The past few days we have had a wonderful time visiting family and seeing London. Before we left Sophie and Shirin's, we got to see darling little Keira in her school uniform--so cute. She is such a sweet and fun and sociable little girl!
We then went back to Milap's home. Girishada graciously showed us around "Little India" in London. We first went to the Shri Swaminarayan temple in central London. It is definitely on the list of the most amazing buildings that I have ever seen. The temple was entirely hand-carved in marble and wood, with incredibly ornate designs. The building was pristine, and the people were reverent. We also got to see an aarti ceremony, which was a new and very interesting experience for me. After visiting the temple, we went to Ealing Road, the Indian district of London. I got to try new Indian foods: dosa, pani puri, mumra, idlee, and behr. I particularly liked the dosa. We also got to see all the beautiful shops with clothes, jewelry, housewares, statues, and, of course, lots and lots of food. The highlight of Ankur's day was getting to eat pan (a bunch of spices and sweets and sundry items wrapped in a leaf that you chew) and madaf (coconut milk drunk with a straw straight out of the coconut). I enjoyed getting to experience these things that he had talked about for years, although I can't say that I enjoyed eating the pan!
We spent the rest of our time in London visiting family and family friends. I must say, when I married Ankur, my family size grew by about ten times! It is a lively, vibrant, and very welcoming family, so I am quite lucky.
That's it for now--we'll see you soon!
1 comment:
So is pan that stuff with the sprinkles that I tried to much of in Rome and ended up spitting out very ungracefully?
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