Goa

Goa is an all time favorite place of almost every person in India. I had been to Goa once, and had visited few beaches and forts. One of our cousins called up and said they have booked us at Hyatt. So thats how this trip was planned :) 

We flew in to Goa on a Saturday early morning flight. We reached the airport at 7.20 am. Our hotel was around 25km from the airport in Dabolim. The hotel taxi picked us up and we got an early check-in. The rooms were lovely, with a pool view. Well, Hyatt is a luxury 5 star hotel. So everything about this place was very good. Our favorite part about this place was the beach! We had breakfast and headed to the sea. The hotel overlooks Bambolim bay in north Goa. It was almost empty, and we had a great time jumping into the water, and relaxing on the beach chairs. Around noon, cousin and our favorite triplet kids joined us. The kids are a perfect example of the quote "A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, ... — Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain". It was fun playing with them in the water and sand and chatting with our cousin.

View from our room

Evening we headed out to see old Goa, after a nice hot cup of masala chai. We first stopped at the St. Augustine's Tower. It was part of one of the 4 16th century churches that stood there. Even today, the remains of the church are so beautiful, though its sad to see it all destroyed. We spent nearly one hour here, and its definitely one of my favorite places in Goa. The kids just headed out to explore this beautiful place. They love exploring new places, just like their mom :) I will let the pictures explain the rest about this place.

Goa has too many beautiful churches.

Then we went to the church Basilica of Bom Jesus, where the remains of St.Francis Xavier are kept. A wedding was going on and it was nice to see everyone dressed up, especially the bride and the groom. 

There was another church Se Cathedral, right across Basilica of Bom Jesus, we could see this only from the outside as a religious ceremony was going on, and visitors were not allowed inside. It is a peaceful place. We sat on the steps of the church for sometime. S was born and brought up in Goa, and so she was explaining the history of each place. This is the largest church in Asia. 

We headed back to the hotel and had dinner. After dinner, we went to the beach and walked for sometime. There were a lot more waves in the nigh compared to daytime. Before heading to the room, we sat near the pool, with our feet in the water. 

Beach Walk!!

The next day we got up late, had a heavy breakfast and headed out to visit the temples of Goa. We went to the Mahalasa Narayani temple where S and G got married. Its a beautiful temple. After spending sometime here, we had cocum juice - a Goan speciality and all of us shared one vada paav just outside the temple. 

Morning freshness

Breakfast

The Temple

Behind the Temple

Headed back to the hotel, where we all relaxed. I spend the whole afternoon and evening at the beach. I used to sit in the sea water and come out and laze on the beach chair with a beer. At around 430, I had veg pasta on the beach. I just couldn't stop singing "I have my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in the hand, LIFE IS GOOD TODAY, LIFE IS GOOD TODAY.." by Zac Brown Band :D It was just  a perfect holiday.

We watched the sunset from the hotel, sipping tea. As always, sun set was gorgeous. 

Dinner time, spent time eating, chatting and drinking. Then we went for a walk on the beach. We sat at the pool with our feet in the water for a long time. The pool was amazing, with different size and depth pools next to each other. 

We woke up early next morning, and went straight to the beach. Weather was very pleasant, we walked for an hour and hit the breakfast buffet again to hog. Don't remember eating so much in a long time :) 

Morning Walk

We started off towards southern Goa, to a place called Cuncolim, where S was born. The drive throughout is very beautiful. The roads in Goa are very good. On our way, we stopped at the bridge on river Sal, which is very close to Cuncolim. Its a beautiful river with trees all along the river. Again, the picture says it all!

River Sal

S's house at Cuncolim is beautiful, with lot of trees, wells, a temple adjoining the house. Its really nice to have a place like this :) The kids were so excited to show us around the house. Aunty had made yummy Goan food. After lunch it was time for us to leave. Our flight was at 3.10, so we had to say bye to Goa. Am sure we will visit again very soon. 

Yummy food, lovely place, great company, it was an amazing vacation. Thanks G, S, A, A, A!