The Big Mango

If New York is called The Big Apple, then Mumbai is The Big Mango!

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Gateway of India from our ferry.

The Gateway of India was finished just before the British were kicked out, so it became nicknamed the Getaway from India, ha!

Opposite the Gateway is this statue of Shivaji Maharaj- the founder of the Maharashtra Empire, and local hero.  They have renamed all of the Victorian age buildings with his name.  They will also be building a huge statue of him in the harbor, similar to the Statue of Liberty in New York.

I don't know who this is a statue of, but I love his turban!

I want to stay at the this hotel before we move from Mumbai!

We walked around Fort Bombay and enjoyed the beautiful buildings with the gorgeous bluest skies we've seen since the monsoons ended.

The dome on the Shivaji Museum was just glistening, while we let Buddha slumber.

Kala Ghoda is the art district, originally named after a black stone statue of the Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII) mounted on a horse.  The statue was removed after independence, but the square retained its nickname.  The square now has a brand new black horse statue, this time sans human or history.

The central tower of the Bombay High Court.

Can you see the little tree growing out of the window?

They must have sand-blasted this building recently, it is so clean!

Mumbai City Hall.

The angel in front holding a boat, symbol of the source of the city's wealth.

This statue was covered with construction walls, but we did see part of it and I wanted to share this photo we took of it back in December.  There are 2 of these guys facing each other on the gate of the Parsi Fire Temple, Agayri.

Our last stop (besides lunch) was the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly the Victoria Terminus), the main train station of old Bombay. We've driven past it many times, but never walked by it or inside it.  The inside was just as amazing as the outside.

View of the left wing.  I love how the 2 lion guardians look different from one another.

The striking dome, with the clock about to strike 4:00.

I love this peacock and the flowers.  The craftsmanship of the Victorian era was just amazing!

Some of the arches inside.  It looks more like a cathedral in Europe than a train station!

And stained-glass windows, are you kidding me?  Love it!

Only a small portion of the massive number of platforms.  Seriously, this place is H U G E ! !

After we arrived home, we took the kiddos for a dip in the pool to cool off.  I think our next adventure should be to ride a train, but I don't know if I'm brave enough ;).

Elephanta Caves

It was so wonderful to see Rebecca, and also to take her to see some sights we hadn't seen before.  We had to take an hour's ferry ride out to...

Gharapuri Island.

I loved the colorful bunting on this little boat.

And the mangroves on the other side of the jetty.

You can see this baby's ribs, but I think it's the fattest cow I've seen here.

I love seeing houses (as opposed to apartment buildings) and I loved the bright colors of this one!

Len got a shot of Rebecca and I beginning our walk through the shops.  At the end of this lane we turned left, paid for our entrance tickets, then climbed a bunch of stairs with shops on either side of the staircase to finally make it to the caves.  There was actually some nice stuff for sale.  Too bad I didn't bring any money for shopping.

There are a total of 7 caves, 5 Hindu and 2 Buddhist.  The biggest one is a Hindu cave with incredible sculptures of Shiva, along with other gods and goddesses.  It was used as a place of worship until the Portuguese set up shop 500 years ago.

The caves are roughly a millennium and a half old, and like the Kanheri caves we visited in October, they are carved out of the solid rock of the hill.

The Shiva Lingam shrine.

Nataraja, the King of Dancers.

Rebecca and I attending the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.

The famous Trimurti (Mahesh-Murti-Shiva) statue of Shiva as the Supreme Being, a cobra, and a lotus flower.  His 3 faces represent God the creator, God the protector, and God the destroyer.  I also believe in a trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but I believe them to be 3 separate beings united in purpose.

It is a huge carving, about 15 feet tall!

A cute little Ganesha hanging out on this pillar.

Shiva carrying the river Ganges.

When we saw this statue Rebecca asked if we thought it was only carved with one breast, or if it was carved with two and one eroded over time.  Thanks to the guide book we bought I now know the answer.  This is Ardhanarishwara, a form of Shiva and his wife Parvati as one form.  I also believe God to be male and female, but again as 2 separate beings, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.

Ravana crushed under Kailasa.

I love this one, Yogishware Shiva.  Shiva meditating in the lotus position of yoga.

The island has a huge monkey population.  We saw a few cuties swinging on some rebar hanging off the roof of a pavilion, but these 4 were my favorites!  I don't know if they were Momma, Daddy, big Brother, and Baby; or Momma, Baby, and Aunties; but they were quite precious.

They were all snuggling around baby and hugging each other.  Look at baby's fur-less hand.  It looks a lot like a human hand with webbed fingers, kinda creepy :).

I've never seen a monkey baby this young before.  Her mouth looks like a little suction cup attached to Momma's milk supply.

Here they are again and you can see more of baby's face.  Maybe they should change the name of the caves from Elephanta to Monkeya, ha ha!

Rebecca in town!

My dear friend Rebecca (and former roommate) came to town!  She and her family lived and served at Rising Star Outreach for the 2014-2015 school year.  She came back to India to spend spring break there, but first she made a pit-stop to visit us in Mumbai.  Rebecca was with me the first night I met Leonard- spider sniffing.  She is also partially responsible for our relationship as my roommates chose to ask Leonard to Buddy Ball instead the boy I wanted them to ask for me.  Thank goodness they asked Leonard and double thank goodness he said yes!

The kids all loved having Rebecca in town for the weekend!  They also loved the Cheetos and Circus cookies she brought us.  I also loved the chocolate and yummy-smelling body wash she brought me.

Thanks for visiting Rebecca, I hope we get to see you again this summer!

15 of 100 years

As Kaleb and Noé turn 15 I have two songs running through my head: Fifteen by Taylor Swift and 100 years by Five For Fighting and I just keep thinking how did this happen?  I blinked and my babies grew up!  Oh how I wish I could keep them forever, but I know they have to grow up and conquer their own dreams.  I always told them when they were little that even when they'd be taller than me they would always be my babies.  Now Kaleb IS taller than me and he and Noé and Gavin, Teague, Hiram, and Ali will ALWAYS be my babies!

Sweet little Ali is such a cute photo bomber!

They had to go to school on their birthday, then that evening we all went out to dinner at TGIFriday's to celebrate.

Kaleb ordered a double buffalo burger that was almost as big as him!  Yes, we miss red meat, ha ha!

Noé got herself some fish and chips.

After we left the restaurant, before we went to the bakery to let them choose their cakes they convinced us that they should get a little treat from Le 15 in honor of the day.  We're softies and obliged them.  Kaleb got a macaron and Noé got a mini cupcake.

At the bakery, Kaleb chose a black forest cake, while Noé chose a red velvet one.

We all love cake!

Make a wish, ha ha!  They held their candles instead of messing up their pretty cakes.

Yum and double yum!  We love you Kaleb and Noé!

(We didn't give them gifts this year as we just added to the money they received from their grandparents.  Now they have to decide if they want Indian rupees to buy stuff here, American dollars to spend when we're home this summer, or Canadian dollars to buy stuff online to ship through our PO Box.  Decisions, decisions!)