Weekend with Aparna's Family: Good People - May 15-16

Friday night, we said goodbye to Carla who was heading back to Penn for graduation. Bon Voyage! Aparna's mom came for a visit and after visiting the golden temple in Vellore, she suggested we come back to Bengaluru to stay with her family.  With the promise of amazing sights and better weather we abandoned our loose plans in hot and sticky Vellore and travelled four hours west to Bengaluru.  We stayed at Aparna's auntie and uncle's lovely house where we were fed delicious food and spicy chai tea until we were stuffed.... and then we were fed some more.  At the end of the weekend we all left a few pounds heavier... and happier ;)

On Saturday we drove to Mysore to see the famous Mysore Palace.  Our first stop was the grand  Lalitha Palace for lunch in the sky blue dining room. 

We then travelled up to 1062m to the top of Chamundi Hill to see the Sri Chamundeswari Temple. The temple was awe-inspiring, but the monkeys were what really held our attention! They seemed think they owned the temple territory.

 We finally made it to the palace in the late afternoon and met up with Geetha - another one of Aparna's aunties.  She continued the family tradition of spoiling us and showed us around Mysore Palace and then took us out for coffee.  The palace is one of India's grandest buildings by far.  It was built by an English architect in 1912 after the original Sandalwood Palace was destroyed by fire.  The architecture is a combination of Hindu, Muslim and Edwardian architecture dominated by colorful tiles, stained glass and intricately carved doors.  It is, as Lonely Planet describes, "undoubtedly over the top".  Unfortunately interior photos are forbidden, but enjoy the shots of the exterior - it is especially spectacular when lit up at night for half an hour once a week.  What luck that we happened to be there to see it lit!

On Sunday morning we took a relaxed walk around Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, guided by Aparna's Uncle. The gardens were built in 1760 by Sultan Haider Ali and are filled with very old trees from around the world and was a peaceful respite for all.