reallyjillytravels

Wednesday, May 3, 2023, Mangalore, India  The ship arrived in Mangalore about 8:30 a.m. Mangalore was originally 7 islands, filled in to make the city. We had another ship tour scheduled: “A Day in the Life of Mangalore.” We were greeted by drummers on the pier. The tour bus drove us to a private home, the Belmont House. It was originally built and inhabited by the 18th century Collector and Magistrate of British India. The house passed through a few hands after that until the current family bought it—Joan and Michael Peres.  The affluent Peres family were successful coffee and rubber merchants with plantation estates in the area. We were served lemonade and snacks on their front veranda, comfortably shaded from the heat of the day. The property has gorgeous gardens, and Joan Peres still lives in the house filled with antiques. She was mourning the recent loss of one of her sons, and started crying when she talked about it. Charlie played a couple of songs on their piano, a...

Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Mormugao, India Goa is the smallest state in India, on the southwest coast. We arrived in Mormugao, a port city, about 10 a.m. We had signed up for a “Highlights of Goa” tour arranged through the ship. Our guide was named Geronimo. Our tour started with an hour and a half drive to Old Goa, also called Velma Goa. In it’s heyday, this was the capital of Portuguese India. There are three Catholic Churches that are UNESCO World Heritage monuments. We were happy to be on an air-conditioned bus—it was scorching hot! The bus did a drive-by of the Basilica of Bom Jesus which contains the remains of St. Francis Xavier. This was closed due a private event so we weren’t able to go inside. Some were very disappointed. Within walking distance was the domed Church of St. Cajetan, inspired by St. Peter’s in Rome. Some smart people had umbrellas to protect against the sun. This church was in pretty good shape despite being boarded up for quite some time. Most of the frescos were ...

Sunday, April 30, 2023, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India We arrived in port and saw the impressive city skyline from our balcony. We had to do a face-to-face passport check. As soon as we got off the dock, we were greeted by dancers playing percussion, and sari-garbed women putting tikas on our foreheads. Getting my tika Skyline from our balcony In line for passport check We had a tour that started at 11 am.  Our first stop was at the Gateway to India monument. This is the city’s top tourist attraction, and it overlooks the Arabian Sea. A giant arch built to commemorate King George V’s visit to India. The tour guides like to say the British left India for good through this arch. Gateway to India Monument. Check out the crowds. Being Sunday, the crowd was insane! We saw a line of a hundred or more people and asked what the line was for. It was the line for the ferry to Elephata Island, a tour some people we knew were taking. Traffic, vendors, locals and tourists alike were all here. ...