Our visit to Agra, India & the majestic Taj Mahal

[Tripatini]

Whenever I’m away from home, I often take a view from our hotel room, for social media. At Agra, I opened the curtains to behold … the golden arches of McDonalds.

Not that I really have anything against McD’s; I sometimes eat there, but it’s certainly not my eatery of choice. It’s just that their golden arches seem to intrude on beautiful scenery or architecture all over the world (except in a limited number of places such as the part of Germany we visited earlier this year, where they had to keep their logo small and unobtrusive, and not interfere with the exterior fabric of the building).

Dilip, our guide, couldn’t understand why McDonald’s came to India at all; Hindus don’t eat beef for religious reasons, and just won’t eat pork - in fact, he said, a good percentage of Hindus are vegetarian. Maybe it’s there for the tourists, of which Agra sees many, or maybe local people like to pop in for a coffee, and take advantage of the free WiFi.

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