER ALERT) Matt returned AGAIN to redemption island! Poor guy. Oh - and about Idol.....I didn't watch, but Good Morning America told me about it. ARE YOU KIDDING?!!!

Bed time was early and this morning's alarm was even earlier! YIKES! First day back is always a tough one, but we're plugging away here at school with HIGH HOPES of a "fast" 2:30 p.m. arrival! Tonight we will unpack, tidy the apartment, do some laundry, pick up some groceries, and try to get in bed early again :)

India posts will come SOON! I promise.