A day in Kolkatta, City of Joy

The city with yellow-black taxis; the city famous for its street foods; the city where tram rides are still there; the city where pooja is celebrated at its best and the list goes on.

Stay - Hotel Lindsay
Lindsay which was built in 1978, is very popular among foreigners from that time onwards. On seeing the foreigners waggling to and fro in the hotel, we wondered at how we got such decent offer in a reputed hotel like Lindsay(INR 1800 per night).

Hotel Lindsay

I should state that the best thing about this hotel is its location. Yey! New market is just a stone’s throw.  And adding feather to its already heavy crown, it is having a roof top Bar and lounge with a stunning view of the city.

Pandal Hopping
Though we had experienced Durga pooja celebrations and numerous pandals of Jamshedpur, we couldnt resist ourselves from experiencing the pandals of Kolkata. We have asked our friends cousin for best pandals of Kolkata and hopped onto a metro train to Jatin Das park for pandal hopping in Kolkata.

Tridhara

Though we had plans to visit other pandals(Ekdalia, Singhi park and Hindustan club), we returned back to our room to find some rest.

New Market
After an hour of sleep, we decided to go on a shopping spree and headed to New market. Strolling on the streets of Kolkatta, we realized the perfect blend of old buildings with that of new buildings. 

Here's the view of busy lindsay street lit by a tinge of yellow in the night.

Indian Museum

Indian Museum is one of the oldest museums of the world, established in 1814. The Museum has rare paintings of Medieval age, skeletons of primitive animals and collections of intricate works on ivory and wood. The specimen of Egyptian mummy is another interesting exhibit at the museum.

Intricate Works

Victoria Memorial

From there, we advanced to the majestic Victoria Memorial. Photography was not allowed inside. The large marble building dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, stood tall withstanding the test of time. After spending some time in park, we made our way to park street.

Victoria Memorial

From Pandal-Hopping to Biryani-Hopping

Park street  – One of the oldest and most famous parts of Kolkata.We stopped by Zeeshan in park street to try their palatable biryani. Not completely satisfied with the taste, we headed to Arsalan, Kolkata’s best hotel for biryani. We stood in queue for more than half an hour to delight in their heavenly biryani. 

Arsalan Briyani

But I should admit that their biryani was all worth the wait. With a satiated tummy, we embarked on uber to Eco-park.

Eco park 

Wax museum in the park is one of my favorite place. Along with wax statues, the wax museum also has a vantage point to get a aerial view of Eco-park. 

Reading Tagore's poem

The park is situated on a 480 acres plot and is having a water body with an island in the middle named ‘Sabujsathi’ which houses cottages along with cafeteria and few restaurants. 

Aerial view of the park from Wax museum

The island is accessible only by boat. We got into a boat to explore the island. The island was well maintained and was having a restaurant in a house boat.

Restaurant in a house boat

We sat there basking ourselves near the water front.

Being Moharam day, we couldn’t even see a single tram in Kolkatta. Now I have a reason to come back to Kolkatta.

Kolkata - A Foodie paradise

Kolkata being a foodie’s paradise, we were confused to choose among the incredible variety of Bengali cuisine. We had plethora of street foods to be tasted along with excess of sweets to be savored.

Let me list out the few foods we had in our Kolkata trip.

Bengali Thali and Sonish Elish in Bhojahori Manna
We headed to Bhojahori Manna for treating our taste buds with an authentic Bengali food. We ordered a Bengali thaali and a Sonish Elish fish(Though smelly, it was yummy)

Bengali Thali and Sonish Elish(Top right corner)

Kolkata Biryani
When the king of Awadh was dethroned and exiled to Kolkata from Lucknow by British, it is said that the king brought his team of culinary artists to Kolkata because of his indulgence in food. Eventually due to scarcity of money, potatoes have been added to the biryani, to reduce the meat content.

Voila! That's how the Kolkata biryani had born!

We first stopped by Zeeshan in park street to try their palatable biryani. As we were not completely satisfied with the taste, we headed to Arsalan, Kolkata’s best hotel for biryani. We stood in queue for more than half an hour to delight in their heavenly biryani. It was all worth the wait. 

Arsalan Briyani

The marinated piece and boiled potato in the biryani literally melted into my mouth. My mouth is full on drooling even while mentioning about it in my blog. 

Sattu ki litti
Litti atta sattu snack with smashed potato. We had it in a local shop while pandal hopping. Slurpp! It was yummy.

