I know
Will try again tomorrow.

remember to save it on Word as you are typing.

Gemma

I am enthralled please carry on. I want to go back after reading your report.

Oceanic is the best shack I have been to in Goa also I agree with everything you say about Soumyens. He is such a gentleman

Great report Gemma, really enjoyed reading it.

J.

I know Fiona thats what I would normally do but this computer I am using doesnt have word on it but I will do some more in a little while.
Hulls now that I am home I want to go back as well, but I need to wait another 231 sleeps

I know how you feel gemma them scottish computers ar,nt great did you put enough petrol in it good luck to the gers tonight

Youre right Irishman, I need to put another shilling in the meter!
Thanks for your good wishes for tonight
Will do the rest of the report later.

Wednesday 19 March - Headed down to Baga Beach again. Another day relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, so I will pass over that bit.
We are going to Lazy Days tonight because a few HTers have said they will pop in. Got dropped off at the start of the CSM Road and decided to go here for something to eat. When I met DonnaB at the beach she told me about a good restaurant on the Baga Road that she went to called Salt & Pepper and we were going to go there, but we thought we would go to the CSM Road as its only a 2 minute walk up to Lazy Days. Donna I wish I had listened to you and tried Salt & Pepper (will do in Nov tho). We went to a restaurant at the start of the road on the left hand side, think it was called Mela? very mediocre food, I wouldnt advise anyone to try it, a waste of money and food very bland. We had a starter each, mushroom soup and prawn cocktail followed by a steak and tuna steak for dinner, the only decent part of the meal was the mushroom soup. Paid about 1100 rupees all in, this included a couple of drinks and bottled water.
Loads of HTers in Lazy Days! Myself, Mids on Tour, Arpora Dave, Sleeps, Polly50, Irishcolleen, Solobrummy, Sim1, Candy64, Robbie, Karlnjess, Wanderer57, Robbie and if I have missed anyone out I do apologise, but there were so many people there. Was fantastic to meet to many people and put faces to all the screen names. Hope to see you all in Goa next season.

Thursday 20 March - Another day at Baga Beach, just chilling out, having a relaxing time, had a very upset tummy for the past couple of days probably my own fault for not going to the chemist and trying to buy an equivalent to my Acidiphilos tablets. My god the beach was so busy today and the sellers, beggars, nail girls etc etc are all out in full force. An extra number of Indian tourists on the beach as well, guess this is because its the start of the easter holidays.

Tonight we headed to Holiday Street to try Nirvana. Had a very nice meal in here. Nice setting, very nice staff and some background music made it all the more pleasant. As I say I enjoyed Nirvana but ive tried other restaurants just as good so I cant say I will hurry back, but only because there are so many other places to try in Goa, and its a problem trying to fit them all in. For some reason, there have been loads of power cuts tonight, even more than normal Having a quiet night and heading back to the hotel as tummy not in good condition. Trying to phone our taxi driver, but no reception on phone and the power cuts are occurring every 10 to 15 minutes. Walked out onto Holiday Street and its really dark, got a taxi from here back to the Marinha Dourada which cost us 150 rupees. Asked a couple of drivers prices and they give you all this nonesense about 300 and 200 rupees, robbing

Next bit ...... (trying to get it all finished now!!!)

Friday 21 March - Very overcast today I can hardly believe it, ive very seldom seen weather like this in Goa. My OH normally says the cloud will burn off, but today doesnt look too good.
Decided we will phone Amigo and get him to take us to Panjim as there is no way we are getting any sunbathing done today.
He dropped us off at the start of Panjim and we got the ferry across. Everything and everybody except your granny and the kitchen sink on the boat, tuk tuks, taxis, bikes, its amazing! A short journey and we are in the centre of Panjim. Only thing is there is a lot of shops closed today because its Good Friday (just my luck). We went in and out all the designer shops that were opened just for the AC, it might be overcast, but my god its humid and hot!
After a short while we got back into the taxi and headed back to Candolim and decided to go into Cafe Chocolatti. Glad we came in here, what a fantastic place! So many yummy cakes to choose from and a wee shop at the side that you can go in and buy cakes and sweets to take away. Anyway there were 4 of us so we had a selection of cakes, brownies and fudge cake, plus I had some marvellous pancakes with syrup and a toffee (or maybe it was butterscotch ) sauce, we also had a portion of french bread, strawberry milk shakes, tea and latte. I must call back here in November, the cakes and food are devine. The whole bill came to about 900 rupees, marvellous.
Got back in the taxi and stopped at Tony's Place to book at table for tonight. Read on the forum its always busy and best not to turn up as you may not get in. Booked a table for 8.30pm. Heading back to the hotel and the rain starts. The rain stayed on. The rain got heavier!!!! My OH sat out in the balcony for about an hour watching the rain and a thunderstorm in the distance, and lighenining ripping thru the sky. We went out and the rain was still hitting off the ground. I am glad we booked a table in a place like Tonys because its undercover and obviously when its raining places like East Meets West and After 7 generally close for the night.
I would rate Tony's place in the same bracket as Nirvana, very nice meal indeed, nothing that would make me not return but on the other hand nothing that would make me rush back. I also think Tony's is constantly busy because the place is so small. We were joined later in the evening by Irishcolleen and her hubby and we all had a drink together before heading back to the hotel, although I think IC and hubby might have headed along to Bubbles Bar, so she can tell you about that herself

with all the drink at 20 rupees I have to say yes gemma we ended up in bubbles ...i can just see your face at the ferry isn't it brill just to see all and what gets on the boat we go on the ferry every time we go to goa we love it .......colleen

Gemma this report is great, I keep logging on to check to see if you've added a bit more. You must try Salt and Pepper in November we were very impressed and will be going back next year.

