Republic Day

Today is Republic Day. Most government buildings are closed, but many of the shops and restaurants are still open. It is a day when India celebrates the joining of several kingdoms into a single nation. India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947 and became a nation in 1956.

I was on holiday today, so Mary and I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, read our Bibles and worked on BSF in the lobby, then we got a car and hit the streets of Bangalore.

We started our adventure today on Commercial street. I was looking for some sandals I could wear instead of the boots I had been wearing most days. We stopped at a store called Health and Glow to get some suntan lotion and we wound up buying some nail polish and a curling iron as well.

Our next stop was a clothing store because I needed some new shirts. After looking through many piles of shirts, I picked out four and bought them. Each was around 295 Rupees (or $6.80). When I got back to the hotel, I found that 2 are too tight and will have to return them.

As we moved up the street we noticed it was getting busier (human and vehicular). I stopped in a few shoe shops but was determined to follow the driver's advice and turn the corner at the end of the street to hit the real bargains. We went into a small shoe shop where one guy sat us down, and I told him what I wanted. He yelled up into the ceiling where a young boy was who was in charge of finding the right size and dropping it down. The store was actually larger up in the ceiling than down where we were. I got some nice leather sandals.

We went a bit further and tooks some photos of a large catholic church and some of the statuary around it.

After we got back to our car, we had the driver take us to the Ebony restaurant. It is on the 13th floor of a building and gives a great view of the city. Our waiter took us around to other balconies on the building so we could get good photos of the city. You will see some of them and in fact did if you looked at any of the photos above.

Well, the food was excellent. I got Indian food and Mary Italian. We both got the wonderful lime soda (sweet and salty). Sure like that place. When you eat there, you don't need to eat supper!