The Golden Triangle - Agra

Delhi - Agra:

After we overslept (our alarm clock didn't go off) and having almost all off the staff at the hotel (Hotel Grand Park Inn - Delhi) trying to wake us as we almost missed breakfast, we got ready and met our driver, Bhanu and our travel companion, Rajesh (or Raj in short) in the lobby.  They were understanding as we apologized and at long last we were on the road to Agra.  Raj was a blessing to have in the car with us as Bhanu's English was "slowly, slowly" as he described it.  I had a long line of questions Raj could answer and he explained a lot about religion, marriages, women's roles in India, the driving habits in India, the strange decorations in and around or under all the cars and trucks and a bit of the politics and history of the Singhs and Maharajas which fascinated me immediately.  But later about all the facts.

Halfway to Agra we were told the road is blocked, but Bhanu took a chance and we drove on.  Big message boards across the very neat and quiet highway displayed messages that we didn't fully understood:  "Villagers something something the road." Blocking the road it seemed.  Raj and Bhanu also wasn't keen to explain even though Rajesh's English was very good.  The rest of the highway was dead empty as all other vehicles weren't taking the chance and left us with a deserted, almost ghostly clean road.  As we came to the blockade, the soldiers let us through.   Women in beautiful, bright saris were huddled together, in a circle, in the middle of the road.   Rajesh then explained  that someone was run over and all the villagers came to the road to pay their respects (and to show their dismay).  It was beautiful and sad to see at the same time.  Beautiful because of all the bright, beautiful saris, sad because of the death surrounding them.

We saw a lot of women walking barefoot in the road and Raj explained that the day we arrived in India was the last day of one of the Hindu festivals where pilgrimage to the temples takes place. 

Agra

Agra is situated on the banks of the river Yamuna.  Nothing seemed to be completed.  Agra seemed like a pile of rubble but with a twist.  Waiting in traffic I got a chance to take some pictures of the locals:

The Agra Fort, one of the three UNESCO world heritage sites in Agra: 

With a beautiful view of the Taj Mahal:

Next stop the Taj Mahal...

Namaste! Welcome to India: New Dehli

“Namaste!”  Welcome.  Holding both hands in a prayer like position in front of your face and bowing your head slightly.  Welcome to India!  We were greeted with warmth and open-hearted friendliness.  We realized, with great pleasure, we were back in Asia…

I had this idea about Dehli as suffocating, the heat unbearable, pollution, half-limped beggars not letting you out of their sight and a concrete jungle that would pollute my soul.  But I was quite surprised to find (yes, a bit of the above) a lot of trees, green shrubbery and parks, beautiful monuments, laughing men stopping in the middle of a traffic circle to chat or just to say hi, beautiful women in colorful, bright saris which swoosh around the bells on their ankles as they walk.  Children dressed in neat school clothes on their way to school,”tuc-tucs” hooting around every corner (and every other moving vehicle for that matter).  But the noise didn’t agitate or irritate.  Instead, it welcomed, embraced and enriched the senses.   And so did the rest of India. 

Paharganj - this photo represents India for me:  the hustle and bustle, the sounds, the smells, every tangible object moving and me, the observer, caught in the middle of it all, being absorbed by it all.

The heart of Dehli

We explored the heart of Dehli on our first day and found green parks, lush trees and a lot of wreckless driving...



Rajpath (King's Way), stretching from India Gate to the president palace.  Lined on both sides by green lawns and trees. 

India Gate - commemorates Indian soldiers who lost their lives in World War 1

The Lotus temple

The Qutab Minar 

The Qutab Minar - 72.5 meter red sandstone tower

Paharganj 

Paharganj is a bustling market place, ideal for backpackers with affordable hotels, restaurants and shops.  Diwali (the 5 day Hindu festival of lights) was just around the corner and all the stalls and shops were selling lights, candles and accessories transforming the streets into a festive hub.
We used this spot to do all our shopping for family and friends back home.  Really affordable clothes, shoes, leather products, beautiful embroideries and jewellery can be found. 

 

 

Secondhand... unpublished..

