Last night was hot! Sleeping was a little tricky with only ceiling fans, so a small lie in was required.
We skipped breakfast and had brunch at a little street stall. We find it hard to remember the names of everything we try. However, this was some paneer (cheese) and spinach dish with chapatis. It was interesting watching the chef (if that is the correct word for an Indian street seller) cook the chapatis on a domed heater. It was good!
We took a short stop to visit St Paul's cathedral which is huge and very ornate inside. There are some interesting plaques on the walls dating back to British rule.
From here we headed to the magnificent Victoria Monument. There is a statue of Queen Victoria in the manicured gardens outside. We spent some time in the gardens walking and talking to an Indian man from Varanasi (town of famous burning ghat on the Ganges). He was very well educated and knew a lot about all sorts of things, even the history of the British monarchy. Pretty impressive!
Due to the heat we headed inside to the garden canteen to rehydrate. Soon we were joined by a young couple from Bangladesh. They also wanted to talk with us and were on holiday in Calcutta.
At the end of the street we were stopped by an older gentlemen who also wanted to talk. He told us about his life and that he was an orphan when he was younger. He explained how he had been sponsored by a British person and supported as he grew up. He has now been working at the same place for 22 years. He thanked us as British people for the help he received. A very nice man to talk to.
Subway seems to be a big thing in Kolkata. Not wanting to miss out on an air conditioning fix and free flowing top ups on soft drinks, we tried their sub of the day. Not very Indian but it gave us a break from the crushing humidity!
In the evening we headed into the heart of Calcutta's busy streets to see what we could find. We watched locals playing cards, sweeping up and discovered where we could get our ironing done. Well maybe not but there was a man using an old iron, yes actually made of iron and heavy! We also saw an old fashioned type writer machine turning out a letter for it's customer.
Dinner was fried rice which was exquisitely prepared for us. The chef went through each ingredient he was adding and was too easy on the chillis so we interrupted and increased the quantity. The friendly chef even stuck his fingers in it to check it was seasoned perfectly.
A cup of chai to wash down dinner and a selection of Indian sweets to finish off the meal. Yum!
Back at the hotel, the lift man was waiting once again to speed our ascent to the fourth floor. He is a really sweet man and is always there to operate the antiquated lift, left in the old colonial building. He demonstrated how you used to make the lift go up and down before a bank of electronics was added.
We skipped breakfast and had brunch at a little street stall. We find it hard to remember the names of everything we try. However, this was some paneer (cheese) and spinach dish with chapatis. It was interesting watching the chef (if that is the correct word for an Indian street seller) cook the chapatis on a domed heater. It was good!
We took a short stop to visit St Paul's cathedral which is huge and very ornate inside. There are some interesting plaques on the walls dating back to British rule.
From here we headed to the magnificent Victoria Monument. There is a statue of Queen Victoria in the manicured gardens outside. We spent some time in the gardens walking and talking to an Indian man from Varanasi (town of famous burning ghat on the Ganges). He was very well educated and knew a lot about all sorts of things, even the history of the British monarchy. Pretty impressive!
Due to the heat we headed inside to the garden canteen to rehydrate. Soon we were joined by a young couple from Bangladesh. They also wanted to talk with us and were on holiday in Calcutta.
At the end of the street we were stopped by an older gentlemen who also wanted to talk. He told us about his life and that he was an orphan when he was younger. He explained how he had been sponsored by a British person and supported as he grew up. He has now been working at the same place for 22 years. He thanked us as British people for the help he received. A very nice man to talk to.
Subway seems to be a big thing in Kolkata. Not wanting to miss out on an air conditioning fix and free flowing top ups on soft drinks, we tried their sub of the day. Not very Indian but it gave us a break from the crushing humidity!
In the evening we headed into the heart of Calcutta's busy streets to see what we could find. We watched locals playing cards, sweeping up and discovered where we could get our ironing done. Well maybe not but there was a man using an old iron, yes actually made of iron and heavy! We also saw an old fashioned type writer machine turning out a letter for it's customer.
Dinner was fried rice which was exquisitely prepared for us. The chef went through each ingredient he was adding and was too easy on the chillis so we interrupted and increased the quantity. The friendly chef even stuck his fingers in it to check it was seasoned perfectly.
A cup of chai to wash down dinner and a selection of Indian sweets to finish off the meal. Yum!
Back at the hotel, the lift man was waiting once again to speed our ascent to the fourth floor. He is a really sweet man and is always there to operate the antiquated lift, left in the old colonial building. He demonstrated how you used to make the lift go up and down before a bank of electronics was added.