Alas, it was the wrong capital! Someday we'll be in Washington for the Fourth ... I think.
Five days at home wasn't quite enough time to recover from our London trip, but it was off to Delhi anyway. We've got things to see and people to meet! Woot!
Our flight north was pretty uneventful, though Samuel and I both hit the exhaustion wall once we got to Delhi. Luckily, our only plan for the day was to hang around the homestay until Nana (aka John's mom, Sarah Hall) arrived that evening. It's been a non-stop par-tay ever since.
After a reasonably good night's sleep, we started our Fourth of July with a stop at the Qutb Minar, which I've decided is the No. 1 must-see for Delhi.
Samuel hadn't quite recovered yet, so he and I didn't make it. Everyone else had a grand time exploring the site and melting in the heat. Here they are in front of the iron pillar, which was clearly forged by aliens ... or perhaps by ancient but highly skilled Indian metalworkers.
And here they are in front of Qutb-ud-din Aibak's victory tower, constructed at the end of the 12th century.
I love the ornate carving found throughout the complex.
Johnny's appearance is testament to the heat of the day. He kept pouring water over his head to make things a little more bearable. Our first two days up north were super hot, but then the blessed monsoon arrived and cooled things down a bit.
Where's Evie? Need a hint? Count the legs.
Samuel had perked up considerably by late morning, so after lunch he and I joined everyone at Delhi's Jantar Mantar (and here), a group of enormous astronomical instruments built in the 1700s.
As far as I understand it (which admittedly isn't that far), each instrument was used to plot the position and course of a different celestial body, like the sun or moon.
John was the photographer for the day, as I was too busy worrying that the kids were going to fall to their deaths. It's cool that you can climb all over the structures for a close-up experience, but India's lack of fences and handrails might give me a coronary. At any rate, you can see from these photos that the buildings appealed to John's artistic side.
The kids loved this instrument, which (I think) was used to track the position of the sun. They climbed down inside it and pretended it was a maze.
Where's Evie now?
We only lasted about an hour at Jantar Mantar because of the heat, but our driver took the scenic route back to our homestay and drove us past some of India's federal buildings, including Parliament House and the President's residence. It was something like the Mall area in Washington, D.C. See? All Fourth of July-ish.
This photo is taken looking down the Rajpath from Raisina Hill, where Parliament House and other important federal buildings are located. In the distance is India Gate. This is where they have the Republic Day parade every year.
Lest you think us unpatriotic, I'll have you know that we finished our day with an awesome Fourth of July party back in our room, complete with decorations, refreshments and even a parade! Thanks to Nana for supplying us with decor, flags, cool shades, and American candy!
Happy Fourth, everyone!
Five days at home wasn't quite enough time to recover from our London trip, but it was off to Delhi anyway. We've got things to see and people to meet! Woot!
Our flight north was pretty uneventful, though Samuel and I both hit the exhaustion wall once we got to Delhi. Luckily, our only plan for the day was to hang around the homestay until Nana (aka John's mom, Sarah Hall) arrived that evening. It's been a non-stop par-tay ever since.
After a reasonably good night's sleep, we started our Fourth of July with a stop at the Qutb Minar, which I've decided is the No. 1 must-see for Delhi.
Samuel hadn't quite recovered yet, so he and I didn't make it. Everyone else had a grand time exploring the site and melting in the heat. Here they are in front of the iron pillar, which was clearly forged by aliens ... or perhaps by ancient but highly skilled Indian metalworkers.
And here they are in front of Qutb-ud-din Aibak's victory tower, constructed at the end of the 12th century.
I love the ornate carving found throughout the complex.
Johnny's appearance is testament to the heat of the day. He kept pouring water over his head to make things a little more bearable. Our first two days up north were super hot, but then the blessed monsoon arrived and cooled things down a bit.
Where's Evie? Need a hint? Count the legs.
Samuel had perked up considerably by late morning, so after lunch he and I joined everyone at Delhi's Jantar Mantar (and here), a group of enormous astronomical instruments built in the 1700s.
As far as I understand it (which admittedly isn't that far), each instrument was used to plot the position and course of a different celestial body, like the sun or moon.
John was the photographer for the day, as I was too busy worrying that the kids were going to fall to their deaths. It's cool that you can climb all over the structures for a close-up experience, but India's lack of fences and handrails might give me a coronary. At any rate, you can see from these photos that the buildings appealed to John's artistic side.
The kids loved this instrument, which (I think) was used to track the position of the sun. They climbed down inside it and pretended it was a maze.
Where's Evie now?
We only lasted about an hour at Jantar Mantar because of the heat, but our driver took the scenic route back to our homestay and drove us past some of India's federal buildings, including Parliament House and the President's residence. It was something like the Mall area in Washington, D.C. See? All Fourth of July-ish.
This photo is taken looking down the Rajpath from Raisina Hill, where Parliament House and other important federal buildings are located. In the distance is India Gate. This is where they have the Republic Day parade every year.
Lest you think us unpatriotic, I'll have you know that we finished our day with an awesome Fourth of July party back in our room, complete with decorations, refreshments and even a parade! Thanks to Nana for supplying us with decor, flags, cool shades, and American candy!
Happy Fourth, everyone!
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