Warning Signs

With my recent international travels, I'm fascinated by all the signs and different warnings. I absolutely had to share a few of my favorites.

Hmmm.. why wouldn't you obey the traffic light? Let me tell you - it is optional in India. Cars go all over the place all the time. I've never been in a vehicle that's gone through so many red lights in my life. I had to close my eyes a few times.

Don't take your rickshaw or cattle on to the motorway.

Again, a new one that is India. Along with the traffic signals being optional, so are lanes. It is madness.

In Australia, the cars have the right of way. Completely opposite than the States. Hmmm... is that why the toilets flush the other way?

In England.

In Australia - look out for stingers! I have to say I love this graphic. No question about what you are trying to avoid here.

The remedy for being stung - vinegar. Who knew my mother's kitchen was a first aid kit?

From an Aussie boat. It reads 'Do not put anything in the toilet unless you have eaten it first, except toilet paper. This includes.... ' Ew!

I just liked this one of 'No Parking By Koalas'.

And you can't use this toy under just any supervision. It has to be competent supervision. Do you think you have to take a test to watch over Bruce?

I'm traveling again next week (surprise, surprise) so might be lax in the blog. I know you'll miss me.....

Alpine Fun - Part 1

After missing out last year, I decided I needed to discover all the fantastic skiing that sits in Europe. So, I took a quick trip last weekend for some ski time in the Alps. I flew an hour to Switzerland and we drove an hour to France and voila! We are at the pistes!

The weather was quite warm but there was still good snow on the mountain.

Lysandra lives in Switzerland and drove in to play with us, Julian also lives in Switzerland was the great host and tour guide, Michael, Sarah and I just played sherpa and did what we were told.

Not sure why my goggles are upside down on my head. Oh yeah. Because they awful. Also, why is it that Lysandra looks fabulous in her ski attire and I look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man?

Michael and Lysandra pose for quick pic before speeding away.

Ahhh.. a well earned refreshment at the end of the day!

Even better, time for some fuel. I had to include these photos because this is part of why I love my friends. We ordered massive amounts of food and loved it all. Ribs, pork chops, steak ... ahh... triathletes know how to fuel up.

Nothing remains after the carnage.

And finally, Lysandra is shocked by just how much everyone can keep consuming. Dessert looks (and tasted) great. Eating is fun.

Lastly, a self portrait on the lift the next day. Properly fueled, we had a great time hitting the slopes for Day 2.

Jaipur

Our last stop on our Indian grand tour was the city of Jaipur. Known as the "Pink City" for its use of pink sandstone everywhere, we toured the market, the Observatory and the fort.

This is called the Wall of Windows. (surprise surprise). As the ruler's concubines and wives were not allowed to watch the parades from street level, he built a wall with 300 windows so they could watch the festivities from above.

Yep. You can see how narrow it is. It's just a giant facade of windows... pretty cool though.

Our second stop of the day, to visit the palace/fort. Set high on the hill we get to take elephants up to the entrance.

Not your usual taxi stand.

On our way up!

A little bit of an elephant traffic jam. Definitely don't see that every day.

Steph and I share a ride on a slow elephant. Our guide was none to happy with her pace but I won't let him hit her with the pointy sword thingy. Poor girl.

I liked this view of the elephant exiting through the archway. Bye bye pachyderm!

One of the gardens inside the fort. The summer rooms were to the right and the winter rooms to the left. They were heated or cooled based on sunlight, fans and varying construction. Quite impressive engineering for being that old.

Inside the Hall of Mirrors. Mirrors everywhere!

Getting creative with the camera and the mirrors.

Steph checks out another part of the Hall of Mirrors. Very, very sparkly....

Looking at one of the outposts from inside the fort. Although I've never seen the Great Wall of China, the wall surrounding this place reminded me of it.

Balcony where the guards would supervise the concubines.

Getting the story from our tour guide. Poor guy probably got sick of herding us around the whole time.

Waving to the camera. Can you see us in the window?

The hunting lodge was set in the middle of a lake to stay cool in the summer. And I think to hunt all the animals who came to drink.

After forts and palaces, we went to the Observatory to see the world's oldest and most accurate sun dial. I must say, it is pretty impressive to have created something in the 1500's to keep time with the sun. However, this begs the question, if they are so good at keeping time, why are they always late?

Casting a shadow to get the time. Accurate to two seconds.

I just liked the elephant statue.

Lastly, flying monkeys. Definitely not something you see every day.

So ends my trip to India. I might throw out more pictures now and then as I'm still finding some good ones but for the most part, it is done. Now I'm off to the Alps for some winter fun... :O)

Palace of Shah Jahan - Agra

Shah Jahan is the ruler who built the Taj Mahal for his wife who passed away in child birth. I'm pretty sure this is where we were visiting when I took all these pictures. Pretty sure....I was definitely in Agra though!
This monkey was hanging out when I started to take his picture. All of a sudden he was in motion because Stephanie was opening a granola bar in his presence.

Silly Stephanie. The monkey jumped up and took it out of her hand! You can't see it very well but here he is now munching on her breakfast.

The entrance gate on the way up to the palace. The path was wide enough for two elephants to pass and built with graduated stones so that the elephants wouldn't slip.

Tiny me in front of one of the archways into the palace grounds.

This was the reception hall where he would meet the petitioners and listen to complaints.

The columns are perfectly symmetric. If you stand in the right place, you cannot see them lined up. (I am obviously not in the right place)

After Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, his son over powered him and held him prisoner. He spent 8 years confined to his rooms where he would stand on the balcony and stare at the Taj Mahal yearning for his dead wife. Unfortunately, the haze obscures the view of the Taj on the other side of the river.

Loved the carved fountains. They were all gravity fed. (No electricity back in the 1500's)

The swimming pool! Constructed with built in seats and fountains for lounging. I would have loved to see this filled with water.

I'll never complain about picking up leaves again. No leaf blowers in India. Just people with some thatches bundled together sweeping the ground clean.