THE IDEA BEHIND SIMPLY SUBLIME

THE IDEA BEHIND SIMPLY SUBLIME

After living abroad for two years, seeing different fashion trends in different countries and exploring different markets... I find myself caught up in the middle of the newest and most exciting fashion trend... Secondhand.
It's old, its new, it's vintage, it's decorative, it's inspiring, it's improvisation, it's.... used. But with a bohemian/retro/vintage touch.

"From frocks to socks to records and costume jewelry, purchases are almost cooler if used." -Regina W Bryan (Secondhand shopping streets in Barcelona)

I love the feeling of rummaging through clothes and imagining it has a history.
"Where have you been, O pink lace top? Paris?"
I love finding something great. That one item my wardrobe lacked, until now...

I love spending my time in a Secondhand shop with all its interesting objects and things (besides clothes): belts, boots, teacups, furniture, accessories... I love finding a handbag that looks just like the one my grandmother used to have (I remember because her photos are part of my childhood memories).

I love being a bit daring, a bit silly and a bit adventurous when buying, and then wearing, my new, interesting item.

After living abroad for two years, seeing different fashion trends in different countries and exploring different markets... I find myself caught up in the middle of the newest and most exciting fashion trend... Secondhand.
It's old, its new, it's vintage, it's decorative, it's inspiring, it's improvisation, it's.... used. But with a bohemian/retro/vintage touch.

"From frocks to socks to records and costume jewelry, purchases are almost cooler if used." -Regina W Bryan (Secondhand shopping streets in Barcelona)

I love the feeling of rummaging through clothes and imagining it has a history.
"Where have you been, O pink lace top? Paris?"
I love finding something great. That one item my wardrobe lacked, until now...

I love spending my time in a Secondhand shop with all its interesting objects and things (besides clothes): belts, boots, teacups, furniture, accessories... I love finding a handbag that looks just like the one my grandmother used to have (I remember because her photos are part of my childhood memories).

I love being a bit daring, a bit silly and a bit adventurous when buying, and then wearing, my new, interesting item.

When living in South Korea, a weekend in Seoul presented us with more than a few secondhand markets. Finding interesting garments in a pile was more than fun, it was an adventure. I found clothes, eg. skirts, dresses, t-shirts for myself, and my mom and sister back home, for less than R20 (2Euro). A bargain!

Secondhand market - Seoul

"As Americans look for ways to cut spending, they are scooping up bargain clothes, accessories, toys and furniture once owned by someone else. According to the article, 70% of adults surveyed last summer say that buying used is now more socially acceptable than it was a decade ago. Buying used has always been socially acceptable to me. I got in the habit of shopping at thrift stores during high school. It was the only way I could afford to add to my wardrobe." - Embracing the Thrift-Store Ethic: 18 Top Tips for Buying Used Clothes

London is the mecca for Secondhand shopping. The famous Portobello Road Market, one of London's notable street markets, known for its second-hand clothes and antiques, is one of my favorite secondhand markets I've been to. From old paintings, to china, to cutlery, to shoes... The Mecca for secondhand goods.

Secondhand & antique market - Portobello Road London

One of my recent favorite markets is the Monastiraki secondhand and antique market in Athens, Greece, right under the Acropolis. This was the most interesting market I've ever been to. Here you can find handcrafts made by the locals or real interesting antique jewellery, shoes, clothes or books... mostly anything. I loved the ruggedness of it all: The old suitcase filled with old postcards or stamps; finding a beautifully gemmed earring (but, O there's only one - because of the burglars, the woman tells me - I wonder wich one...), or just a metal piece as small as my hand with a Roman Catholic heart carved in. Rough, rugged, but so very, very interesting and odd. I could find tons of things here to put in my home. If only I had the luggage space...

Secondhand market - Athens Greece

Athens - Old suitcase

Rugged but nice - Athens

While living in Sweden one of the things that I love most about the Swedes are their fashion sense. Or no fashion sense. Their absolute "We don't care what we wear." And they look ravishing! Absolutely interesting! They mix old, new, vintage, retro, bohemian into such a delightful cocktail that I just want more and more of their fashion sense and styles! I've learned a lot after studying and doing research on their secondhand markets and shops. And what I found amazing was just how easily the Swedes can give up their unwanted goods. They all do it for a cause or a charity, which is wonderful. Visiting Secondhand and vintage shops in Gothenburg was a pleasure as "reaping the benefits" is not a cliché here. Bargain upon bargain and quality upon quality awaits you in these shops. There are many of these kind of shops, as this is the new trend in Sweden: Wear whateva! And I love it!

