Day 158 - Waiting Game

It's a hot and drowsy afternoon. Everything in Goa, even the train station seems more laid-back than in the rest of India. Like the stations in the rest of the country, Goa's has its share of stray dogs. Only here though can they afford to snooze in line.

We however are having a less restful day. We went to buy our tickets to Kerala, and were told that there was a good chance that we would get bunks, but that there was a four-person waitlist. I went ahead and bought the wait-list tickets - we had good luck with them last time - and crossed my fingers.

Being wait-listed freaks Cz out. After a good while of fretting, we decided to calm down by catching up on the blog and e-mails. Good for the moms and other readers, less good for playing tourist in Goa.

Goa was one of the (possibly the longest) Portuguese-held colonies in India. As a result, Old Goa has some astounding Portuguese architecture. Not that we would know - we never made it as far as Old Goa. We did finish blogging and internetting with enough time before re-checking our tickets to visit The Church of the Holy Spirit. We had heard that the interior was richly decorated, but unfortunately it was closed when we arrived. It was still quite pretty Portuguese-looking from the outside.

From there, we took a tuk-tuk out to Rachol Seminary. Lonely Planet notes that this is not a tourist destination and to ask before wandering around. There were a group of caretakers outside when we arrived, so I approached the one that looked most in charge. Not only did he grant us permission to explore the seminary, but he gave us guided tour of the building and grounds.

The Seminary was orginally built in 1604 by Portuguese missionaries. Over the years, it has been headed by the Dutch, The English, and now, finally, Indians. The best thing about the building was the fact that it wasn't a tourist attraction - nothing had been 'prettied up' or set out as a display. We stopped first at the organ loft over the chapel. There, partially under a dust-cover was a 400 year old pump organ. The back panels were loose, so our guide even showed us how the bellows worked (one person pumps with theur feet at one end of the organ, another plays the keys on the other). We then went down a hall lined with black-and white photos of Seminarians from the past centuy, a skeleton, Portuguese coins, and assorted dusty artifacts. A few steps down, and a low doorway led us to a tiny balcony nestled in the ornate woodcarving that covered the front of the church. I don't knoiw the dates on all of it, but the parts around the alter were 17th century.

Many old homes in Goa have mother of pearl instead of glass in the windows. The seminary was no exception. Each of the large upper windows comprised hundreds of shell panels, filtering and diffusing the light.

Up in the attic proper, we found what was probably a classroom - an old chalkboard stood on a stand in the corner. The real draw though was the views. Window lined three walls of the room, and from that height it was possible to see over much of the state, and out over the bay.

Back down again, we passed playing courts where we could hear what sounded like a rowdy game. Even seminarians are allowed to some fun! In another courtyard, our guide pointed to what looked like a tennis court, and said that a canal ran underneath it from one end to another. We were perplexed until he took us outside and down some dark stone stairs. A cavernous cystern filled the space under the courts. Cz shone his headlamp around the space - the beam barely penetrated the dark, but it was enough to wake a few of the ats who lived there.

We spent at least an hour going up and down and around all the nooks and crannies of the seminary. Our guide never asked for anything, but we slipped him a couple hundred rupees 'for the church'.

By then it was time to head back to the train station.

Where we discovered that our bunks had been confirmed. With that stress over with, we ate an easy dinner in the railway cafe, found our platform, and were soon on our way south.