Saturday, February 2, 2013

2 Toasters . No Toast. A Swine Flu remedy.

Breakfast in the room. Angus asks for toast. He gets sent a toaster. No bread. He phones down for bread. Ten minutes later room service delivers a second toaster . Still no bread. Angus heads off to the coffee shop .
Out early in search of Delhi's rooftop flower markets. The saintly Jain lady has told us about them.On roof tops and upper courtyards hundreds and hundreds of flower sellers. Mountains of rose petals and marigolds. Quite invisible to passers by . Maybe one tourist in a thousand gets to see them. For some reason the flower sellers in the photograph below have that sort of lifeless pose you see in photos from the American Civil War.

Asafoetida. A staple of Indian cuisine. Difficult to find in France. ' The font ' determined to bring some home. It is said to balance sweet, spicy, sour and salty components in food. Its odour so strong that it will contaminate other spices stored nearby. Deep in the market we find a solitary seller with large chunks of it. The stall holder informs us it's excellent for preventing flatulence. The Jain lady says it's the best defence against Swine Flu.
Our final afternoon. A trip to the National Museum. Ahead of us in the entry queue a throng of Buddhist monks. '' Not something you see every day " says ' the font ' as we find ourselves swept through the doors in a tidal wave of saffron robed, bell ringing , shaven headed humanity.

13 comments:

  1. Now you can have fresh flower birds in your room every day.

    The hotel is probably telling people about strange guests who keep asking for toasters.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

    ReplyDelete
  2. How do you decide which flower seller to buy from? They're all close together with the exact same merchandise. I guess everyone has their favourite, just like me in the fish market, I bypass all the fishmongers to go to my favourite.
    Enjoyed the "monk" video, did they know you were filming?
    Did room service finally deliver the bread at dinner?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope the asafoetida was well packed. Could have been a nightmare in the customs hall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The young man with the red kerchief
    in the second photo might be headed
    for a modeling career. Hands in his
    pockets, legs positioned "just so."
    I had the same thought as Kari about
    the asafoetida, particularly if there
    were any drug-sniffing dogs on patrol.

    ReplyDelete
  5. interesting. wonder what they use their toasters for. i don't think it's bread. er... i mean toast.

    ReplyDelete
  6. is there an Indian version of Fawlty Towers?

    ReplyDelete
  7. That flower market looks scary to me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Bread/toaster story is too funny (obviously not to Angus who was probably very hungry!) and reminiscent of some of our own experiences around the world! Passing on bringing home the culinary item (Sniffing dogs you know...friendly but so dedicated!) but oh, I would have love to visit those rooftops! Rose petals vendors indeed?
    Hoping the trip was all you expected! Have a safe voyage home!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am chuckling about your toaster situation! Rooftop flower markets sound very fanciful. I hope you can get that swine-flu preventative through customs.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks - and the sound in the museum... beautiful. Take care Susanne, Foxiie, Daisy and Kiri

    ReplyDelete
  11. It sounded vaguely like they were singing We Shall Overcome.
    That can't be right, can it?

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a different world... I've never been to that part of the world. Thanks for the glimpse. I hope that you make it home smoothly on your new flight.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What's Happening i'm new to thіѕ, I stumblеd upon thiѕ I havе fοund It posіtivelу useful and іt hаs аіdеd me
    out loads. I am hoping to give a сontribution & aid оther cuѕtοmers like its aiԁed me.

    Goοd ϳοb.

    Cheсk оut mу page: Chemietoilette

    ReplyDelete