You can’t go to Goa without spending a day at the beach!
Ritchie drove Nishant and I to a beach about an hour away called Mandrem beach. Since it was Diwali, the roads were empty and the beach was too. It was such a peaceful sight. Ritchie and I dropped our bags at a shack called Dune where we would spend the whole day and hit the water immediately. It was about noon when Ritchie and I first hit the water but the sun was pleasant and as he put it, his one day a year to soak in his vitamin D. I ran straight in running and laughing as I splashed everywhere. The water was so warm! The beach was very clean and sandy which meant there were no rocks. It was also shallow so despite feeling like we were far out, we could always stand. Ritchie had brought his cap and goggles to actually swim but for the most we spent the time chatting and catching up as we caught the waves. Everytime a big wave approached he would go under and swim with it while I would jump up so that I did not lose my sunglasses or contacts. It was such a relaxing time being it the water for so many hours.
Having burned off all our energy playing in the water, we returned to Dune to feast. I was super excited to eat seafood with the Goan Recheado masala. We ordered recheado squid, prawn rava fry, and then a Goan prawn curry. I was in food heaven. It was that good! The flavors of the recheado masala are so homey and nostalgic of my mom’s cooking. It took me a while to realize that the type of cuisine we normally eat is Goan so it was definitely reminding me of all the food I have grown up with. I think I ate the entire plate of calamari and the prawns were that good and fresh! I missed this food so much! I especially like the prawn rava fry and how it is fried in semolina for extra crispiness on the exterior.
Full from lunch, Nishant joined us for a second swim as the afternoon sun came in. Together with the boys we swam far out until the coast guard caught us on a jetski and told us we had to return closer to the shore since there were jellyfish present in the water. I will be adding jellyfish to my growing list of things out to get me in India.
We swam for quite some time floating on the continuous stream of waves that broke right where we were. Being out in the ocean stopped time and I was truly living the Goan susegad life! I felt so laid back and relaxed. Ritchie wanted chai at some point so while the boys headed back for tea I decided to make a break for it and go for a beach run. The beach was super flat and the sand was packed so it made it easy to run. It was so freeing to run barefoot along the beach. The wind whipped through my hair and dried me as I ran further and further. It was so nice to run and be getting dried by the wind as opposed to soaked in the Mumbai sun.
I ran back just in time to enjoy a kombucha as the red sun sank below the horizon and Nishant and I took golden hour photos! It was such a perfect day and I really hope to do it again someday.
In the evening Roopa’s Uncle Lenny had invited us over for dinner and I am very glad I went! Nomita had pointed out a massive house on a hill that can be seen from a distance and that was Uncle Lenny's house. He owned the entire hill complete with a palace on the top and servants quarters on the property. He is said to have about 16 staff on the property and I believe it as there were 6 girls in the kitchen when we arrived.
Uncle Lenny’s palace was massive and I wish I could have seen it during the day. The gardens were so perfectly manicured it was as if he was living in a tropical oasis. I loved the Portuguese style of architecture with the tiled roof. Inside Lenny had decorated it very nicely too with many plants and artifacts from around the world. Uncle Lenny started us with wine as we sat outside in his backyard nibbling on a fried paneer appetizer.
Uncle Lenny was quite a character! He was 84 but very lively and kept well. He had properties all over the world including New York. I was so impressed! He chatted about everything including politics and his view of the U.S. my favorite quote from the evening is “there is no American Dream only nightmare” which I thought was quite funny. The highlight of Uncle Lenny's place was of course the food! His maids had prepared an entire feast. There was salad, coconut green bean vegetable, dal, spinach, bindi curry, red rice, a coconut and dried prawn dish, sunnas, a prawn bake and a whole fish! The spread was a feast for my eyes and stomach and it felt like it was Thanksgiving with how much food there was!
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