Today we hooked a taxi upon our arrival into the port of Mormugao, India. We were headed to Old Goa and to the town of Panjin. Here is a rough description from the ship’s tour which was about the same…. Once the capital of Portuguese Goa, Old Goa remains the spiritual heart of the territory and is renowned for its baroque churches.During this tour you will discover the main highlights of Old Goa and the city Panjim. Visit the Basilica of Bom Jesus. This church gained fame throughout the Roman Catholic world for the tomb and remains of St. Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron saint. Ten years of traveling in Southeast Asia as a tireless missionary made his voyages legendary. See the richly gilded altars and the glass casket that holds the remains of St. Francis. The tomb is an ironic final resting place for a man who ardently refused such splendor throughout his life. The Se Cathedral is the largest church in Asia. It was begun in 1562 and completed in 1619 with funds from the royal treasury and the sale of crown property. Its architecture is an interesting mix of Portuguese-Gothic, Tuscan and Corinthian styles. The main altar is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria; paintings depict scenes from her life and martyrdom. From there, it’s not far to the Church of St. Cajetan, modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome. Its neoclassical façade, with twin towers flanking the great dome, disguises an interior that is pure, unrestrained baroque. Hidden beneath the church is a crypt where the embalmed bodies of Portuguese governors were kept in lead coffins before they were shipped back to Lisbon. Forgotten for a time, the last batch was removed only in 1992. On the way back to the pier you will stop at Panjim to see the vegetable and fruit market.
After exploring the sights of Old Goa and the fabulous markets of Panjim, we took our last stop at the town outside the port, Vasco de Gama to see the markets. They were amazing as well….
Now for a side note in the category of “What are they thinking????” The headquarters in Seattle for Holland America Line just came out with a new and very curious program. Fleetwide, commencing with each embarkation, they are instituting “Code Red” procedures for two days, sort of…. In the Lido food service line they have implemented the stringent food control protocols but,…. Not in the dining room, not in the Explorations Café, not in the Casino or anywhere else on the ship. Germs are allowed to be transferred from person to person everywhere except the Lido Resturant. It is kind of like being half pregnant or just going with a partial sanitation… Crazy… With the number of “Slice and Dice” segments we have on this “World Voyage” they could be disrupting the food lines quite often. What can this possibly accomplish? Nothing! Who came up with this silly, half baked idea? Surely Stein Kruse will see the fallacy of this once he is made aware. What are they thinking indeed???? The best part is that there doesn’t have to be any Norovirus cases for this program…just do it as a precaution… How about everyone wear lifejackets all the time as a precaution? There’s an idea….
1 comment:
Once again HAL seems to have lost the plot. I have said it before - HAL gets so many things right and then they just loose the plot. In this "Code Red" sorta idea they seem to think there is a need to do something but what they are doing is indeed nothing more than throwing the baby out with the bath water or closing the barn door after the cows have left. Come on HAL, wake up and smell the coffee! If there is a need to take safety measures, then by all means, DO IT CORRECTLY and not just some half way token jesture.
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