Seeing the sights in Colaba
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sat 12 Feb 2011 18:03
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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!!!!
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