Travelogue | Goa: Day 1

Today we reached Goa on a short vacation which was planned almost last minute. We took the Tejas express and enjoyed the scenery from the new Vista dome coaches.

On the reaching Margao the best part was to find Natasha waiting for us. I had interacted with her during my last visit to Goa which was almost 4 years back. Subsequently we were in touch only virtually, however we had lots and lots of interaction during the pandemic through the LCM group.

We visited her house which was literally within a distance of Hop-Skip-and Jump (as Natasha had rightfully described it). We got refreshing tea made by her dad and left to explore the rural village of Curtorim in the South Goa. This is a beautiful scenic place where we actually started taking a halt after every 5 minutes!!! Have a look at some of the panoramic views that we experienced on a very misty rainy day thanks to the cyclone hitting coastal areas!!

Later we also found the beautiful St. Alex church right on the banks of a nice lake. The church was all decked up for the Sunday mass, and also a wedding which happened a while ago. The interior and the exterior of this church are really great, and we enjoyed the atmosphere, the fun, and the frolic with a light drizzle outside.

We then drove to the interior of the Curtorim village, when another beautiful lake made us stop! The location was misty, and the evening light was inviting us for more photoshoot! We stepped down and enjoyed the serene silence.. till another group of tourists stopped by, thinking that this was a famous tourist spot!

It was getting dark and we decided to head back home, enjoying the decorations of twinkling lights as we passed through the narrow roads of the village. Upon reaching home Natasha reminded us of a very important visit to the bakery run by her uncle. This is known as the French bakery and its famous for the various varieties of Goan pao prepaid in the traditional wood fire oven. After the huge ‘Breadshopping’ we reached home and were up for the tasty Goan dinner.

The dinner spread was full of Goan special dishes such as Rice cakes (wet rice ground and mixed with Toddy, to be steamed in small cups), Xakuti (gravy with black pepper, lightly toasted coconut, and white poppy seeds. Typically made for meat, but for the Sahasrabudhes, it was prepared with vegetables!), stirfried mushrooms (with tender veggies), and a Pulao! The list doesn’t end here.. because the desserts were yet to come!

In one of the earlier conversations I had mentioned to Natasha that my favourite dessert apart from Bebinca is Serradura which I had during my last visit to Goa. This information was passed on at a supersonic speed to Irene and she actually made this desert and brought it for the dinner at Natasha’s home. We ended up having lot of tasty food and loads of Serradura (with a little twist of coffee) and Bebinca. It was a lovely day which started early at 5 am, when we boarded the Tejas express from Thane.. and ended on a sweet note!!