Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Ahhhhh, AM yoga in India -- what can I say?
(Except for "I TOTALLY LOVE IT!")
We met up with our tour guide, Sonny, who gave
us some facts and figures about Udaipur.
(Dang, I knew I should have taken notes!)
Our first stop of the day was City Palace, the former
home of the Maharanas of Udaipur.
"A majestic architectural marvel, within the four walls are mosaics of peacocks, exquisite mirror work
and exotic paintings.
It is a conglomeration of courtyards, pavilions, terraces,
corridors, rooms and hanging gardens."
The view from the City Palace was spectacular,
which we enjoyed immensely while sipping a
Diet Coke (trying hard to cool off) and gazing out
a series of windows!
We didn't rest long before Sonny had us continuing
the tour of the Palace!
There is nothing (NOTHING)
that I have ever experienced in my lifetime
that even comes close to
what driving the streets of India is like!
Our tour guide, Sonny, is an expert on art.
His passion (and I mean PASSION) is with miniatures
and I soon was on board!
We saw many miniatures in the City Palace,
but afterwards we went to an art school
where we saw students hard at work.
Yes, Katie became our resident
block printing expert
and after her demonstration we were
invited to shop....and shop we did!
Woke up to what I thought was a cat
meowing at the top
of its lungs.
Found out later that it was A PEACOCK (or two or three!)!
I saw one of the culprits on my way to
our morning yoga session....
beautiful, yes....quiet, ABSOLUTELY NOT!
(Geeze, who knew that peacocks "meowed"?)
beautiful, yes....quiet, ABSOLUTELY NOT!
(Geeze, who knew that peacocks "meowed"?)
Ahhhhh, AM yoga in India -- what can I say?
(Except for "I TOTALLY LOVE IT!")
We met up with our tour guide, Sonny, who gave
us some facts and figures about Udaipur.
(Dang, I knew I should have taken notes!)
Our first stop of the day was City Palace, the former
home of the Maharanas of Udaipur.
"A majestic architectural marvel, within the four walls are mosaics of peacocks, exquisite mirror work
and exotic paintings.
It is a conglomeration of courtyards, pavilions, terraces,
corridors, rooms and hanging gardens."
The view from the City Palace was spectacular,
which we enjoyed immensely while sipping a
Diet Coke (trying hard to cool off) and gazing out
a series of windows!
We didn't rest long before Sonny had us continuing
the tour of the Palace!
Then off we went to visit The Crystal Gallery.
(Sorry, no photos were allowed.)
"The Crystal Gallery has been hailed as probably the
single largest private collection of crystal
anywhere in the world. The collection includes
a bewildering number of objects d'art,
dinner sets, perfume bottles, decanters, glasses,
washing bowls and even furniture.
The Crystal Gallery houses the only crystal bed
in the world."
Back to our
air-conditioned van, (thank goodness), and
through the streets of Udaipur
(my all time favorite part of touring India,
thank you very much)
to the Sahelion Ki Bari - the Gardens of the Maids
of the queen.
There is nothing (NOTHING)
that I have ever experienced in my lifetime
that even comes close to
what driving the streets of India is like!
Our tour guide, Sonny, is an expert on art.
His passion (and I mean PASSION) is with miniatures
and I soon was on board!
We saw many miniatures in the City Palace,
but afterwards we went to an art school
where we saw students hard at work.
It was amazing to see the time and the detail
that goes into the creation
of each miniature.
After watching the students and listening how
the miniatures are made,
we were invited to shop....and shop we did!
Then off we went
to see how fabric is block printed.
Another awesome
speciality of the region!
Yes, Katie became our resident
block printing expert
and after her demonstration we were
invited to shop....and shop we did!
Soon we were back in our
much welcomed air-conditioned van,
(am I repeating myself here?),
heading to our evening boat tour
when we saw THIS walking down the street!
I just couldn't believe it!
It seems most of the elephants
are owned by the temples
(which explains how these enormous beasts are kept fed!).
Even though I could have stayed there, well into the evening,
petting that adorable elephant,
we had a boat ride
awaiting us!
And it proved to be the perfect ending to a wonderful day!
"Enjoy a boat tour of Lake Pichola and visit
the beautiful 17th century
Jagmandir Island Palace - a palace on an island
in Lake Pichola."
Yes, THIS is India! UDAIPUR!!
