Restless Prairie Girl

Here is another segment on my trip to India in the winter of 2007..mostly taken from my journal.   Tuesday January 30 th  -  Woke up very early to get to the Taj Mahal by 6:30 a.m.   Words cannot describe the Taj - it is much better than in pictures and the detail on the building is amazing.   The interior of the building was fantastic as well - way below the ground are the tombs of Shahjahan & Mumtaz Mahal.    Shahjahan built the Taj in his wife's memory when she died after the birth of their 14 th  child. (yikes!!! I think I'd roll over and croak too)    The original plan was for her tomb to be in the white Taj and he would be entombed in a black twin version of the Taj. Unfortunately, he was imprisoned by his son in the Red Fort (which we visited that afternoon) and spent the rest of his life gazing across the river at the Taj Mahal.    I was so lucky to see such a beautiful tribute to love and visiting it was truly one of the highlights of my life.   It is unbelievably

Celebrating a birthday in London was one of those things I dreamed about doing one day.  Only there was a problem! My birthday is in mid-July; a time when I usually want to be at home.  I am not a fan of crowds (now that I'm old) and let's face it; July is crowded in most tourist spots around the world.  I also enjoy every moment of our short summer season on the prairies. Yep, summer is home time.   Last year however I decided to stay on after my cousin flew home from England after our three weeks bopping around the UK. I explored Scandinavia during June (Land of the Midnight Sun and all) and mid-July was only a few weeks after that... My friend Judi who lives on the south coast of England celebrates her birthday a few days before me and we always talked of celebrating our birthdays together.  July was the only month I hadn't been in the UK so I needed to fix that too!  Okay my mind was made up - I would have my birthday in London!  So that's how I found myself waking