500 miles around Panjim

We woke up bright and early Wednesday morning with plans to go see the museums that promised to be there in Panjim and the Art Park.

Ajay made breakfast for us ( I always knew he could cook to save his skin). It constituted of frankfurters tossed in eggs (the pepper
was missing though through no fault of Ajay’s) accompanied with coffee (though Ruth and Crispin
helped with this).

We finally left at around 10 and agreed to meet Dora at Panjim. The bus journey was uneventful.

At the prass (bus depot) we treated ourselves to the first of many many glasses of nimbu soda/pani. We then hopped onto a mini bus to Miramar beach. This time we kept worrying the conductor with “Are we there yet?”

We were rather unprepared for the trip to the beach. So we ended up with tonnes of sand in our shoes and socks! But it was a hot day and the sea never looked more inviting.

Ajay went snap-happy again and took a lot of shots of the landscape. While we sat on the sand (yup to get a partial sun burn!) Ruth and Crispin went in to dip their legs in the water. Which is where Ruth surprised me with her eye for a good photograph when she took this picture.

We then began our pursuit of the Goa museums. After walking all around Miramar we were told that any Museums would be found in Panjim.

So we decided to take a ride back to Panjim. On the way we spotted the L & T holiday home. Ajay was convinced that he would have to be 50 and still with L&T to be able to have access to the bungalow.

We were now back in Panjim asking around for the museums and were given conflicting stories. One guy said it was about a kilometer away. Another lady told us that there were no museums in the city but there were plans for the setting up of some.
Frustrated and hungry by this time we fortified ourselves with some more nimbu pani and decided to get some lunch.

Crispin promised us a lovely restaurant with a fish platter et al. The man actually delivered. We lunched at the Ritz Classic. The place was extremely crowded but we managed to be given our seats in about 10 minutes. (The boys seemed to think the tiny shorts helped) We ordered the fish platter, Goan fish curry and two servings of steamed rice. That was one fulfilling meal.

On our way back from lunch we spotted a paan valla selling sweet (the variety that does not have the tobacco in it) and Crispin, Ruth and Ajay sampled some.

We then wandered around Panjim still looking for museums or anything that resembled them. One enlightened soul gave us more accurate directions. After walking for what seemed an eternity we reached the Directorate of Assistance! They gave us some more directions which involved some more walking.

As a rule I enjoy long walks but this was pushing it. It was the middle of the afternoon and extremely hot and sticky. So much to Ruth’s disappointment we called it a day and decided to head to Mapusa. We did however stop at and exhibition on Buddha.

After some more grocery shopping at Mapusa, we sat down to have some Gadbhad Icecream. This seems to be a specialty of Goa. I have seen the item in a menu in Mumbai but cant for the life of me remember where!

We then came home quite exhausted. Ajay decided to check and see if his reliance internet connection was working so we headed up to Andrea’s house. Thankfully it worked and he managed to get some work done as also a wee bit of cycling.

Wednesday night was an initiation night for Ajay who was introduced the pleasure of burnt feni. (this for a man who never touched alcohol). Feni is a local drink brewed from the cashew fruit. The nuts we eat.

Here’s the recipe for what we served Ajay

Ingredients:

1 wine glass feni

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cloves

a clay/glass soup plate

matches

Method:

Stir together the sugar, feni and cloves in a soup plate. Set light to the mixture for about 30 seconds. Stir continuously. Blow out the flames and serve in a wine glass.

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