The Gateway to India

I arrived yesterday afternoon after an overnight flight from London. Luke and Phillip were there to greet me when I arrived and we jumped into the car and Phillip drove us to our weekend retreat spot, the Mumbai Hilton. Luke of course came armed with the necessary cool and refreshing beverages - a tall cold bottle of water, and a cold beer. Emphasis on the word cold for both of those, Mumbai is HOT and HUMID. We spent the day yesterday exploring the hotel complex and spent a bit of time lounging by the pool. Then out came all the gifts and necessary provisions from London - Twiglets, Fudges Cheddar Melts, red wine and champagne. We enjoyed a nice date night at the Hilton last night, dining on chinese food at the local restaurant, India Jones.

Today was our first full day of experiencing Mumbai together. We slept in until almost noon but made a quick session of getting ready and headed out walking for The Gateway to India. It was about a 20-minute walk and we were both soaking with sweat by the time we arrived. The Gatweay is "the thing to see in Mumbai" and it was pretty cool. It is a large structure dedicated to the landing of George V and his Queen Mary in 1911. After fending off the locals selling postcards and trips out to Elephant Island, we went in search of ice cream. This seach led us back to our hotel via a local taxi ride - Luke's first! A fun experience that was just like riding a taxi in Cairo - crazy driving, no stopping, lots of honking and white knuckles by the passengers fearing for our lives in the back seat. We spent the rest of our afternoon lounging by the pool and are just now thinking about how we might spend our evening. We are thinking...Indian fare for dinner! Yum (although I think after eating Indian for a month, Luke is a bit less enthusiastic). Luke is here looking out the window of our hotel room and just saw a man walking down the road with a monkey on a leash. Only in Mumbai??