Visitors - The Hall family and the return of the Butlers

Over the last few weeks we've been fortunate to welcome two sets of visitors; the Hall family and my parents (who were brave enough for a return visit).

Robin, Dorothy, Matthew and Arthur came for the weekend at the end of July, and we had such a lovely time that we forgot to take any photos!  What a missed opportunity.  As proof that they did come to India, here is a family picture at the Taj Mahal, which the Hall family visited after staying with us in Mumbai.

Dorothy, Arthur, Matthew and Robin

We beat the monsoon during their visit (which tried its best to derail us) and visited several sites in South Mumbai, including the Gandhi museum, the Gateway and we had tea at the Taj, as well as exploring the local area (Bandra Fort, Mount Mary and a good Indian massage).  Matthew and Arthur were undeterred by the heat and put our treadmill through its paces, whilst Robin rang his first handbell peal for several years to notch up the Cambridge University Guild's first peal in India.

http://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=345060

Two weeks later, we met up with my parents for a long weekend in Goa (yes, another long weekend...) at the end of their holiday exploring Delhi, Agra and Kolkata.  My father's view of India hadn't changed much, it was still dirty, but they seemed to have enjoyed the trip overall.  The weekend coincided with my Dad's birthday (Saturday) and my Mum's (Sunday) which gave the perfect excuse for a celebratory spa treatment on Sunday (me and Mum) and a few beers on every other day (for all).

We spent the weekend relaxing, including lots of swimming, table tennis, walking on the beach / visiting local sites and visiting the Taj spa.  Mum and I had a facial on her birthday and I was rather indulgent and had a pedicure too.  Phil also had a spa treatment which was a waste of time as he went for the deep tissue massage and asked for this to be as hard as possible.  He could hardly walk afterwards and didn't enjoy it very much!  The hotel ran yoga classes which I joined one morning and found challenging but fun.  Apparently I'm quite bendy which bodes well for more yoga in the future (my next project...)

A relatively sunny day in the monsoon 

An appropriate sign for a couple with a combined age of 108

We were treated to cake on my Dad's birthday by the Taj staff who secretly decorated my parents' room with towel sculptures, rose petals and a cake.  This brought back memories of our hotel lifestyle over a year ago.

More pictures to follow...