There are different kinds of secondhand shops: the cute, small, smells like my grandmother's house and that's the charm - shops which usually sells antiques and rusty looking furniture. The idea here is to rummage through the mess while having a blast. The only guideline here is "be retro"! Search through each rack, look for that special item. The customers are a wild mix of young people, retro clothing addicts and older people clinging to their youth. An eclectic mix.

Secondhand & antique shop in Haga, GothenburgEmmaüs - the biggest Secondhand chain in SwedenThe second kind of secondhand shop is examples like Emmaüs. This is one of the bigger secondhand chains. It is cheap and abundantly stocked. Every Thursday, the shop is restocked and it is not surprising to see it overcrowded. But it is a fun, over-indulging and (maybe) over-splurging experience. Heaps and heaps of handbags and belts are always on sale and it is a pleasure to rummage through these kind of piles. Here and there an expensive item can be found, eg. a designer label or two.  

Now in SA a new craving awaits...

she of the sun-kissed frangipani... by smitaanand

It's summertime and I found this poem relevant...

·         by smitaanand

http://allpoetry.com/smitaanand

the summer's elastic daylight
finally wraps up its realms of gold,
as tall silhouettes of trees
blessed with lush verdure and avian chirps,
stretch themselves over
technicolor bosom of crepuscule,
etching a rippling chiaroscuro
over the visage of sapphire lake.

the mangoes wink
at the sun that retreats on
footprints of glowing amaranths of red,
indifferent to forlorn droop of sunflowers;
and cicadas begin quaint threnodies
on reverberating strings of cellos,
while fireflies of aster-face
twinkle as plucked constellations of wishes
on the stalks of slumbering bushels.

mascara-tinted clouds enshroud
the darkening face of the once azure sky,
pregnant with raindrops' emotion,
thunder's heart wrenching cries of endurance
and with lingering whim of a rainbow,
this is a prologue to summer's rain.

she of the sun-kissed frangipani
that hides a glowworm of fluorescence
within its petals of sublime,
paints with colors of twilight on
the sublime breast of sailing, soaring clouds
etching variegated characters,
that whisper their own tales to rising stars.

she of the sun-kissed frangipani,
gathers stardust on fingertips of intrigue
from the vacuum of infinite,
to sprinkle as dream-seeds on eyelids
closed with hope of sweet siesta,
filling moonlight in secret cisterns
to polish her gorgeous smiles.

she collected night jasmines
of insomniac smiles from myriad octopus limbs,
in her skirt frills to scatter on threshold of tomorrow,
through her sparkling irises of amber
peeps her soul that tenderly caresses
all my faults, mistakes, errors
erasing them from the window pane
of bittersweet existence...

Last Roadtrip... Looking back

As we celebrated our one year stay in Sweden we took a drive down one of my favorite places in Sweden, the countryside. We drove along the 180 road to Alingsås and found the most amazing villages and towns along the way!  The lakes in the countryside were still frozen! Driving along the many lakes outside of Gothenburg and seeing a figure or two ice-skating on it, was truly remarkable.  In Gothenburg all the snow and ice already melted away into the abyss of the winter and forgotten memories of snow was packed away into my camera's memory.  But in the countryside people still risked (or knew their lakes) skating on thin ice in the early spring sun. 

I was completely taken aback by the small, but lively town of Alingsås.  A church, a square, small, cute shops and beautiful waterways surrounding the town and meeting the lake on the outskirts.  This town has a truly Swedish vibe to it.  And I have to say the cleanest town I've ever been in.  The streets are perfectly sweeped and the houses and shops perfectly painted in pastel and the swedish-red colored buildings.  The church is quaint and inviting and the streets a dream to wonder about. 

I've recently read the poems of Karin Boye, the famous Swedish poet and writer who committed suicide and who's body was found close to Alingsås. Knowing this while visiting Alingsås, I imagined I felt a deep contentment, a deep respect for the unknown and a deep appreciation for life.

Statue of Karin Boye in Gothenburg, Sweden