Author: melisajohnson

Mom’s visit

 So we have been too busy to take many photos this week!  Mom arrived on Monday afternoon and we went out for a good some good Indian food the first night.

Tuesday was a full day with crossfit in the morning, followed by some fresh juice with Jo.  Then we cleaned up and headed to the spa for a pedicure.  Lunch was of course at one of my favorite places- Bread & Chocolate (a Vegan restaurant).    We went back to the gym in the evening and then grilled some pork chops for dinner.

Wednesday started out at the gym of course (mom may not want to come for a visit again!).  Then we came home and made paleo granola bars and ghee.  For lunch We had some squash then headed out for a tour of West Bay followed by a drink at Sunset house.

Today’s agenda-  nothing really!  Mom is sitting outside relaxing and we just have to head to the post office and a few other places today.  Of course we will all be heading to the gym tonight…  she doesn’t get much rest!

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Last nights dinner

So Richard was a bit tired on Indian food, so I made a pork tenderloin with an Indian twist!

For spices I used cumin, dried chillies and cinnamon. After I seared the pork in some garlic with coconut oil, then I cooked some apples and eggplants in the pork juices then added the spices along with some apple cider vinegar. Finally put the pork back and cooked them a together. 
It turned out quite nice… Plus we have leftovers so no cooking for me tonight!
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More great food

Last British airlines flight… We are rather sad. 
We did at least have some great food again today. 
Smoked quail breast 
Lovely salmon with kale. 
I followed it with chocolates and Richard went for the cheese. 
Just before landing we had a nice cup of tea and scones. 
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Airline food

So people complain about airline food all the time…  But I have to say coming back from India we had a delicious meal.  It started with Taittinger Prestige Rose NV champagne along with a snack of Salmon Amuse Bouch with a side of cucumber.   



We followed that with Pan-seared prawns with papaya, pepper and olive oil and Cream of wild mushroom soup with sautéed garlic mushrooms.  


For the main we had a glass of Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Doc 2011 from Santa Barbra Italy.  I had some baked corn-fed chicken with slow roasted coulis, dauphinoise potato cake and baby vegetables and Richard had a salad if smoked Scottish salmon with saffron potatoes and marinated tomatoes with lemon vinaigrette dressing.

We finished it up with an assortment cheeses and some dessert wine. Not a bad meal I have to say! 



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Lake palace continued…

So this morning I could not pass up a long soak it this beautiful tub. 

Then came breakfast.

First of all as most of you know I would never eat a donut… But this morning I couldn’t resist. First of all it had pink frosting and sprinkles, but also silver leaf.

Then we took a walk to explore a bit more of the hotel. 

And the valet parking
A very pretty pink flower.  

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Lake palace

I can’t even begin to explain how beautiful this place is…

Our room
Our sitting area
Our view
The  gardens
The dancers in the lobby
Our welcome drink after having arriving by boat only to have rose petals showered on us. 

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A few updates as to what we have been up to

A few updates:


A Day Out in Gurgaon

Today we went to a suburb of Delhi to the house of Mohan, the owner of Travelscope which has been organizing all of our hotels, guides and transport.  We were treated to a wonderful demonstration of Indian home cooking by his wife and mother which became lunch.  The food was delicious.

Train to Jaipur and Amber Fort

We had an early start this morning with a 4 hour train journey to Jaipur at 6am.  The scenery on the way was magnificent.  After arriving in Jaipur we visited the impressive Amber Fort in the hills above Jaipur.  We stopped for a late lunch at the delightful and picturesque Samode Haveli before being taken to our hotel to relax. We had a lovely evening enjoying the view and chatting with Peggy and David over a couple of cold beers and snacks.

Jaipur Bazaars and Elephant Riding

Today we started with a visit to a local market.  After some haggling Richard bought a traditional indian man’s outfit.  We were then taken to an old solar and lunar observatory with instruments built out of stone in the 17th century.  Afterwards we visited the house of a local cultural and culinary historian where we were treated to a lecture on the origins of traditional Rajasthani cuisine followed by a cooking demonstration by his daughter in law, which soon became a wonderful lunch.  After another stop at a bazaar we ended the day with an elephant ride at sunset followed by dinner.  We both fed the elephants bananas before our ride so that our elephant would give us a smooth ride!


Chattrasagar

We were taken by bus to our new hotel out in the middle of the Rajasthan countryside.  On the way we stopped at a shop to refresh ourselves with some masala chai and chocolate!  The standard of driving left a lot to be desired…  Upon arrival we were shown to our tent atop a dam with wonderful views over a lake and plain where we could see world antelope, boar and birds going about their business.  We relaxed with a beer before going on a lovely late afternoon game walk.

Chattrasagar Day 2

It was freezing when we woke up but the beautiful sunrise did not stop us from taking tea out on the patio before breakfast.  We were taken on a morning excursion through the fields and into the village where we learned about the farming methods used in the area and the village way of life, which has been largely unchanged.  We visited a school, a shepherds house and a potter.



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