Leanne's Birthday Outing

Leanne's Birthday fell on a Tuesday and as I was owed some time off work we decided to spend the day sightseeing. Our first stop was lunch at a popular Chinese Restaurant in the city centre. We ate until we could eat no more and although Daisy managed to eat an enormous amount, she managed to get a far larger amount of food on the floor. You can see in the photo above that the high-chairs in the restaurant were simply chairs that are high. It's a sign that she's growing up that she can sit in a chair like that for a long period without toppling out.


After lunch we headed out to Bangalore Palace. It's said to be modelled on Windsor Castle and once inside it has a real sense of faded glory. We weren't sure at first whether we could look around as our trusty Lonely Planet guide said it was closed to visitors. This seems to be a bit out of date however as we were quickly issued with a guide and given a tour. Our reciept was made out to "Two Foreigners" which is probably the first time we've not had our names misspelt on a reciept so far!!



We're supposed to pay 500RS to take photos but our guide was happy for us to take one or two as we went around. When we get visitors we'll visit again and take more. The one below is a ballroom and it's one of the best preserved parts of the building. Just outside this room was a stuffed elephant head mounted on the wall; one of the maharajah's hunting trophies.


Later on in the tour we went into the Queen's quarters (that's the maharajah's wife; not Queen Victoria) which was acting as a store room whilst renovations are taking place. In there were a number of elephant feet which had been turned onto foot stools and a stuffed elephant's trunk!

At one time the palace would have been a very grand venue, but now the walls are faded and some wings need complete renovation. One day it will be restored to it's former glory, but strangely it's now that is the best time to visit. The current renovations will turn this palace into a museum and some of the charm will be lost in the process.


This large white building is the Vidhana Soudha. You can read more about it here. I liked the part in that article that reads "It is therefore one of the largest of the Legislative buildings and impresses many visitors as larger as and more beautiful than similar buildings in Australia, the United States and even Canada." Why 'even Canada'? Are they famed for legislative buildings of particular grandeur? Perhaps that's an angle that the Canadian tourist board needs to work on..?

The photo above was taken whilst en-route to the next palace on our journey, one of the summer palaces of Tipu Sultan.

This was a small palace, mostly open to the outside with modest but attractive gardens. This was located quite close to the city centre and was more geared towards tourists.


The final stop on our journey was the Lal Bagh. This is another of Bangalore's parks and contains a glasshouse modelled on London's Crystal Palace. The park is the prettiest we've seen so far and we'll have to return sometime and spend a bit more time there. Daisy fell asleep on the drive here and woke up as we were leaving so Leanne carried her around on her shoulder. Next time we'll bring a ball and a blanket and maybe have a picnic under one of the many trees.