writer • artist • health-living enthusiast
On May 20, 1498 Vasco da Gama became the first person to sail from Europe to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope — establishing an ocean spice route. He landed just south of Goa in Calicut, India. Here are some of the Portuguese influences from centuries ago.
The Basilica Bom Jesus in Old Goa built in 1605. It contains the remains of Saint Francis Xavier. You can see his body in the tomb below.
Now that we’ve obtained celebrity status, we just might not be coming home. Just kidding Mom and Dad!
I’m not sure why people stared at us more openly in Goa than in Bangalore (where we still stand out in a crowd), but in Goa, lots of people stopped and asked us where we were from and if they could take our photo. And as soon as one person asked, a flock of people started taking pics.
Goa is a seaside Mecca for vacationers — newlyweds, families and many, many groups of young guys out seeing their country (one recent college grad we met spent 24-hours on a train with his buddies to get there). We visited during the off season when most foreigners weren’t around.
We saw one woman in a bathing costume, an old-fashion neck-to-knee suit with tutu ruffle and wide stripes. Everyone else went into the surf fully clothed. Lifeguards spent a lot of time whistling folks back up the shore. The monsoon season was whipping up the surf. We were told the Arabian Sea is normal flat.
Fire-roasted corn-on-the-cob is cooked by lots of the independent vendors at all the touristy places in Bangalore.
