My day in London with Bertie, Sumeet and Jonathan was great! We met up at Euston Station and went to a place called Boxpark for lunch. It’s a restaurant and retail space made from shipping containers. It’s really neat and full of so many food options: burgers, drinks, Asian cuisines and Mediterranean to name a few.

I loved seeing the guys, and we picked up like no time had passed. Reminiscing on our time in China and also catching each other up on the last few years. I had forgotten how tall Bertie is, I’m surprised he could see me in the train station!

After a couple hours, we split and I went back to the airport for my 9 hour flight to Mumbai. I made it here!

I checked in to my hotel and proceeded to shower and then nap before meeting up with some people from my program who also arrived early. We met in the evening to walk to the water to watch the sun set before dinner.

We watched the sun set from an area called Queen’s Necklace, and thousands of others had the same idea! The road along the water curves like a “C” and is called that because the streetlights at night shine like a necklace.

After the sunset, we walked toward the restaurant for dinner, Koyla. Along the way, Ayla, Andrea and I noticed a beautiful flower entrance and people dressed as if they were going to a wedding…they were! As we neared the entrance, Ayla somehow struck up conversation with a man named Rajesh who invited her, with Andrea and I following, inside.

Security stopped him and he goes, “They’re with me.” AWESOME!

This was a wedding reception, the third part of a traditional Indian wedding. Rajesh told us that this reception is about 1000 guests: family, friends, and business people connected to the family. He offered us poori, which I can best compare to a large soup nut that you then fill and eat with a soup/sauce. I chose the sweet soup option. It’s small enough to pop into your mouth in one bite. It was delicious!!! Ayla and Andrea tried the spicy one and we concluded we enjoyed the sweeter soup more.

Rajesh said we couldn’t go without trying dessert and he led us to the ice cream “booth” at the reception. The three of us tried the chocolate brownie charcoal and the Irish coffee charcoal flavors. It was fair, to be honest. I don’t understand the trend of charcoal in food, and although we got different flavors, it still tasted the same.

We thanked Rajesh and left, but not without some photos!

Koyla was around the corner and we made it to dinner on time, despite the detour! The food was good and we unofficially started the program as there were nine of us at dinner.

I ordered the Rogan Josh, a lamb dish. It came out spicy! I’m not sure why I thought it wouldn’t. I think I handled the medium heat well and gave my tastebuds a sample of what the rest of the trip will be like.

Tomorrow is a big day! We’ll start the trip at noon followed by a traditional Indian lunch as we orient ourselves to Mumbai, the culture and history, and each other.