Screw Italy! India is the place for foodies!!

Hi all,

Today was one for the records! I got a true tour of Bombay from two locals who seem to know alot. After having breakfast, we drove around Bombay and I got to see everything from their train station (which is also a UNESCO world heritage site) to beautiful gardens in the Prince of Wales museum. The Prince of Wales museum was really interesting and I got to learn alot about the basics of Eastern Religion, mostly Hinduism. There were lots of beautiful pieces of jewelry and Indian Miniature Paintings. After we stopped by the beautiful Taj hotel here. We went inside to see it and saw where the 26-11 attacks were. (Needless to say, the security getting in was very heavy). Out next stop was the CD/DVD store where I bought 5 CDs and 5 DVDs for a whole $60. Needless to say, I am bringing home some sitar music and some bollywood movies! After I was taken to an incredible restaurant where they just kept putting food on your plate until you firmly said no. As was the case with dinner, we ate different types of South Indian food, which is delicious and much better than the Northern Indian food that is served at 95% of Indian Restaurants in the US. We also saw the house where Ghandi lived and worked, making his own shirts out of Indian cotton.

In the afternoon we went to see a Jain Temple that is hundreds of years old and went to a holy Hindu sight where people had put up many temples surrounding it. I was lucky enough to walk into a Hindu temple where they were chanting meditations and praying. It was fantastic! Unlike anything I had ever seen! I was also taken to my friend's Aunt's home, which is a beautiful modern apartment that looks over the ocean. I still cant comprehend the Indian Hospitality, people here are beyond kind and generous!

I must say though, my highlight of today was the food, I was taken to such good restaurants and got to try probably 20+ new types of food I had never heard of. Just think of the possibilities if I could eat everything here!!

Tomorrow morning we are going to go to a mosque and have breakfast before heading to the airport to go to Delhi for a few days. We will be staying at the Taj, so I am assuming I will have some sort of option for internet access to update about my day.

B