Lal Baugh

Today we went to a Botanical Garden called Lal Baugh. It was so beautiful and peaceful. The boys did really well considering we were walking around looking at trees and flowers for 2 hours:) So to finish off our tour we ate ice cream. There are lots of pictures of the beautiful orange trees that are in bloom right now.
Yesterday Melissa and I got to go on a girls' trek to Commercial Street which consists of rows of streets with anything and everything for sale. Melissa was looking for fabric (beautiful and cheap in India) and other gifts. I was looking for nothing, but ofcourse couldn't leave without buying a few fun things:) We each bought shirts made out of cool fabrics and had them tailored to our desired length (they came long). Tailors abound in Commercial street and will do alterations while you wait. We also found this really cool shoe stand--his electricity was out (which has happened everytime I've been to Comm. St. but most stores have back-up generators) so it was sort of a blessing that we couldn't see all the shoes b/c we might have bought lots more than we did:) And Melissa was overwhelmed with meters and meters of beautiful fabric! She got some good deals and great material.
Tomorrow we are flying out to Kerala--the land of coconuts, bananas, palm trees and seafood! We'll be staying in the coastal city of Ft. Cochin then setting sail on a house boat for 2 nights and then off to visit South India's largest wildlife preserve. It should be lots of fun, really hot and beautiful! I'll post pics when we return.