Under Pressure

Wednesday : Our hotel continues to deliver. The double glazing works and there is very little noise. Now and again there is the bonus of a Metro train rumbling by underneath. After a good nights sleep we are ready once more for the fray. We opt out of breakfast at the attached Amici Cafe and get a couple of muffins to go. We walk back down to Lajpat Nagar, finding a shorter rouite this time. We have a very specific list. Extra leggings for R's new SK, some mehendi decoration for one of R's hands and a pressure cooker.

Only one or two places are open at 10 a.m. but more open as we watch. The leggings, with a perfect colour match, are quickly sorted and the mehendi follows quite soon afterwards. By the time this is done the kitchenware shops are starting to open and we close in on our quarry.  "Prestige madam. Has very good name in India" Not just India. D's mother's old pressure cooker is used as a soup pot and that must be at least 30 years old. We settle on a 2 litre, rounded shape model. It is going to be used primarily for cooking dal. The best part was when the man told us the price then said "15% discount".

Although it is not that hot today some local residents were getting in a bit of sunbathing. Most of the cars on this street seemed to have a dog shaped hollow in the roof.

We stache our loot back at the hotel. Packing it is tomorrow's problem. Next on the agenda is lunch with a friend from India Mike and our travels last year. This involves a trip on the Metro out to Gurgaon, a rapidly growing satellite city to the south west of Delhi proper. The hotel has a FREE hourly shuttle bus to various useful locations including a station on the direct line to Gurgaon, which saves us money and time. These people deserve your business. 

The trip is uneventful and N is waiting for us as we exit the metro. We take a 15 minute stroll in the sunshine to a retail park where there are a couple of brew pubs and opt for the one that we didn't try last year. We shoot the breeze and N orders the beer. No half measures here. We get round to food - hummus and some nice spicy kebabs. The mega beer lasts 3 hours without any slouching on our part. Eventually it is time to go. The train is quite full but we are offered seats which we accept gratefully. The sky is looking quite threatening over to the west but we make it home safely.

After a rest and a shower we try to make up our minds about what to do this evening. The arrival of a thunderstorm makes up our minds for us. We order a pizza from the in house cafe and watch the telly as the rain lashes down.