Saturday morning, we relaxed at home with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids enjoyed playing. We then went to the emporium to buy a few souvenirs. (The emporium is fixed price so you don't have to wonder if you're getting ripped off.) The checkout process is an example of Indian (in)efficiency: You bring your items to one lady who creates your bill. You then bring your bill to another person to pay for the items. You then go to a third person to pick up your purchases.
From the emporium, we walked to Connaught Place. Here we are walking through a park with a huge Indian flag in the background.
We then rode the metro. Notice how much busier it is than Sunday when we rode the metro.
Grandma and Grandpa holding Matthew and Megan. Grandma and Grandpa had reserved seating.
A cute Indian girl with her parents and brother. The girl gave up her seat so that Grandma could sit down. We had fun interacting with them.
Our destination: Akshardham, one of the largest temples in India and the largest in Delhi. It was built in 2005 and is, in many ways, a tourist attraction. However, it is very well done and is beautiful. There are a series of exhibits with animatronics on the life of Swaminarayan, who is something of a prophet to the Hindus and did many miracles, an Imax movie about the life of Swaminarayan and a boat ride through 10,000 years of Indian history. The temple itself is beautiful as are the grounds. In the evening, we watched the water and light show which was spectacular. One of the neatest parts was that the projections all fit perfectly onto the building behind it. We essentially saw the temple destroyed and rebuilt multiple times in different styles. The water show was reminiscent of the fountain display at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas or World of Color at Disneyland and also included some pyrotechnics. The narration was all in Hindi but we could understand the gist of the story, which was about some of the Hindu gods and the elements of the earth (wind, fire, water and earth). The projections were so cool.
No photography or video is allowed inside the complex. Here's a picture of the main temple from the road just outside the complex.
Some of the outlying buildings.
It was getting late by the time we left Akshardham but we decided to make the trek to Barbeque Nation for dinner. We rode a couple of metros and then all crammed into one auto before arriving at our destination. At Barbeque Nation, you get to roast meat and vegetables over little grills at your table. (And yes, the meat and veggies are safe for us to eat--so nice to have some places you can eat without the worry!) There was also additional food from the buffet. We ate a lot of yummy food! They also had a lot of desserts including gourmet Indian ice cream to which you could add sauces and candy. Megan liked the ice cream the best. Matthew liked the shrimp and brownies. Sarah loved it all! It was a great experience, even though it was quite late (I think we left the restaurant around 10 pm). To top it all off, the waiter returned a tip we'd left, telling us that the tip was already included in the bill. This was so nice since we'd had a few experiences in which we felt like we were being taken advantage of.
Waiting for the food to cook.
Sarah with her gourmet ice cream.
Megan eating her ice cream.
Matthew waving his ice cream.
Me with ice cream.
On the way home, we saw some of the Diwali lights up at the local malls. So pretty!
This was a long day. It was late when we arrived at the restaurant but, by the end, everyone enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very full but fun day. Your kids were absolutely troopers!
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