Memories of Goa

We took an early morning train to Goa. The train ride was long, but the scenery was quite nice. With three of us fighting to read the same book, I didn’t get a lot of reading time in! We arrived almost two hours late, and made our way to the hotel.

Once we deposited our bags and had a late lunch, we went for a walk to find some of the old Missaghian haunts. We started off walking by the old fish market, but it is now a street with shops on each side. I was a little afraid that the other places have also changed. My fears were unfounded because the old municipal garden and the post office area looked very familiar. Our family used to go to the municipal garden for evening strolls, and it brought back some fond memories. We even went in the post office and got some stamps for our postcards.

Next we walked down Abade Faria Road until we got to our old apartment building. Many of the old buildings on this road have been either abandoned or renovated to house mobile phone shops or furniture shops. I recognized the house where my friends and I used to go to play ping pong. The door to our apartment was locked, so we couldn’t try and have a look inside. However, we met someone who used to live upstairs from us and he remembered me and the family. We chatted for a few minutes and got the update on my neighbourhood friends, then we made our way back to the hotel.

In the picture below, our apartment was on the second floor. I remember it being a little better maintained than it looks now.

We had phoned Sameer, a local Baha’i, and he was waiting for us at the hotel when we returned. We had a nice chat over cups of tea and made some plans for our stay in Goa. We are planning to visit more of the old haunts tomorrow.

And now we are ready for an early dinner and bed time. We were all up at 5 this morning, so we need our rest.

NM