For the Love of Puchkas 
Stuffed with a mash up of potato, coriander and chilly, these lip smacking puchkas dipped in the tamarind water are an all time favorite for me. Golgappas. It was quite impossible for a person like me to stop eating them(24 Puchkas for dinner-Not a bad count!!).

Langcha
No doubt Bengalis are sweet-toothed. From Rasagulla to Gulab jamun to Langcha, they have so many varieties of sweet dishes to savour. When our friend's mom presented us with Langcha(famous bengali sweet) even for lunch, we instantly got to know how much sweet serves as an integral part in Bengali food.

Aloo Dum 
We got to taste Aloo dum in the dinner after visarjan in our friend’s home. After relishing it, we were asking the apartment people for the exact recipe of it. It tasted best with roti.

Kolkatta Kati Roll  
How one can leave Kolkata without taking in the pleasure of relishing the spicy Kolkata Rolls? On the last day of our trip, we had our tasty Kolkatta Kati rolls in “The Tiffin Box”.

Mishti Doi 
A fermented sweet doi made from milk and jaggery. A bengali cuisine can never get completed without this sweet mishti doi.

From Kolkata Roll to Golgappas, everything we had in Kolkata trip was mouth-watering. I should confess that I literally went on a binge in this trip.

Merry Go Round in Mt Titlis

Mt Titlis
When we started from Interlaken west to Mt Titlis, we were least aware of the beautiful train journey ahead.

Our train crossed the Beautiful Brienz, Magical Merigen to finally end in a splendid valley called Engelberg from where the cable car ride starts to Mt Titlis.

From Engelberg station, a quick walk following the direction board will leave you at cable car starting point. You can also take a bus from Engelberg to Mt Titlis.

With Swiss cows bells ringing to the tune of wind, a three level cable car ride will take you on a breath-taking journey to Swiss Alps.

First gondola will take you from base to first level.

When we reached first level, we found a emarald lake. Since it seemed bit crowdy at that time, we went on to board the next cable car.

Look at the view of the emerald lake while going in second cable car.

Third cable car ride was fun.Guess what! It's a Rotair. This Rotair rotates 360 degree to give you 360 degree view of the mountains.

Aboard Rota air!

The snow ladden mountains welcomed us to its bonanza!

Strolling the slippery Ice cave to a tunnel to treat yourself to an adventurous vista.

Ice cave

Tunnel to splendid views and adventure

Brave yourself walking the Europe's highest Elevation bridge at Mt Titlis or go on an ice flyer at an additional cost.

After having lunch in Mt Titlis, we headed our way back to the emerald lake on level 1.

Sitting in the sit-outs and relishing the calmness of the place, we marveled at the so called mundane everyday life.

We simply paused and spent some time enjoying the peace of the place. Absorbing all the noises of the touristy Mt Titlis, this place seemed an offbeat treat.

Since we had some time in hand when we started from Mt Titlis, we decided to head to Lucerne. 

Lucerne

When the vibrant city welcomed you with all it's old world charm, all you do is just fall in love with the busy yet splendid city.

Chapel Bridge, Lucerne

When you stroll near the Chapelbrukke bridge in Lucerne, you will find interesting architechture patterns.

Marvel at the 16th century bridge standing in all its glory.

And as the sun sets over lake Lucerne!

Spend your time watching the ducks whirling in Lucerne lake or enjoying the street musicians play the ballad of life.

Good to know
Eventhough journey to Mt Titlis is covered in your Swiss Travel pass, you need to get a token at the counter with your Swiss Travel pass.

If you have more days at hand, I would suggest you to spend a day in Lucerne to experience the real beauty of it.

Taste of Goa - Must have goan foods

When his way to heart is through food, instead of planning a travel itinerary, you plan a detailed food itinerary. I charted out  a rough travel plan in such a way that we get to experience the best gastronomical delight in our three days.

Goa, being a treasure trove of spices, cocunut, fresh fish and prawns, you would find a perfect blend of these ingredients in Goan cuisine.

Ok! Let me get you straight to the palatable food we had relished.

Rava fried fish
Rava fried fish is a perfect accompaniment to the Goan fish curry. This spicy fish fry has a thin layer of rava(semolina) coating to make it crisp and crunchy. People say that no Goan meal is complete without this fish fry.

Restaurant - Mum's Kitchen

Goan Prawn fry
As the rain drizzles outside, just embrace the cold savoring the spicy deep fried goan prawns. Spice level was just perfect and we loved eating it.

