I saw a bumble-bee :)

Last week, my friend Swiss-Miss chided me a bit....."You have no life", she chirped! As i chuckled shamelessly, she continued, "You should enjoy life a bit, go out, have some time for yourself. Lets go to Lake Shrine this weekend".

Ah! This was not the first time that she asked me to visit this particular place. To her, this place means a lot. In her words, "Its so serene and peaceful, totally takes the stress of your mind". She always vividly decribes this place and its beauty. After my failed attempts to avoid going there, i finally gave in. I didn't want to upset a friend and given the fact that i was not feeling too well, i decided to take the plunge :).


The lake shrine indeed is a lovely place, with the lush greenery holding a beautiful lake in her lap, and its wears mostly an au naturale look.
Nestled in Pacific Palisades, near Pacific Coast Highway, this place did provide a few moments of calm, what with two lil' falls, a serene lake, swans, a variety of flowers, butterflies and even a bumble bee :). There is a service held in the morning for meditation, according to Swiss-Miss. She usually attends the same on weekends. We went there in the afternoon, so i didn't get to see what it was all about. For us, the main purpose that day was to go out and enjoy. And we did :).

The main reason my friend thought i would like this place is, ofcourse, its Indian roots/connection. The place was founded by Paramhansa Yogananda in 1950 and has Mahatma Gandhi memorial too.

These pictures are not the prettiest, but i enjoyed taking them :). It was quite adventurous though! You are not allowed to talk on your cell phone, and i clicked my pictures with a cell phone camera!! Not that i was talking, but its easy to misinterpret :).


Isn't that a pretty picture :). There were only two swans in the lake and i caught this one at the right moment. The garden is full of beautiful flowers, including roses, which are really fragrant!


And here's the picture that made my day :). A bhanwra/bumble-bee! Hadn't seen one in ages! It was a site to behold!


They even have a small suvenir shop/store. They have a great incense collection, and me being an incense lover, i did indulge a bit :). It is indeed a nice place, and we had a nice outing. After we got back to the University, we had our really late lunch at Elysee. It is a bliss to top it all with a chocolate cheese-cake, i tell you :).