After a lunch of triple scoops of Baskin-Robbins ice cream, we headed for our city tour. A ferry took us to Fort Cochin, the oldest European settlement in India (1500), and had a mixture of English, Dutch and Portuguese influence. The coast was lined with Chinese cantilevered fishing nets—and a place to pick your own fresh fish and have them grilled while you wait.
A short visit to St Andrews Church- once a Portuguese Catholic church, then a Dutch Protestant church- then an English Anglican church. Vasco De Gama died here and his remains were buried in the church –but then taken back to Lisbon years later.
We took the boat further south to the Palace and Jew Town. In the Mattancherry Palace, we wandered through dimly lit rooms filled with frescos telling the story of the Ramayana. The stories were bizarre—wars and monkey headed gods flying through the ears of demons. No explanation of what purpose they serve…
A walk through Jew Town to the oldest (only?) synagogue in India. very simple and rather mosque-like. There are only 29 Jews left in all of Cochin.
Jew Town was filled with tiny antique (junk) shop, old brass. old doors …anything you could want. John found an old brass half frog/half fish to add to our kitchen art collection and I bought some earrings for Mom and me. A boat ride back and we got an auto rickshaw to the Taj—a modern western style hotel- with A/C and a view of the harbor. We had a cold beer and watched the sunset. It was so pleasantly cold in the restaurant, we opted to stay for dinner—dinner cost about $10—but the wine was 800 rupees- about $20 a bottle (the actual cost was 400- with a 110% tax!) Two bottles later, we headed back to our hotel and bed.
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