Friday, October 15, 2010

Games Tourists Explored City on Foot

The public holiday on Thursday offered tourists the perfect opportunity to head out and explore the city. With the usual maddening crowd staying off the roads all markets and offices were shut on account of the Games closing ceremony most visitors went sightseeing and made the most of their last day in Delhi.

Fabio from Italy, who was here to help out with lighting arrangements at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, was spotted at India Gate with Simone and Patrick from Germany. Complete strangers till Wednesday, the three of them met each other at their guesthouse and decided to go around the town together.

‘‘We were all here for work and could not find the time to see our host city. But our stay has now come to an end. Markets were closed on Thursday and the roads were also empty so we decided to go sightseeing. We visited Jantar Mantar and stopped by at India Gate. We enjoyed a lot,’’ said Fabio. In some areas, even restaurants were shut and the city wore a deserted look.

The Adamsons from Scotland also decided to go sightseeing and took the hop-on, hop-off buses. ‘‘We were hard pressed for time and could not see any of the popular places in Delhi. Our stay is nearly over and we are returning to Scotland now, so we decided to visit the various tourist sites here. We liked everything about Delhi but the security was really heavy,’’ said Bill Adamson, whose son is part of the Rugby team.

Delhiites, too, managed to catch up with family and friends. Charanjeet Singh enjoyed his holiday with family in Connaught Place. ‘‘We are a joint family and hardly get time to go out together. Since Thursday was holiday, I decided to take out all the children to Akshardham after which we came to CP.’’ The huge screen installed at Inner Circle attracted many passersby. ‘‘We just saw the hockey final at Dhyan Chand Stadium. We are very proud of India despite the defeat. We came to CP and might stay longer to see the closing ceremony on the big screen.’’

For those living near Lodhi Road and Sewa Nagar, a clear view of JN Stadium from their terrace meant having guests over. Radha Sharma, a resident of Sewa Nagar Railway Colony, said her cousins from Shimla came over specially to watch the closing ceremony. ‘‘First we had guests for the opening ceremony and now more people have come to watch the closing event,’’ said Radha.

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