Going to Goa
As you will have seen from the timing of my Bombay blog I was up early this morning. Moving up and down, and from side to side, while in bed ,takes me some getting used to. I love walking and sitting with this movement, it is really relaxing. But sleeping, I keep feeling I'm going to fall out of bed. Last night in particular there was quite a heavy swell so you could feel the motion in the room. That being said Drew managed to get to sleep quickly and slept two hours longer than me. The swell of the sea also affects the showering position, you need to brace yourself in case there is a sudden movement. But it is all good fun.
Having done some e-mails, blogging and flickring I came back to the room and Drew and I went to breakfast together at 7.15 a.m. (2.45 a.m. BST). The hardest decision was which of the three eating places to go for breakfast - we choose the Club Restaurant - at breakfast there is no fixed seating, so we managed to get a table which was for just the two of us. The service was excellent, fast and attentive.
As we got back to the room we were coming into Murmagao Bay, the long deep cut bay which is the main port of Goa. A really lovely sail up the bay before birthing at the dock. (Some of you may have seen this on the ship's Bridge Cam. Incidentally our Cabin is just below the bridge, looking up from our balcony we can see the bridge cam so the view from that and our view is almost the same, though we have a 180 degree view rather than the more limited front only view of the camera.
The alliteration of Going to Goa was to much for me to resist for my title, but indeed Goa is a place to go. It was Portuguese for 400 years and that has impacted on the culture and life. Goa is 46% Catholic for instance.
The biggest impact our initial tour had was the comparisons with Mumbai. Mumbai is dry, arid land with very grey sandy like soil, Goa on the other hand is full of red loam soil which is hugely productive and means that everywhere is green and fresh with a huge variety of crops. Again the economic factors which draw so many people to Mumbai do not impact in the same way on Goa, so there was a complete absence of the poverty we saw elsewhere in India, the shops and homes were all clean well kept and recently decorated - a very pleasing effect, a lovely place.
We avoided the sand and sea resorts and went on a tour inland, past the town of Vasco De Gama five kilometres from the port and on to Old Goa. Our guide was called Santos (a 50 year old who has been a tour guide since his 20's) he was a real fun guy. He told us how Goa became independent when the Indian army beat the Portuguese and forced them to withdraw in 1961, following that it was integrated into India as the smallest state in the country.
The tour took us through a large number of villages, the bus was going a little to fast for photos at this point, so we haven't captured the lovely bungalows and other shops along the way, but viewing them was really special. At Old Goa we saw the original cathedral in the state an impressive building which used to be a Mosque. The remains of St Francis Xavier, patron of the first church I worked in (in Hereford), and a missionary in India and China in the 1600s are in the shrine across the road (The Baby Jesus Church). So we had a photo-op here as well. The town of Old Goa itself is a relaxed friendly place and it was great to see around, the market stalls and the informal edge of the road fruit sellers showed the wonderful products that makes Goa so exceptional.
After Old Goa we were taken 15 k to the Savoi Tropical Plantation a fascinating place with lots of good photo opportunities. (They even have their own website) The plantation is a working plantation which has a walk through it which takes visitors to all the spices and herbs that are grown here. As much as I use ginger, and cloves I've never seen them being grown and couldn?t recognise the plants until the roots were dug up. A superbly fascinating visit with the opportunity for tasting before and after. See the photos to capture the range of stuff grown there.
The bus returned via a different set of villages and we got back to the ship by 4.30 p.m. (Midday UK) for departure at 5.00 p.m.
Again we watched the ship pull out of station and right out to sea from the Balcony, being up front in the ship makes this aspect of the cruise really special.
After departure we read a little and relaxed before going down for Martinis and Dinner. The food section below will show why we started at 7.00 p.m. (2.30 p.m. UK) and didn't get back to the cabin until 12.45 a.m.
