Delhi day one

With the four and a half hour time difference Rob and I woke early (by Delhi time) yesterday (Friday 27th September) on our first morning ever in India.  We're staying at Amarya Villa in the Safdarjung Enclave on the southern side of New Delhi so we thought we'd just have a wander before breakfast and get our bearings. This is a residential area - relatively middle class with two big schools just up the road so the street was busy with lots of kids and their families and nannies at drop off time.

Amarya Villa is a boutique hotel with lots of character and very personalised service. It's not 5 star but is very relaxed with stylish touches and very attentive staff (and yummy b'fasts!).

We're travelling in style with a car and driver and our own guide - thanks to the wonderful Mr Singh of Legends and Palaces - so our first day in Delhi was a very easy and gentle one - compared to some of the scenarios we had imagined.

In such a culturally and spiritually diverse country it's essential to know some basics about India's rich history and a bit about Hinduism, Islam, and the Sikhs (and the Jains). So our first stop was at the National Museum where in a fascinating hour we saw about .01% of the museum's collection of sculptures, paintings and vessels and pots (with no time for textiles unfortunately).

Then we visited the Hindu Laxminarayan Temple, built in 1938, leaving our shoes and preconceived ideas behind to learn more about the meaning of the Hindu deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, to their Hindu devotees.

Mahatma Gandhi is revered throughout modern India and we were very interested to visit Birla House in Delhi and see where he lived for the last 144 days of his life - and where he was assassinated on January 30, 1948.  It's very poignant to see his last steps marked on the pathway up to the point near the pavilion where he was shot on that fateful afternoon. Inside Birla House there was a fascinating photographic exhibition and plenty of text about the life and times of Gandhi. His simple living quarters have been left pretty much as they were when he lived there. Wonderful to see! 

Ravi our guide took us to lunch - at a busy restaurant in central Delhi, serving South Indian dishes. We kept it very light because we knew we had a big afternoon ahead. I really enjoyed the dosa and its sauces - especially the coriander.

After some toing and froing between our guides we met up with Rajeev and JD from Food Tour in Delhi at about 3.00pm.  Exuberant Rajeev and the quieter JD were to lead us through the most extraordinary NINE hour food adventure through some of the oldest (and scariest) parts of Delhi, introducing us to some of the most authentic food tastes and experiences we could never imagine. It's now almost 24 hours after we concluded the tour and no gastric upsets yet - so it proved to be a completely successful food experience in every sense!!

We set off in rickshaws through the crowded, gridlocked streets and laneways of heritage listed Old Delhi.

And the first stop was at the award winning Shyam Sweets (Watar Kachori Wale).

Chef Rajeev encouraged us to identify flavours and learn how combining sweeter flavours and pastry based "sides" can intensify and round out spicy flavoured dishes. We loved the lassi served in clay pots at this "joint". 

Deep in the laneways, next we found ourselves in the "Jain Coffee Shop". Because Jains practise non-violence towards all living things they do not eat any meat, fish, eggs or any vegetable grown below ground. We tried sliced mango, honey and paneer sandwiches at this joint and found them much more interesting and tasty than they sound.

The laneways of Delhi have every enterprise imaginable crammed into every available space. Like traders (hardware, cooking equipment, jewellery, dental supplies, shoes etc etc) are clustered together, but the food joints spill out onto the crowded narrow walkways, millimetres away from the passing traffic.

And overhead there are festoons of fearsome looking electrical cabling and colonies of (Rhesus) monkeys playing with death in amongst the wires.

This kulfi trader is renowned in Delhi & often travels overseas to provide desserts for rich people's parties - but you wouldn't think that from the location of his little trading space in this crowded laneway.

But his saffron and pistachio kulfi was just to die for (as was his berry and pomegranate seed flavoured kulfi).

These mangoes were filled with mango flavoured kulfi and topped with a hard biscuit mixture which you break open to reveal the treasure within - a very special treat.

Water buffalo milk is the basis for many yummy Indian desserts. These guys were boiling down cream made on buffalo milk, until the cream becomes so thick it sets hard and then they flavour it with spices - yum!

This guy sitting in his cooking pot hire shop looked very photogenic I thought!

The Delhi spice market is the largest in Asia. The chili fumes are so strong here it catches you in the throat. It was a hive of energy as the sun was setting over old Delhi.

The spice and tea shop of Mehar Chand and Sons was a haven of calm refinement in amongst the mayhem.