Restaurant - Starlight 

Fish Recheado
Recheado is nothing but kashmiri red chillies grounded along with vinegar and coriander to form a paste. This spicy tangy paste is stuffed in Mackreal or Pomfret fish and stir fried in a pan to give you a delicious fish recheado. Lip-smacking indeed!

Restaurant - Viva Panjim

Rava fried prawn
As I said earlier, no goan thali is complete without rava fried delicacies. Though this dish is crispy outside, when you bite it, you will feel the perfect blend of masala soothing your taste buds.

Restaurant - Viva Panjim, Mum's Kitchen

Poi
Poi is usually used as a substitute to rice. You can either use goan curry or home made jam as an accompaniment.

Restaurant -Mum's Kitchen

Fish Thali
If you want to try Fish Thali, I would highly recommend Starlight, Arpora. Their thali offers five different variety of curries ranging from fish to crab to clams(Yes you read it right! Clams!). Rava fried fish and a fusion dish of cabbage and small prawns are two more feathers to its crown.

Restaurant - Starlight

Goan Fish curry
In the Thali we had ordered, two varieties of Goan fish curries were there. And both were exceptionally good.

Restaurant - Starlight.

Chicken Xacutti
I had tried this dish in Aldona, Mapusa and Panjim. But the chicken xacuti I had in Cancio's homestay, Aldona still wins my heart. All credits to Raquel's cooking skill.

Restaurant - Viva Panjim & Cancio's Homestay

Goan Prawn curry 
Like Kerala cuisine, the use of cocunut is more in Goan curries and this prawn curry is no different. Pair this curry with a fish recheado for a scrumptious combo.

Restaurant - Viva Panjim

Chicken Cafreal 
Grilled chicken served Portuguese style with ground paste of spicy green chillies, peppercorns, garlic and ginger. Though the look wasn't appealing, the cafreal was tasting really delicious.

Restaurant - Starlight.

Squid Goan curry
As we had already tasted all the other curries, we wanted something new to end the Goan trip. So we ended up ordering Squid Goan curry in Mum's kitchen. Squid was cooked in a cocunut based curry to give you a palatable gravy for rice as well as poi.

Restaurant - Mum's Kitchen

Prawns Orly
I tasted a different version of Prawns Orly in Route 66 three years back. Beer battered Prawns! Prawns coated with beer batter are golden fried and served. Yummy treat!

Restaurant - Route 66

Goan dishes I want to try on my next trip

Tandoori crab
Grilled crab rubbed with local masala at Laxmi family restaurant, Morjim

Crab curries
Though we tasted one version of crab curry in Starlight, I am so tempted to try other versions of goan crab curries.

Bebinca
This traditional rich, layered cake made from coconut milk, sugar and egg yolks is definitely on my food bucket list.

Thali at Bhatti Village
You get to eat what they get to catch. Interesting isn't it? The idea of no menu card and fresh food had made me want to visit this place.

Recommended restaurants
1) Viva Panjim, Fontainhas
Viva Panjim, located inside a heritage house in Fontainhas, offers an ethnic Goan food at a reasonable price.

2) Starlight, Arpora
Starlight is a famous restaurant among locals. Food was tasting good. Thali in starlight comes with five varieties of curries and a rava fried fish. But they need to improve the aesthetics of the restaurant.

3) Mums’s Kitchen, Panjim
Mum's Kitchen, located in Panjim, is a fine dining restaurant that offers a splendid view of the garden outside from your table. Price was bit higher but food was all worth the price.

4) Route 66, Fontainhas

Fontainhas has got some best set of food joints and Route 66 is one of it. I remember taking steps to a small food joint three years back to come out with a satisfied tummy. Now the food joint had developed to a bigger restaurant.

So this is all about the culinary experiences we had in our Goa trip.

Is there any interesting Goan food I had missed out to mention? Do drop in your comments.

Monsoon oasis in North Goa

Goa in Monsoon was like a fairytale to me two years back. So when I was looking for a perfect monsoon oasis this year, I was instantly reminded of Goa.

Even after three visits to Goa, this place keeps calling me back and there is always something new to experience.

Read further to know what all Goa had offered me this monsoon!

Influence of Portuguese architecture near Saligao
Panjim to Saligao route is exceptionally beautiful dotted with pretty Portuguese houses. So be ready for a lot of pitstops to take photos of the lovely houses.

