exploring an amazing fort and a palace of winds

 we just had to explore Amber Fort 

it truly is impressive and amazing

takes a good chunk out of your exploring time because it's huge

and the more tourists - the longer the time needed

being november tourist season has started - we could tell !

(sometimes I forget that I also count as a tourist....hahaha me ?

I look and talk like a local don't I ?)

my lovely daughter

if you want to see more pictures from the fort or from Hava Mahal be sure to have a look in the labels

must do in Rajasthan

the most clicked picture from Jaipur....the Hava Mahal - Palace of Winds exterior

to the top you have to climb a couple of floors

like the ladies in the old times....having a peek out into the streets without being seen

they could not have been very big.....

another great shot of a great daughter

to me Jaipur looks like a Christmas ginger bread house

called the pink city but more ginger snap coloured I think !

the traffic in Jaipur is as bad as everywhere else in India

 we had yet another fantastic day though

Mental images

they promised us spring weather all week

this morning it was cold and rainy.....again !!!

so while driving to work in the cold pouring rain 

I replaced the "live stream" with some mental images of a much nicer morning

early morning stop at Jal Mahal in Jaipur, Rajasthan 

magical morning mist 

it's a really good thing to work with mental pictures actually

you should  try it 

Life in and around Hawa Mahal in the morning

today I'm offering you a mix of pictures from in and around Hawa Mahal, 

Palace of Winds in Jaipur...

it's a mix of pictures of morning life actually..

you see, the front of Hawa Mahal has got ot be

 one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the world and since I have been here before and also showed you pictures before I decided to give you some different pictures...

so here goes...

good morning Jaipur

malla vendors are always up and doing business early

transports of all kind..

people reading the morning paper is a common sight...or should I say men 

reading because I didn't see any women actually....

zoom in and have a look at the wonderful pantings in the haveli up the stairs...

the famous Hawa Mahal, Palace of Winds front...well, at least a part of it..

beautiful pattern...

named so because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could look at street festivities while unseen from the outside....built in 1799 !

modern and typical Rajasthan way of dressing..

on the way to the entrance you walk by this beautiful temple....a very pink temple...

so beautifully painted...morning paper... again men....

and ooops ! I saw the sign now when preparing the post...

haha, no photography....

the entrance into the Palace of Winds...

when the sun light enters the room lights up with a spectrum of all colours...

as in all palaces I've seen it's full of handprinted decor...doors, windows etc

a close-up of the door...

standing on the courtyard looking up....in the back you see the back of the front...

the yard holds a big water fountain...but it was not up and squirting today....

lots of coloured windows all throughout the palace...

jharoka, a latticed window....

you can walk all the way up into the front building....

here we are almost at the top but in one of the wings....

I saw so many many details that I liked...

finally I'm at the top and looking out into the streets of Jaipur...

it's a busy city with so much traffic...they have actually started to build some kind of metro...

and that's so good...

here I'm looking into one of the havelis close by...

zoom in and once again you'll find paintings on the walls

streetlight from above

Mr G having a moment with the other elderly people....

he wanted to get going to Janta Mantar so out we walked...

on the way to school....

to work...

a donkey trying to find something to eat...

the bread vendor was open for business..

a morning discussion over the milk cans...

who would imagine that ordinary life in the morning could be so interesting !

All about block printing at Anokhi museum

I thought that Mr and Mrs G would appreciate to see and learn about block printing at 

Anokhis museum in Amber....and they did...tjoho !!

the old haveli is such a wonderful place...wouldn't mind having a house like that....

Anokhi museum is right by Kheri gate in Amber..

beautiful isn't it ?

it's the same pink colour as everywhere in Jaipur...I find it to be more peach...

love the floor....

the block maker...interesting to see the skills needed to do this...

it looked so easy when he hammered, chiseled and hand drilled the pattern...

it takes four different blocks to make this

one pattern.....

we each got a small block, a flower, when we left him..

then we walked over to the printer..and it was also the same guy as last time I was here..

everything he does looks so easy peasy...

my friend, the art teacher got to try...it sure looks like he's thinking "oh no" doesn't it....

she did so good though...he did help out a little...it was good team work...

between every colour he was really particulate with cleaning the blocks...with a brush...

second layer...

just a little help was all that was needed...

another block...this time Mrs G had to hit it hard.....

she also learned the technique in the dipping of the block...

dots was the fourth layer...

green in the flower was the next layer and 

 then finally the red colour in the flower....

so much fun to see and he's such a skilled printer...

our gifts to bring back home !!

then we walked downstairs to the shop and of course did some shopping...

we even ended up going to the Anokhi store in Jaipur....and did some more shopping !

so much fun... 

they really make nice things.