Goa

Celeste and I went to Goa for Christmas weekend, it was a really nice trip. The weather stayed above 90degrees F the entire weekend, so we spent a lot of it by the pool tanning :) We headed towards Northern Goa, where most tourists head during this peak season time of year. Lots and lots of tourists from Europe were there, making it a crowded and packed weekend -- also increasing prices which I wasn't too happy about.

We stayed at Neelam's the Grand, the hotel was OK, not the BEST (considering ants in our bed, stained shower door, pad locked door) but it's India, gotta love it! The hotel facilities were nice however, they had a HUGE pool and lots of Christmas decor. It was nice to see Christmas in Goa, allowed us to be in a festive mood. There are a lot of Christians in Goa, so Christmas is celebrated widely. Here's an article on Christmas in Goa, click here.

Tapestry of Goa

King crab at Souza Lobo's restaurant (Calangute Beach)

The first day we arrived, I took Celeste to get her first Ayurvedic massage, it sure was an experience! We ate at this restaurant called Souza Lobo's and had the best, biggest king Crab with garlic sauce. That night we went to the famous Ingo's Saturday night market, where thousands of stands gathered to sell textiles, artifacts, tapestries, jewelry and more. We spent way more than we should have :)

Merry Christmas!



Laughing at the fireworks!



Adorable kids singing Christmas caroles at the hotel party

Christmas Eve the hotel hosted a grand dinner and party. There was LOTS of food - both Indian and continental, we seriously stuffed our faces til we were blue. They had lots of entertainment too, fire dancers, music, fireworks - a nice way to ring in Christmas. I'm really happy my sister was there to spend it with me!

In front of the biggest church in Panjim



Sipping some hearty hot chocolate on Christmas night

Christmas day we tried to visit some churches in Panjim (state capital) but they were all closed (surprisingly.) The drive to Panjim allowed us to see a lot of buildings made with Portugese infludence, since they colonized Goa years ago. Nice drive it was... We closed off the night having the best Goan fish at this delicious Italian restaurant called J&A's Little Italy -- the fish literally melted in our mouths. All the wait staff were wearing Christmas hats and red shirts for the holiday!

Tuesday we both treated ourselves to pedicures and headed home. I had a great Christmas weekend! For more info on Goa, click here.

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