More Lucknow Tourism

I meant to post this sooner, but I have a cold* and it took me longer than usual to put together complete sentences...

It was a lot of fun getting to show Megan the best of Lucknow ... and what isn't more Lucknavi than chikan, kebabs and monuments...

I'll admit up front that I wasn't being a very good photo journalist during our forays, mostly because I was having too much fun ...can't fault me for that.

Our first stop was shopping for some traditional Lucknow Chikan. Here's a great example from the India Mike site.

It is very fine embroidery work ... this is an example of a sort of lacy white-on-white table cloth. You can see in the background that the color pallet is typically pastels/light colors ... mostly because (particularly for clothing in this style) you're trying to beat the heat. Think: "guayaberas" ... only take that style and apply it to women's and children's clothing, and house hold linens as well...

We stopped in Lucknow's famous perfumery shop, which was a trip. It felt like I was in a 19th century alchemist's laboratory...


Obviously, we couldn't have Megan in Lucknow without visiting Tunday Kebabs ... Lucknow's most famous kebab's "restaurant**"

Megan cried - literally tears came out of her eyes - when she took her first bite***
She's obviously been in Varanasi too long.

Next stop was for kulfi - the best substitute for ice cream here... scratch that, it might replace ice cream in my mind if only because it doesn't have nearly as many preservatives as our beloved american sweet does. How do I know this? Because the shop we went to only has one flavor - the flavor of the day, literally the flavor of kulfi they decided to make that day. We lucked out and caught them on pista (pistachio) day.

Those are rice noodles there on the top - I don't really understand it as a garnish because it didn't really add much to the flavor of the kulfi, but maybe it is just a texture thing...
(shrug)

And lastly, no trip to Lucknow is complete without seeing the monuments.

These structures never cease to amaze me. They are massive - they seem to stretch on forever. There is no shade and hence no one visits ... or rather, I don't know if anyone is allowed in. We got there around 10am and the sun was already beating down on us ... we like the other handful of "tourists" there (maybe 5 other people taking pictures) stood at the edge, got our shots, and headed off to the shade. It was described as "like Egyptian pyramids" ... which are literally tombs ... which given the lack of anything living in the vicinity doesn't seem that far off ...

I just feel so sorry for the guards.




All in all, not a bad tour if I do say so myself
(insert confident smirk here)

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* No, seriously, who gets a cold in 100 degree weather?

** I'm being a bit generous here. Yes there were tables and waiters who took our orders, but it was more like eating at a fast food joint ... grease covered walls and everything.

*** Sorry for outing you Meg, but that story was too good not to share