"Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!"

Just like the song from "Bend it Like Beckham and this is true ; it was burning at the Taj Mahal! We were walking to the Taj Mahal and it was soo, so, so hot. My face was red as fire. Finally got to the Taj Mahal, we had to take off our shoes. Oh great, we had to walk on hot marble but luckily Mom had socks, phew! As we reached the Taj Mahal it was not that hot. We saw a tomb; it was Shah Jahan wife's tomb. Shah Jahan was the emperor who built the Taj. When Shah Jahan died his tomb was put next to his wife. I learned this from our guide at the Agra Fort. I also learned that Shah Jahan's son imprisoned his father for eight years and killed his brothers because he wanted to take over the palace. As we walked in the Taj, we stayed in one place just to cool off. I felt so much better. As we went to the back of the Taj I saw a golden eagle. I tried to take a picture but I wasn't that lucky. We walked to the next mosque. The mosque was all nice and good to cool off from. I took a picture, it was a sillouette of Nick and Tio Osvaldo. It looked pretty cool. Our walk back was all in the shade...ahh, it was so much better.


-Kieran



Walking into Oberoi Hotel

We were sweaty, hot and wanted to eat something. So Mom suggested this hotel to eat which sounded kind of weird cause who eats at a hotel? Well, I guess we do. When we drove up to the hotel, there was a huge gate. We had to go through security just for lunch. As we entered the courtyard of the hotel, people were dressed very elegantly like a Indian wedding. They greeted us with their palms together saying, "Namaste" which means hello in hindi. The courtyard had a fountain but the water was turned off. As I was gradually walking up the stairs, the doors swished open. I walked through. There was a huge chandelier in the middle of the lobby and there was an amazing view of the Taj Mahal that no other hotel could have. We were surprised to learn that you needed reservations for this place. They told us there was a huge party going on. So they suggested getting snacks at the bar. When we got to the bar, they said there were not any snacks but could go down to the restaurant. So truthfully I think that the people who said you need reservations, really didn't want us to go in because we were sweaty people from the streets and not hotel guests. Luckily, no one stopped us. When we went downstairs there was black rectangular surface. We didn't know if it was water or glass but Kieran thought it was glass. He stepped on it, got his foot wet.and made a mark on the floor. When we went into the restaurant, it was totally empty except for a few couples. I knew it was it fancy restaurant, and I was right. The food was delicious!The meal was the best we've had in the last two weeks. We were ready for the next party of our journey, Agra Fort!

-Pari