Colombo Bimble
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Tue 12 Mar 2019 23:37
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Bimble along Galle Face Green,
Colombo
 After enjoying a slack morning, Kerri
and Harri picked us up and took us to Galle Face Green, a five hundred metre
wide stretch of land that covers twelve acres. Bounded at one end by the famous
Galle Face Hotel.......
  ..........at the far end we watched
the Police Academy trainees and beyond – a fancy
roundabout guarded by lions.
  New builds
all around us, hotels, tower blocks and apartments.
The
Galle Face Green was initially laid out by the Dutch as a means to enable their
cannons a strategic line of fire against the Portuguese.
Horse
racing began in Galle Face in the early 1820s, during the time of British
Governor Sir Edward Barnes. The esplanade in front of the fort, previously a
marshy area, was filled in and levelled. The race course was approximately one
and a half miles long. The members club building is today incorporated in
the ballroom of one of the hotels.
  In 1856 Sir Henry George Ward (the Governor of British Ceylon) authorised the construction of a 1-mile promenade beside the sea, for ladies and children to saunter and “take in the air”. This was completed in 1859. The remaining ‘bit’ we enjoyed today and a silly factoid - the world’s tallest artificial Christmas tree stood here in 2016. Loads of people appeared after school ended, food stalls did a roaring trade, the short pier was crowded and a steady breeze was excellent for kite flying.   One of the many toy stalls and kite
sellers.
  I left Harri
to his kite, Bear and Kerri to their bimble to
do some stomping.
   Smashing to see these big chaps sunning themselves on lamp posts.
  Old Government
Building and the Lotus Tower in the
distance.
  I watched a
trailer being lowered from one of the new towers.
 Toward the end of the green and
seemingly a long way out, a crane was
busy.
  A massive area being
reclaimed.
 Huge piles of
sand.
   Screens hid the next bit and advertisements showed what the reclaimed land will look
like.
  I went back for Bear and we headed to
the first cannon for the trigger
finger shot, facing yet more sand piles.
  Half way back looking right and left.
  Thoughtful
signs. One along the front and one in the new sand dunes.
 Interesting things
to eat – but not for me.
   After watching the sunset from the
Galle Face Hotel there was a very pretty
sky.
 Later, after supper at the Kingsbury
Hotel and once back at our digs we looked up Port City
Colombo. An initial investment of 1.4 billion dollars and an expected
15 billion dollar overall investment when completed. Spanning 259 hectares
(665 acres), it is a sea reclamation project joined to the current
central business district. Port City Colombo is made up of 5 different
precincts, namely the Financial District, Central Park Living, Island Living,
The Marina and the International Island.
When completed, Port City Colombo
is estimated to have some 5.75 million square metres of build-up space, boasting
the best in design in terms of Grade A offices, medical facilities, educational
facilities, integrated resort, marina, retail destinations, hotels and various
lifestyle developments. Using the latest sustainable city design and smart city
concepts, Port City Colombo will be the hub of South Asia.
Wow.
ALL IN ALL AN INCREDIBLE
AMOUNT OF DEVELOPMENT
HUGE
CHANGES |