Mughal Gardens

Erica jumps for joy in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan

Rashtrapati Bhavan is the Presidential Residence of India.  According to Wikipedia, it is the largest residence of any head of state in the world.  It was originally built as the home of the British Viceroy when Delhi became the capital of India in the early 1900s.  The 330-acre estate includes the 15-acre Mughal Gardens, which are open free to the public in February/March every year.

Erica at the Musical Garden

One of the first stops on the Mughal Garden tour was the Musical Garden.  I absolutely love musical fountains, so I was ecstatic!  The others in my group commented that it's the only fountain they've ever seen that danced to Bollywood music.  Unfortunately, the music stopped just as I was about to record a video.

Rashtrapati Bhavan from the Mughal Gardens

From there, we moved on to the Main Garden, which is designed in the Mughal style with water canals symmetrically dividing the garden sections.  From here, we also took lots of great photos of the Rashtrapati Bhavan building.

Erica by a Mughal canal in the Main Garden

The weather was absolutely beautiful for our visit.  We seemed to have finally emerged from the Delhi winter.  Yes, we actually have winter here, although many of you will scoff at winter lows in the 40s. More importantly, the main winter pollution season has also passed and the air quality was good, the skies were blue, and the sun was warm.

Circular Garden

The final stop on the tour was the Circular Garden.  This was a section where you could actually get close to the flowers without being blocked by ropes or long expanses of grass.  Everything was in full bloom so I felt immersed in color, with flowers on both sides of the walkway.  Thank you to India's President for allowing us into your garden each spring!

Cirque du Soleil

Dorian, Erica, Maribel, and Mary practice their acrobatic moves

When I heard that Cirque du Soleil was coming to New Delhi, it was an event I did not want to miss! I've seen Cirque du Soleil before and knew they put on a fabulous performance.  This show, Bazzar, was no exception. 

Bouncy Tightrope

The picture above was what I'm calling the bouncy tightrope.  The rope was strung perhaps 3 or 4 feet off the ground.  Much of the act involved the performer bouncing high off the rope, flipping in the air, and then landing back on the rope.  In this picture, though, he's not bouncing.  He's wrapped his ankles around the rope and is balancing while hanging off the side...obviously with no hands!

One of the best things about seeing the show in New Delhi was that the tickets were cheaper than in America.  We had 3rd row seats for under $100.  It was amazing to be so close to see the performers' facial expressions and to take decent pictures.

Pole Man

I had a hard time thinking of a good name for the performer pictured above.  There was a wooden pole in the middle of the stage and he climbed up it and balanced himself in different positions.  In this picture, he's made it to the top, balancing on one hand.  I love how I snapped the picture just as the backup dancer was posed as if he was looking up at the acrobat in wonder.

Another fabulous aspect of the show was the music.  There was one man who seemed to play every imaginable instrument, from piano to horn to drums.  And there was a woman with the most amazing, powerful, thrilling singing voice.  I was mesmerized every time she appeared on stage.

Seesaw Jumpers

The seesaw jumpers bounced each other high in the air where they did flips and twists before landing back on the seesaw to return the favor to their partner.  Sometimes they were so high, they went above my camera frame.

Now to explain the first photo above.  There was no photoshopping involved!  The lobby of the arena had a photo booth with a fun spherical jungle gym.  So we climbed in - and in my case on - for an awesome group pic showing off our Cirque moves!

Cirque du Soleil Ensemble Dance