Food and Drink
The choice for breakfast is extensive, today I had Orange Juice, Orange Segments and then the 'Lumberjack Grill' which was Steak, Mushrooms and Egg (Served 'over hard' of course) on toast, with a pot of tea. Drew had grapefruit juice, a half grapefruit and Poached Eggs on Toast, with a cup of coffee.
At the plantation we had some rice cakes before our walk, these were spiced with cardamom, turmeric and chilli leaves - yummmmy. After the work we were given some Cashew spirit. This is a local Goanese delicacy and is a double refined spirit of the cashew apple, which encloses the nut, even the idea of a Cashew Apple was new to me.
For the evening we decide again to live it up a little. The Club Bar has a lovely waiter called Michal and a bartender, Lucas, who comes from Bombay. They love making a fuss about Martini's, which is this bar's specialism, adding garnishes and shaking them with vigour, but of course never to much. The James Bond themes continued I started with a 'From Russia with Love' (Stoli, Smirnoff and Dry Vermouth) and then a 'On Her Majesty's..' (a lovely mix of Absolut vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin and Dry Vermouth), Drew had a Gold Finger (Absolut Orange, Triple Sec and Orange Juice) and then a 007 Classic (Stoli and Dry Vermouth).
For Dinner I had a Game Terrine with wild mushrooms on a mirror of Port gelatine, followed by a Lentil Soup, one of the best I've ever tasted, with root vegetables and herb croutons, the main course was Loin of Venison with a juniper Demi-glace and garden vegetables (the venison was flowing with juices) I was thinking how much Dad would have loved this. I finished off with pecorino and sage derby cheese. Drew on the other hand had Crab Cakes with asparagus spears, followed by a Mixed salad with onion vinaigrette and then Breast of Chicken stuffed with mango and spinach in a white wine sauce, served with baby carrots and potatoes masked with pesto. It is unusual; for Drew to clear his plate, but he did in this one. We had a couple of bottles of a nice Pinot Grigio to wash it down. Then we went for a drink to the 'Casino' bar (a nice old fashioned bar with winged chairs) with the rest of the table - four margaritas (the one mentioned yesterday) for me and three G&T's for Drew and we went to bed at 12.30. The other six, all of whom are older than us two, went to the disco and didn't finish until 3.30 a.m.!!!
Having done some e-mails, blogging and flickring I came back to the room and Drew and I went to breakfast together at 7.15 a.m. (2.45 a.m. BST). The hardest decision was which of the three eating places to go for breakfast - we choose the Club Restaurant - at breakfast there is no fixed seating, so we managed to get a table which was for just the two of us. The service was excellent, fast and attentive.
As we got back to the room we were coming into Murmagao Bay, the long deep cut bay which is the main port of Goa. A really lovely sail up the bay before birthing at the dock. (Some of you may have seen this on the ship's Bridge Cam. Incidentally our Cabin is just below the bridge, looking up from our balcony we can see the bridge cam so the view from that and our view is almost the same, though we have a 180 degree view rather than the more limited front only view of the camera.
The alliteration of Going to Goa was to much for me to resist for my title, but indeed Goa is a place to go. It was Portuguese for 400 years and that has impacted on the culture and life. Goa is 46% Catholic for instance.
The biggest impact our initial tour had was the comparisons with Mumbai. Mumbai is dry, arid land with very grey sandy like soil, Goa on the other hand is full of red loam soil which is hugely productive and means that everywhere is green and fresh with a huge variety of crops. Again the economic factors which draw so many people to Mumbai do not impact in the same way on Goa, so there was a complete absence of the poverty we saw elsewhere in India, the shops and homes were all clean well kept and recently decorated - a very pleasing effect, a lovely place.
We avoided the sand and sea resorts and went on a tour inland, past the town of Vasco De Gama five kilometres from the port and on to Old Goa. Our guide was called Santos (a 50 year old who has been a tour guide since his 20's) he was a real fun guy. He told us how Goa became independent when the Indian army beat the Portuguese and forced them to withdraw in 1961, following that it was integrated into India as the smallest state in the country.