The most up market rickshaws offer fanciful lighting effects once the sun goes down. 

By now we'd made our way out of old Delhi into Connaught Place for vegetable puffs at the venerable Wengers and flavoured milk drinks around the corner from there.

The main Sikh Temple in Delhi, off Connaught Place, serves food to the poor people of Delhi - all day.  The massive kitchens of this luminous white, gold domed temple are the last word in efficiency and cleanliness.

Hundreds of volunteers come to the temple each day to help in the kitchens - to feed the poor.

I loved the atmosphere of this place - so purposeful, respectful and well organised and clean - and lots of women and girls around (unlike other places we've been in Delhi). The girls in this lovely family were very friendly to me and engaged me in quite a lively conversation. (We all had to have our heads covered in the Sikh temple - that's why I'm wearing the funny yellow cap.)

My camera ran out of battery life at this point so I missed out on pics of our kebab stand course and the huge banquet meal at Kake De Hotel (two of the more confronting food experiences of this tour, with the possible exception of the roadside chaat (snack) joint), but it was close to midnight before we were finished - without forgetting our stop off at the ice cream stand at the India Gate!  An amazing unforgettable Day 1 in Delhi!

E and A

Have I mentioned before that I have two beautiful grand-daughters?

At 19 months Abi is growing into a very colourful character. It's always the same routine when she arrives at our house. Where's the watermelon/ strawberries/ blueberries/ olives / cranberry and pistachio nougat/ glace ginger/ AND the (organic) Turkish figs???  C'mon hurry up Granny!

Then it's time for a quick hug with Fluffy Dog, a play in the cubby house we make out of our old Campaign chairs and, if we've been able to hold off that long, a walk over the road to check out our little mob of resident kangaroos!  Abi is quite the nature (animal) lover. I find that my camera skills are not always up to capturing Abi in focus (let alone correctly exposed) - she's never still!

Ella is the best big sister around - endlessly patient and understanding and quite protective too.

We had lunch together today in amongst the sheep paddocks and trout stocked lakes at Poacher's Pantry (Granny's having a birthday soon) so we had some fun watching the girls go through the menu and play in the pretty gardens of the old homestead afterwards.

They adored the creamy potato mash, so much so, Joshy ordered them a whole extra bowlful of their own to share.

Ella and I enjoyed the same dessert: Kaitifi baklava and pistachio gelato sandwich with caramel mandarins...

It looked far more attractive to Abi than sharing her Daddy's baked rice pudding creme brulee with rhubarb and Greek shortbread.

The garden had everything the girls loved: a hyperactive little curly tailed dog and fat goldfish in a pond for Abi and a tree for swinging on for Ella. Those boys in the picture were very impressed with Ella and hung around for a-g-e-s.

It's not my birthday quite yet but I was so thrilled to receive this beautiful handmade card from Ella today - all her own work - no help; not even any spelling advice, from ANYONE.

In case you're wondering that sentence in the speech bubble is..."Give me cake, says Granny"!!!!

Tania's exhibition

My friend Tania and I go back a l-o-n-g way. We've had years when we've not seen each other (very difficult keeping in touch when she's living at least a 20 hour flight away) but whenever we do catch up we manage to just pick up right where we left off.

Tania restarted her art practice, seriously, after a long break, about a year or so ago. A selection of the past year's work is currently on show at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre in Roseville - with the opening last Friday night. 

Tania asked me to do the official opening of the exhibition for her because I am one of the few people around who really understands where she started from. What a thrill for me!
 

Tania had a wonderful opportunity to focus on her art work again last year while on a two week break (on her own) on Achill Island - the largest island off the coast of Ireland, in County Mayo. Over the past year since that intense experience she's worked like a demon producing sketches, paintings and 3D works, exploring her connection to that place.

Tania grew up in Belfast (during troubled times for that city) and childhood holidays on Achill were always associated with a great sense of freedom and escape.

This large monochrome work was one of my favourites.

And this was one of Tania's favourites.
 

Tania has two beautiful daughters. M is studying at the London School of Economics and the brilliant A (in year 9 this year) is one of the most gorgeous girls you'd ever meet.  Tania and A came down from Sydney for the Turner from the Tate exhibition recently and I really enjoyed my time with A as we explored the gallery.

Tania and her Allan hosted celebration drinks after the opening at their gorgeous old rambling home in Roseville- so it was a late night for us, but a happy one, with no time for regrets about the long drive back to Canberra the next morning.