Enjoy the cloudy day in Baga Beach
We started our Goa trip with a visit to Baga beach(Blame it on the hotel for not giving us early check-in!). As Baga beach was near our stay, we headed to Baga to kill our time. Surprisingly that day Baga beach was not that crowded. But Parking fee was bit high.

Take yourself down the year in Basilica of Bom Jesus

Located in Old Goa, the basilica of Bom Jesus is one of the oldest churches in India and is declared a Unesco world heritage site. This church holds the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier.

From the ornamented church entrance to baroque styled main altar, this church will sure take you back to the bygone era.

Know Goa's history and culture in Archaelogical museum

Just opposite to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, this archaeological museum is a must visit for those interested in knowing Goa's culture and history. Though small, this museum has got some good piece of information about Old goa.

Surprise yourself in the sleepy Divar Island
Divar Island was a pure surprise to us in all it's way. As we entered this sleepy town welcomed by swaying paddy fields and beautiful backwaters, we assumed it to be yet another beautiful quiet town.

As we headed to the church, we saw the change of scenery from the greener pastures to colourful colonial houses.

Church was closed when we went but we were all the more satisfied with the journey than the destination.

You can take the ferry from Old Goa to Divar Island. There are two ferries which operate every 10 mins transporting people between Old Goa and Divar Island.

Walk the winding streets of Panjim Fontainhas

Fontainhas is an old Latin quarter of Panjim. Even after so many years, it still maintains it's portuguese influence in its architecture. You can walk along the winding streets to find some quaint villas and buildings in traditional European style.

Do check out the restaurants in the fontainhas for a scrumptious Goan food. We had our palatable lunch in Viva Panjim.

Interiors of Viva Panjim

Two failed attempts to Reis Magos Fort!
During my first visit to this fort, as the electrical wires were off the pole and were on the path to the fort, we were restrained from entering the fort.

This time, we went all the way to Reis Magos fort to know that the fort is closed on a Monday. Wow! What a learning?

View of the fort from Church

So after two failed attempts, I am only more tempted to see the fort in all its glory.

Bask yourself in the famed Chapora fort 

Famed after hindi movie 'Dil chahta hai', this fort is a perfect place to see the sunset. Being monsoon season, we couldn't get to see the sunset this time. But the sun played a little hide and seek to offer us some pristine views like this.

Let the dog guide you to the pristine Heart Shaped lake, Chicolna
Meandering through the secluded greener pastures, with butterflies fluttering around us and the dog leading us through the way, when we finally reached this piece of paradise, we were almost out of words to describe the whole thing.

The beauty was one thing that took our heart and the another thing was this dedicated guide who we got along on our way and the final thing was the peace that went synonymous with this place. 

With swaying coconut trees in the edge of the hill; the endless view of ocean; the wind that swept me off my feet, I felt complete serendipity. I could only do half justice to the place by my words.

When you start navigating in Google maps to heart shaped lake, don’t go till the google marked place. Instead take left to JMC Veira nagar and then take right and go straight. You may have to drive off road at the last stretch or you can even park your vehicle and hike to the heart shaped lake.

Take yourself to the western most tip of Goa, Grand Mother Yole beach
As we had two hours in hand, we decided to venture to the western most tip of Goa, Grand Mother Yole beach.

To reach this beach, you have to first go to Japanese garden. And from there, take the steps down to reach a beach devoid of tourists. 

Here you go! Grand Mother Yole beach! Your own private beach!

On your route to this beach from Vasco, you can also pitstop for a good view of Goa Harbour.

Enjoy shopping near Baga beach
From pretty beach wears to flip flops to dream catchers to beautiful souvenirs, you would find many shops near Baga beach.

Treat your taste buds with Goan spices
Rich influence of Portuguese in Goa and the wide availability of cocunut and spices had perfectly complemented each other to offer us one of the exemplary culinary treat. Read a detailed guide on "Must have Goan foods" 

So this is all my monsoon oasis in Goa is all about.

The spirit of Goa lies in it's quaint sleepy villages. You need to go further from the touristy places to truly experience the real vibe of Goa.

If someone asks me to name one reason as to why I love this sunshine state so much, I would sure be baffled to pick one.

What would I choose? The secluded sea shores; the magnificent trekking trails; the sleepy island villages; may be the ruined forts; the colourful portuguese buildings;  the delicious Goan food or the warmest people I met(Ok! The list goes on), Goa had offered me so many surprises that it's pretty hard to pick one.

What had Goa offered you on your trip? Do drop in your comments.

Happy Tanning in goa!