My Diana Moment- Day 8 Indian Holiday

We were up at the crack of dawn again this morning and onto the Shatabdi express train from Delhi to Agra, arriving in time for breakfast at our next hotel.
Agra is not a beautiful place, dirtier and poorer than one could expect for a city housing the splendid Taj Mahal and the Mogul Agra Fort.

Of course I had to have my Diana moment on the very stone bench on which the royal bottom was sat.
The only difference was the whole place was not cleared for my appearance and instead heaved with tourists and school children.

The photo was taken by a photographer and really doesn't do justice to the stunning whiteness of the marble used in the building. With the formal gardens in front, it is indeed an amazing monument for a husband to create to house his wife's tomb.
His Lordship has told me that he is not minded to follow suit should I pop my clogs before him.

We dutifully filed into the interior around the tomb, and that was incredibly unpleasant - dark and claustrophobic with hundreds of people all pushing and shoving while attendants blew whistles to hurry everyone along. With the crush, it was impossible to see anything at all.

In the afternoon, we paid a visit to a workshop where craftsmen were making marble goods inlaid with precious stones in the same manner as was used in the Taj Mahal.
The children's inheritance was further reduced by the purchase of a lovely inlaid marble table decoration, which will come in handy as a blip on a day of meagre pickings.

Later there was yet another visit to a Fort, this time the famous red Agra fort where the Mogul who had the Taj Mahal built was later imprisoned for life by his eldest son, the same son who also killed all his brothers to that he alone could rule.
It puts dysfunctional families into perspective!