Rainy Sunday at the Red Fort

Last Sunday T and I headed into the Red Fort, even though the rain has decided it's time to make a serious appearance. In retrospect it was a great time to head in there as it was relatively quiet and a pretty relaxing place to spend a couple of hours.

The Red Fort is pretty high up there on the list of things to see when you come to Delhi, and I can see why the facade is seriously impressive.


Rainy Sunday outside the Red Fort





Entrance inside the fort to the markets



So as not to plagiarise I will leave the explanation of the history of the Red Fort to Wikipedia. 

However, just recently there was an article that explained that the Red Fort actually had some buildings that were white. Therefore in some recent restoration work they are transforming the buildings back to their original appearance and making them white. This decision is causing some controversy!



'White' Fort

Unfortunately the grounds of the Red Fort aren't quite as beautiful as the outside suggests. The garden has potential to be absolutely amazing and you can see that it used to be a place with magnificent ponds, waterways and manicured gardens. In among all the old Indian monuments you can also see where the British put their footprint and it provides a pretty interesting/disappointing contrast.



Indian architecture with British barracks in the background



We did stop by the museum but only briefly as it was very, very hot and fans just don't cut it in this heat. It has lots of pictures and 3D displays but explanation was left to my imagination in some cases, plus I was just too hot to worry too much, might need another visit in winter. 




Museum depiction of India's history

 My favourite part of the Red Fort were these beautiful archways, they provided a stunning frame to the greenery and also to all the colourful sari's - just beautiful. Unfortunately I only managed to get a photo of people walking through in pretty mundane threads.

Another view of the stunning archways

I also loved the marble of the pavilions - very glarey on a cloudy Delhi day but stunning and full of intricate artwork.

After a few hours meandering around the fort it was time to leave. I am so glad we got there early...... the queue when we were leaving was insane. As with all Delhi monuments the security can delay entry and in this case the women were taking a particularly long time to get through the gates. Go early to monuments if you can, Delhi-ites tend to be late risers.




Very glad we were exiting not entering

After the Fort, T and I headed into Connaught Place to eat at the legendary 'United Coffee House'. I had heard alot about this place and it had recently appeared in Time Out Delhi. The decor is something from a long lost era. There was a man at the table next door who was taken his elderly mother out for lunch which was very sweet, there were children running amok and tourists drinking latte. The restaurant itself was full of glitz and sparkle.

United Coffee House, Connaught Place

We each had a nimbu pani 'lemonade' then shared a UCH non-vege Club sandwich, mutton samosa and a naan bread.

UCH Club sandwich and a mutton samosa

It was average to be honest and certainly wouldn't be racing back for the food but the ambiance was lovely and it would be a nice spot to chill out with a coffee.

So we paid the bill, chewed our mukhwas and headed for home.