Our first stop was an old Portugese church. It was fairly simple looking. The front of the sanctuary was curtained off, under renovation. We could see a stained glass window and some ornate decorations. I think we missed the best part. Out side the church the street vendors started. They had some beautiful paintings, a few carvings and lots of elephants on a string. We walked a few blocks to the Chinese fishing nets, the vendors followed. This is the only place in the world where this kind of net is still used. There were about 10 of them. Each one takes 6 men to run. One of the men waved and motioned for me to come on down so I did. They all spoke English and invited me to try working the net. I declined but did let one guy take my picture. He then asked for money and not just for him but for all 6 of them! I gave a dollar to him and one to another man I'd been talking to and walked away.
From there we went to Jew Town. We went into a store where they were weaving some beautiful fabric. We didn't have enough time to really shop. It was a woman's coop. I wouldn't have minded contributing to their cause. We continued walking thru the Jewish quarter to the synagogue. It is the oldest working one in India. There are only 4 Jewish families in Cochin so they seldom hold services there. The floor was all blue and white Chinese tiles, there were many different chandeliers, really beautiful. We were not allow to take pictures as they sold postcards. We then walked thru a long building back to the bus.
One of the royal palaces has been turned into a museum. We were not allowed to take pictures there either. Of course there wasn't much to take pictures of anyway. There were few artifacts, just pictures of them. It was extremely hot inside so we were all eager to leave. One empty room had been full of various gods so we were required to remove our hats in reverence to the gods that used to be there. Odd place.
We then had a restroom stop....at a department store! They had beautiful things from carvings to sari's. Again we had little time to shop but did enjoy seeing everything. At that point is was only 2:00 so we had an hour left to tour. The guide said we had seen the main spots. I asked to be taken to a nice store. In that store were beautiful items! I ended up buying a box made of camel bone, painted with a lot of animals on the outside. I bought it for less than half it's original asking price. I wonder what it is really worth! We then went back to Jew Town for more shopping. The guide suggested stopping for an hour. We had grumbling at the back of the bus, that they needed to get back to the ship for lunch, etc. We comprimlsed on half hour and headed out. They really do have some beautiful things and shopping is Cochin is totally different than in Mumbai, where we will be tomorrow. We were done in 25 minutes to appease the non-shoppers. I found out later that one of the ladies didn't want to shop because she only had $100 bills and couldn't get change. The lady who arranged the tour had offered her change as did I when we were accosted by vendors on the pier. She refused. I think she just liked to complain. Rather rude to not want others to shop when she couldn't. There is always one in every crowd. Generally though, our group gets along well. The complainer has arranged for our tour in Jordon. I have arranged for tours in Israel and they are on it. I am sure it will be fine.
We were back on the ship in time for me to walk. It was very hot. After we both got cleaned up for dinner. We ate at the Italian specialty restaurant on the ship with 2 ladies we had met before, one in 09, the other on several of our cruises. The food was excellent, which was different. Last time we went to that restaurant it was nothing special so we never went back. I would go again. It was a very nice evening. Now on to Mumbai!
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