She’s an Old Goa that one

 Ethan had a terrible night sleep which meant that we did too, since our beds are about 50cm away from one another. So after multiple coffees and a refreshing cold swim we got in our car and had the driver take us the hour to Panaji - the Portuguese district of Goa. Everyone had a nap in the car. 

We had planned to go to Confeitaria 31 de Janero (31st of January patisserie) but it was too busy with a tour bus of kiwis just having rocked up. We sighed, looked around the nearby streets and decided on an upmarket Italian bar & bistro called Casanova Trattoria. We had tasty pizza and beer, while Ethan had pasta and a pineapple juice. It was all delicious! Then we walked down the main tourist road of Portuguese inspired buildings towards an art gallery and pottery shop. Alas, they were closed! They have siesta from 1:30 to 3 apparently, right when we rocked up. Darcy was so disappointed so we pivoted and asked our driver to take us to Old Goa about 20min away on a windy and beat up old road past many more of the colourful Portuguese inspired homesteads. I wondered if we were spoiled since we’ve been to Europe that it didn’t take my breath away? But it is amazing to see a culture basically copy & pasted into a country it just doesn’t really fit into.

Then, as we arrived in old Goa and immediately spotted the two main and massive cathedrals, you can really just drown in the European influence. Both cathedrals were stunning in that very Catholic way - huge ceilings adorned with intricate artistry, both sculpted and painted. We could have just been in Spain. It wasn’t a long walk through both past the virgin Mary’s and Jesus’ on his cross, but boy was it hot, topping about 35 degrees!

Our driver came to get us and we went back to Panaji to visit those two shops and get a Portuguese tart from the bakery. One of the shops was still closed but the other was great. We then had the driver take us back the long hour to the hotel. Darcy and I both slept in the car while Ethan chatted to himself the whole way. Where does he get that energy from!

We had a swim in the pool and a few beers as the sun set. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf again for dinner as it’s the most cost effective and delicious food. Back at the hotel the butler service has dropped off a cake in the shape of an air Jordan shoe for Ethan with a lovely note for him! He’d mentioned he likes Michael Jordan in passing to a staff member at one point. It’s touches like that which make the very expensive resort price tag worthwhile.