Seeing the sights in Colaba

Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sat 12 Feb 2011 18:03
 
Saturday 12th February
 
Although we only have a few days here we plan to do as much as we can out of the plenty of things to see and do. Mid saturday morning we walked to Victoria train station, much to Paul and Mark's annoyance, particularly when me made detours to see buildings of interest. The city is fascinating though and we've only scratched the surface, there is beautiful architecture everywhere you look.
 
The Prince of Wales Museum is an intriguing hodgepodge of Islamic, Hindu and British architecture displaying a mix of dusty exhibits from all over India. Opened in 1923 to commemorate King George V's first visit to India, it's flamboyant Indo-Saracenic style was designed by George Wittet, who also did the Gateway of India.
 
   
 
Prince of Wales Museum
 
Looking like a 15th century French Gothic masterpiece plopped incongruously among Mumbai's palm trees, this university was designed by Gilbert Scott, who also designed London's St Pancreas Station.
 
  
 
University of Mumbai
 
Just opposite the University and the High Court, another elegant but neo-gothic building, is the Oval Maiden. This land, as well as the Cross and Azad Maidens was on the oceanfront in Victorian times and this series of grand structures faced directly out to the Arabian Sea. The reclaimed land along the western edge of the maidens is now lined with a remarkable collection of art deco apartment blocks. We admired these structures from the edge of Oval Maiden and enjoyed watching the casual cricket matches that were taking place.
 
  
 
Oval Maiden
 
  
 
Lunch match side
 
We continued our walk through the tree lined streets all the way up to the Victoria Terminus. Imposing, exuberant and overflowing with people, this is the city's most extravagant Gothic building, the beating heart of its railway network, and an aphorism for Colonial India. As historian Christopher London put it, 'the Victoria Terminus is to the British Raj what the Taj Mahal is to the Mughal empire'. It's a meringue of Victorian, Hindu and Islamic styles whipped into an imposing, Daliesque structure of domes, spires and stained glass windows. It was completed in 1887, 24 years after the first train left the site. Today it is the busiest train station in Asia. It was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 2004.
 
Inside, although only lunchtime there were crowds of people everywhere. People would disembark and jump from the open doors of the trains before it had come to a standstill and others would jump on as the train was pulling away. It was crazy! For those of you who have seen Slumdog Millionaire, the station is exactly the same in real life.
 
 
 
  
 
Victoria Terminus
 
  
 
Crowds full of colour
 
 
Hanging out of the doors
 
  
 
Pedaling on his bike and sharpening knives outside the station
 
After our long walk we were all hungry and incredibly thirsty, unfortunately though we managed to pick up two men who said they knew the restaurant we were after and didn't. We walked round and round in circles before we got really mad and set off in search of a different restaurant. Although we didn't ask for help and they did nothing but make the situation worse we had to pay the men to get rid of them. Eventually the skulked away complaining about the money. Luckily the meal turned out to be delicious! The food up here in Mumbai has been great, somewhat nicer than in Cochin. I know it's all Indian food but each region has it's own style, it's mind-boggling.
 
  
 
Walking through the busy streets, getting more and more lost and thanking god that we had Crawford Market marked clearly on our map for us to head back to
 
  
 
Fresh strawberries and grapes on the street.....yum!!!!