Goa and Bombay - April 7th & 8th

I hope all had a lovely Easter. We had Mass here on the ship and even received a chocolate bunny in our rooms with a small Easter basket. It has been wonderful having Father Alan Jupin aboard for this segment of the voyage.  We have had daily Mass and he has dined (or breakfasted) with us a few times.  He is  a retired priest out of Albany. NY. 


Carl and Father Alan Jupin

I am trying to send a picture of him, with Carl, outside of Bom Jesu  in Goa, where St Francis Xavier is buried. 






His body is still intact, although an arm and a toe are missing for diverse reasons! It seems that when the stories of his preservation drifted back to Rome, despite several times of reburial, they asked for proof and had the arm sent to check out the claim. 

St. Francis Xavier

The toe was BITTEN OFF by a lady who thought it must be a fake body.  I’m not sure when that incident occurred, but the glass covered coffin is now placed so high up that it is really difficult to see anything.  I think you can make out some of his head in the photo I am sending. 

There is also a photo of an area called the laundry, in Bombay. Unlike our laundry on the ship, it is outdoors.  The explanation goes that before the era of washing machines, everyone in the city sent their laundry to be done this way.  It was picked up at your home and returned a week later.  Apparently the system is still used by some.

There is also a photo (a poor one from the inside of the bus and it reflects the flash badly) of the front of the Taj Mahal Hotel where the terrorists caused such mayhem. 

Finally, there should be a photo of just a bit if Carl, again through the bus window, showing a large monument referred to as the Gateway.  It was built to honor the king and queen when they came to India to be crowned as emperor and empress. Our tour of Bombay was a brief one (that’s all Carl would agree to) but showed us quite a bit.  Many of the women wore gorgeous saris, even in the poorer neighborhoods. There were beautiful old Victorian buildings housing the university and some government offices as well. As it was a Sunday, the traffic was light and we got good views with minimal hold ups. There was a lovely long drive by the by called Marine Drive and we passed many, many games of crikquet (spelling?) being played.

Now we are at sea for two days until we reach the United Arab Emerites.  (once again, I am unsure of the spelling) We have no plans to do any touring there and our next adventure will be in Dubai when we take a helicopter overview of the city.  We’ve already had to submit our weight!  Stay tuned.

Much love,

ME

Carl and I supervising the ship's docking