Wander Woman

Pondicherry was a French colony. The French legacy is still maintained in the french quarter of the town with yellow colonial bungalows draped with bouganvilleas and streets named in French. We drove down to Pondy on a sunny day and it took us almost four hours with two breaks in between. The drive was pleasant ( love driving through the countryside) and the roads were good for most part. We checked into the Hotel Du Parc which is located on Nehru street, adjacent to the French quarter. The building is old colonial and has that distinct old world charm with high windows and antique furniture. The room that we took was on two levels. The groundfloor had a tiny seating area and the bathroom whereas the beds were in a kind of loft like area above. The stairs were wooden and my LO had a gala time marching up and down. We checked in late afternoon, dumped our stuff and decided to hit the promenade.It was two mins walk and we sat by the sea enjoying the cool breeze and samosas.The promenad...

While I was in Kochi, I went to a lot of places to eat, courtesy my husband who is a total foodie.I'm a very fussy eater and generally dont like eating out. But nevertheless these places were awesome that I went again and again. So here is my compilation of the top places to eat in Kochi. The list is varied and includes all kinds of cuisines. 1) Kashi (Fort Kochi) - for an awesome breakfast. The food is fresh, the fruits are sweet and the ambiance chilled. 2) Jeff's - Jeff's biriyani is to die for. He doesnt sell everyday and the days that he opens up his shop the biriyani is over in hours. Theres no place to sit and eat, so you have to pack your food and eat it elsewhere.I LOVE the meatballs that he makes. 3) Kayees - Again for biriyani. Kayees serves malabar-i biriyani. I call it mallu biriyani. sample the date chutney that they serve with rice. If you go on a weekend, you might not even get a place to sit. So prepare to queue outside or better still get it packed. 4)...

Its been a long time since I went to Kashi, one of my favourite hangout places in Fort Kochi, mainly because it was closed for renovation. Kashi is an art cafe housed in one of the 200-year-old dutch/portugese(?) buildings in Fort Kochi. Apart from the ambiance, I go there for their cheese omlettes. There are other things I like about Kashi, like they use glass bottles instead of plastic ones to store water.Like the base of their tables are  actually old sewing machines.And they grind their own coffee. Kashi, in its own way, is a patron of the arts. Every month there is an exhibition by an artist in the hall. Also, when you're at Kashi, nobody bothers you. There is no hurry to eat and scramble. Sit with your favourite book and a cup of masala chai. But the place usually is crowded, especially weekends, and so by common courtesy people do not dally for long. Kashi is located on Burgar street and is open on all days.

Fort Kochi has a lot of good cafes and eateries.Some of them are by the channel and some are located on Princess street and adjoining lanes. I love going to Kashi Art Cafe . It generally hosts some artiste for a month, but more on that later. The other day while walking around Fort Kochi I felt hungry and my feet naturally gravitated towards Kashi. But due to some renovations going on, Kashi was closed. So I went further, crossed the road and found the TEAPOT cafe. Its a small cafe with teapots all around. The owner apparently likes to collect teapots from all over the world. I really loved the yellow walls and antique teapots. The food is average(typical fare, sandwiches and like) but the best part about this place is, its not crowded. You can sit for hours with a masala chai and read your book or do your work.The yellow walls, the high ceiling makes me feel as if I've come to some really old building. It must be a very old house. I wish I'd asked how old.