Lucky week

Our friend Jennie celebrated a birthday this week - made even more remarkable by her surviving a head on collision on the Barton Highway at the start of the week - with NO damage to herself or Wayne (the car was a different matter). Jennie is an excellent driver and a very cool operator - and an absolute dynamo in the vineyard and other places.

She picked Podfood at Pialligo for her birthday celebration, mostly on the strength of its excellent wine list. With temperatures dropping  on Friday and rain falling steadily by early evening it looked to be a quiet night at Podfood (until we arrived anyway).

The wine offerings were exceptional (although it took AGES for choices to be made) and the menu was thoughtfully devised and beautifully prepared. We were all VERY impressed. The stand out wine for us was the 2010 Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay (from the Adelaide Hills) although the 2008 Vinea Marson Nebbiolo from Heathcote in Victoria was pretty special too.

I went through the whole menu - all three courses and ate (and drank) all of my adults only affogato; house made vanilla bean ice-cream, espresso coffee and Frangelico liqueur (although Rob had a few mouthfuls of this too). I regretted the combination somewhat at 4.30am the next morning!

With the rain cleared and everything washed clean and green we spent most of today in the back garden, lifting and stacking hundreds of pavers in readiness for the landscaping we're having done over the next month or so.

Rob will build a pergola over the where the old paving was (and then the paving will be renewed) and a new area of paving will be laid under our pretty crab apple tree.
 

AND Rob mowed our lawn for the first time in many months. It is Spring indeed!!

And the Dendrobium orchids are looking their best at the moment. They must thrive on neglect because I am not very nurturing of them!

Saturday seventh September Sydney

There was not a cloud in the sky on election day in Sydney. We could feel the unaccustomed warmth in the sun the minute we left the apartment and headed down Coogee Bay Road to the beach. By 10.00 am the weekend crowds were already building.

We thought it was a great day to do the coast walk to Bondi Beach - enjoying the bays, the beaches and the spectacular views of this most beautiful coastline with its constantly changing foreground of emerald and sapphire ocean swells, crashing waves and white sandy beaches.

Gordons Bay looked as beautiful as I've ever seen it today.

We could tell it was Spring - the ubiquitous coastal pig face was flowering madly.

And these hardy yellow everlasting daisies looked right at home among the sandstone outcrops above Bronte Beach.

I took the pic below to show how the luckiest people in Sydney get to vote - at the Clovelly Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. It was not just the setting that interested me it was also that at about this point two important federal electorates: Wentworth and Kingsford Smith border each other. So there were a lot of candidates on show here - from both electorates. I was pretty sure even by this stage in the day that Malcolm Turnbull would be the chosen one for Wentworth. But I was less sure about Matt Thistlethwaite's chances in Kingsford Smith.

His advertising reflected all the values that people living in these beach side suburbs seem to admire: family man, "one of us", long term president of the surf club, long term president of PCYC, strong ties to the Catholic church, good decent Aussie bloke etc etc.

I noted with interest that Matt Thislethwaite did actually win Kingsford Smith in the end - replacing Peter Garrett (now retired) as our (Coogee) federal member.

 Tamarama Beach looked more sporty and down to earth than its usual "Glamarama" today...

Bondi Beach looked as beautiful and crowded as ever....but I decided to focus my camera on the Bondi Icebergs pool, just to be different.

We rewarded our efforts with lunch at our favourite Sabbaba on Hall Street (at the Jewish end).

We ended up staying for ages, drinking Israeli beer (Maccabee beer was the first one we tried - sweetened with date syrup) and reading the papers, with all their pre-election punditry.

By our second beer (Israeli Goldstar) we noticed we'd been joined by Lachlan Harris (sitting behind Rob's shoulder. Lachlan was Kevin Rudd's Senior Press Secretary in his first round as PM up until 2010, founding member of the of the online activists group GetUp, and CEO of swimwear brand  Budgy Smuggler. Most recently we've enjoyed his appearances on the Gruen Transfer. He's a real Bondi identity and we overheard him (accurately) predicting the way the election would go to any of the locals who stopped to chat.

Later that night as the election results rolled in with the outcome we were expecting we enjoyed a moment of excitement when a fire truck pulled up at the party house over the road from our apartment (sirens blazing). Apparently the hosts had allowed a bar-b-que in the back garden to get a little out of hand. The firies mopped it up very quickly and got a huge cheer from everyone for their efforts. The party continued!

And so Australia has a change of government (she says somewhat joylessly). No surprises there!