29th March to 1st April, 2017

Well, bar a stop in Dubai, our fantastic journey is almost at an end. We did have one last trip here in Goa, which entailed a drive north to the village of Nerul. You may recall that I mentioned a delightful lady called Jenepher Bramble who we met at the Latin Jazz Funk evening and who invited us for (very late) dinner, which unfortunately we had to decline. Well, good to her word, she invited us for lunch instead, last Thursday. So it was off with Izzy in his trusty taxi, stopping en route at a museum that I had spotted in my guidebook just north of Panjim that we had not been able to visit when we visited that city. This is the Houses of Goa Museum, the building in which it is housed being worthy of a visit in its own right, as you can see from the photos. It is actually built on a traffic island, though luckily in a quiet neighbourhood! The inside was a bit different too, but gives an excellent background into the Indo-Portuguese architectural style of which there are so many examples still standing in Goa (if rather decaying in too many cases).

There were quite a few unusual buildings just by the museum too including something that reminded Val and me of a Hobbit house as well as a local school and library. All very unexpected.

It was time to go and we made our way to Nerul and to Quinta de Halicarnassus, the house where we were to have lunch. The house was built by Jenepher and her brother who wanted a place to stay in Goa. I asked why she had not simply bought an old Goan house but she pointed out that Goan inheritance law works that property is divided up among descendants so it would usually involve contacting 15 or so family members, many of whom live overseas, and trying to persuade them to sell. So it was easier to build a new house, but in a variation of the old style. Stupidly I forgot to,take a photo of the outside, but the interior was beautiful – spacious and airy (and quite noisy with 6 dogs all barking at the same time!)

A fabulous lunch, great conversation with the other guests and some dynamic Bloody Marys made for a very memorable day. Izzy drove us back and another lovely day was complete.

Finally, for Goa, here are a few photos of the resort and the streets and characters nearby. Also Val at the darts board in the pub at the resort.

And now we are waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport for our flight to Dubai. It has been a nice trip to Goa. It certainly has a distinct feel to it, with lots of colour and something of a seaside feel to it. Great food, nice people, but it would have been nice to have had our own transport just so we could potter about and explore a bit more at our own leisure. Maybe next time.

Time to go. Next stop Dubai!