The tour took us through a large number of villages, the bus was going a little to fast for photos at this point, so we haven't captured the lovely bungalows and other shops along the way, but viewing them was really special. At Old Goa we saw the original cathedral in the state an impressive building which used to be a Mosque. The remains of St Francis Xavier, patron of the first church I worked in (in Hereford), and a missionary in India and China in the 1600s are in the shrine across the road (The Baby Jesus Church). So we had a photo-op here as well. The town of Old Goa itself is a relaxed friendly place and it was great to see around, the market stalls and the informal edge of the road fruit sellers showed the wonderful products that makes Goa so exceptional.
After Old Goa we were taken 15 k to the Savoi Tropical Plantation a fascinating place with lots of good photo opportunities. (They even have their own website) The plantation is a working plantation which has a walk through it which takes visitors to all the spices and herbs that are grown here. As much as I use ginger, and cloves I've never seen them being grown and couldn?t recognise the plants until the roots were dug up. A superbly fascinating visit with the opportunity for tasting before and after. See the photos to capture the range of stuff grown there.
The bus returned via a different set of villages and we got back to the ship by 4.30 p.m. (Midday UK) for departure at 5.00 p.m.
Again we watched the ship pull out of station and right out to sea from the Balcony, being up front in the ship makes this aspect of the cruise really special.
After departure we read a little and relaxed before going down for Martinis and Dinner. The food section below will show why we started at 7.00 p.m. (2.30 p.m. UK) and didn't get back to the cabin until 12.45 a.m.
Food and Drink
The choice for breakfast is extensive, today I had Orange Juice, Orange Segments and then the 'Lumberjack Grill' which was Steak, Mushrooms and Egg (Served 'over hard' of course) on toast, with a pot of tea. Drew had grapefruit juice, a half grapefruit and Poached Eggs on Toast, with a cup of coffee.
At the plantation we had some rice cakes before our walk, these were spiced with cardamom, turmeric and chilli leaves - yummmmy. After the work we were given some Cashew spirit. This is a local Goanese delicacy and is a double refined spirit of the cashew apple, which encloses the nut, even the idea of a Cashew Apple was new to me.
For the evening we decide again to live it up a little. The Club Bar has a lovely waiter called Michal and a bartender, Lucas, who comes from Bombay. They love making a fuss about Martini's, which is this bar's specialism, adding garnishes and shaking them with vigour, but of course never to much. The James Bond themes continued I started with a 'From Russia with Love' (Stoli, Smirnoff and Dry Vermouth) and then a 'On Her Majesty's..' (a lovely mix of Absolut vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin and Dry Vermouth), Drew had a Gold Finger (Absolut Orange, Triple Sec and Orange Juice) and then a 007 Classic (Stoli and Dry Vermouth).
For Dinner I had a Game Terrine with wild mushrooms on a mirror of Port gelatine, followed by a Lentil Soup, one of the best I've ever tasted, with root vegetables and herb croutons, the main course was Loin of Venison with a juniper Demi-glace and garden vegetables (the venison was flowing with juices) I was thinking how much Dad would have loved this. I finished off with pecorino and sage derby cheese. Drew on the other hand had Crab Cakes with asparagus spears, followed by a Mixed salad with onion vinaigrette and then Breast of Chicken stuffed with mango and spinach in a white wine sauce, served with baby carrots and potatoes masked with pesto. It is unusual; for Drew to clear his plate, but he did in this one. We had a couple of bottles of a nice Pinot Grigio to wash it down. Then we went for a drink to the 'Casino' bar (a nice old fashioned bar with winged chairs) with the rest of the table - four margaritas (the one mentioned yesterday) for me and three G&T's for Drew and we went to bed at 12.30. The other six, all of whom are older than us two, went to the disco and didn't finish until 3.30 a.m.!!!
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