Recliners in a Movie Theatre?

The last few days have been jammed packed with some crazy things. Let's see, where to begin...

On Friday my roommate and I decided to go down to Delhi. Right now there’s a giant, four month festival going on an hour or so from here (at the train stop before ours), meaning that train tickets are very hard to come by these days. After scouring the internet for train tickets, we were finally able to come across two tickets for Sunday night. The only problem was that when I booked the tickets I was confirmed, but he was on the wait list. We decided to go anyways.

Sunday evening rolled around and we headed to the train station. Luckily, he was moved off the waitlist and we found our cabin. The two of us had a nice little room to ourselves with a set of bunk beds and much more room than usual, even in comparison to other first class cabins (which usually have four people to a room). The train ride was very uneventful, and we arrived in Delhi just after 8 the next morning. After trying unsuccessfully to get a flat rate autorickshaw we finally went to the street and did some bargaining. A 45 minute rickshaw ride took us to a friend’s house where we cleaned up, had a nice cup of coffee and took a quick nap.

For lunch we had KFC, and man, I’d forgotten just how much I like fried chicken. It didn’t compare to Southern Classic in Ruston, but it was still so good. After lunch we headed to the mall where we had good coffee and then went to the movie. We bought Gold Class tickets to watch Alice in Wonderland.

A Gold Class movie was definitely a new experience for me. As Gold Class ticket holders (they make you sound so important) we went into our own little waiting room that looks more like a club than a movie theatre. There they gave us apple juice in champagne glasses while we waited for the movie. As the movie was getting ready to start we were escorted into a movie theatre full of leather recliners! We were given blankets (because even though it was 99 degrees in Delhi they managed to keep this place frigid), and there was little button you could press to have a waiter bring you a coke and popcorn or something off of their full menu of items! We watched Alice in Wonderland in 3D, which I thought was really good, and the only downfall to the experience is your waiter comes around right at the end of the movie to give you your bill. All in all though, it was definitely the most unique movie experience I’ve ever had.

After the movie we headed to Hard Rock Café where I indulged in a bacon cheeseburger covered with barbeque sauce. Mmm… the first hamburger I’d had in 6 months, and it was delicious! After dinner we went back down to a little coffee shop where I splurged again and got a big slice of cheesecake. Nothing like taking advantage of getting what we don’t have here!

Monday morning came too soon, and we were up bright and early to head back home. Because of the train situation we booked a taxi to take us the 8 hours back. This time there were 5 of us in the car, and our driver was the craziest driver I’ve ever had, in India or out. What is supposed to be an 8 hour trip ended up only taking around 5 including a 30+ minute break for tea! More often than not we were all grabbing for anything hoping that we wouldn’t hit the cars and people he was running off the road. There were several close calls (we’re talking millimeters here people), but somehow we managed to get back in one piece.

After another quick nap, we all headed out to a friend’s village for dinner where we were treated to another feast. And then I came home and crashed. After all of this food over the last few days, I’ve got to get back to the gym ASAP.

Most of the places we went don't let you have a camera, so I left it at home this round. It was a quick, tiring trip, but it was good. It was nice to get away, even just for a day, and to have a chance to get a few tastes of home we can’t find up here.