Donna
XX

Oh Gemma!! Cafe Chocolatti - I love it!! If you like fresh lime sodas you should try the lime and ginger fizz ... and their toasted paninis and fruit salads are yummy!

Another bit .... will try and finish this tonight ....

Saturday 22 March - Woke up to a very overcast day still hot and humid but not a lot of sunshine. Had breakfast in the hotel today (for a change). I think we were hanging around the hotel hoping the sun will put in an appearance. Just finishing breakfast and a man at the next table smiled across and started speaking to me, spotted my blue HT wristband, and asked if I was Gemma33 was very nice to meet you Spinner and your lovely daughter. Spinner had only arrived the day before and had already seen pouring rain, lightening, a thunderstorm and overcast weather
After breakfast there was a little bit sunshine so we headed down to the Oceanic. All was ok until about 2pm and the heavens opened up, and my god did it rain!!!! There was no way the rain was going off and that put an end to the sunbathing at Baga Beach!! It was amazing how many people stayed on the beach under their umbrella or the Indians who were walking about the beach and swimming in the sea. The water was coming thru the roof of the shack and all the shacks boy were on the roof trying to lay some tarpaulin, so looks like the rain is here to stay. The shack was jam packed and cos of the leaky roof the boys brought in the umbrellas that had been on the beach and put them over your table inside the shack instead. We sat with Spinner and his daughter having a drink and something to eat everyone wet and wondering what was happening with the weather!
We went back to the hotel about 4ish.
Tonight we were going to East Meets West with Polly50 and Walks but the restaurant was closed because of the bad weather. So the six of us went along to Sendra's instead to see our friend Rovin. At least its undercover and he always makes you welcome. Trying to get to Sendras was an operation in itself because the Baga/Calangute Road was nose to tail with taxis, motor bikes and tuk tuks, all because it was Easter and all the cars driving into Calangute had Mumbai number plates on them. It was chaos.
During the day at the Oceanic I was telling Shirleyv about Sendras and she decided to come along for a meal as well. I told Rovin "This lady Shirley also goes to the Oceanic and has come here for a meal also" he said "Oh shes come to see me, I must go and speak to her!" He is so grateful.
Later in the evening we went joined by Irishcolleen for a few coffees .......
Back to the hotel, please let it be sunny tomorrow.

Sunday 23 March. Weather is a good bit better, still overcast, but sun in between as well so we can have another day at the beach, after all we only have 2 days left Just another day at the beach so nothing different to report.
Only 2 days left and we havent been to After 7 yet. We always go and see Leo and have a meal there. Providing the rain stays off we will go there this evening.
To be honest I didnt see a lot of change in After 7 and had another very nice meal. Souymens kitchen is probably the "in" place to go, and I love it there as everyone knows, but cant fault the meal at After 7 either. However, Leo did spot my HT wristband and after we finished our meal he came over and spoke to us and said he had noticed my blue band. He said he reads HT with interest and has been upset and hurt about the negative comments his restaurant is getting. The power of the internet eh. He didnt mention Souymens Kitchen to us and we didnt mention it to him either. However, we got another brandy in here to thank us for our continued custom
Jumped in our taxi and headed along to Mai Thai to see some other HT friends. Polly50, Sleeps, Linb, Irishcolleen, we were later joined by BrenLiz, very nice to meet you at last

Great report Gemma, it's a shame we didn't bump into each other during your last couple of days, kept my eyes peeled at the MD but didn't spot you!

We had rain on the Monday afternoon, then again on Tuesday evening then the weather was great for the rest of our fortnight.

Great report Gemma , thanks for the recommendation to go to Sendra's - it was lovely

I remember the rainy day you described , we ended up in Calangute watching the world go by and had a georgeous steak sandwich at the Rock Cafe.

Monday 24 March - Last full day Well we dont actually leave til Tuesday afternoon, but this is our last full day in Goa. One more visit to the Oceanic Beach Shack. I hate saying goodbye to all the boys at the shack and I just know later on I will be Pretty overcast but bits of sun here and there - until 3pm, then the sun vanishes again. We sat inside the shack for a while, had some lunch, spoke to Shirleyv then said our goodbyes to everyone see all our friends again in November.
Tonight is the final supper with my friends Polly50 and Irishcolleen. I stopped at East Meets West on the way back to the hotel and booked a table for 8.30pm. Headed along to Vell Wash and collected the last of our laundry, said our goodbyes til November. Got back to the hotel and the rain starts again ggrrrrr. We were in a dilemma about East Meets West, maybe its only a shower and it will dry up or do we cancel and go somewhere else, what a nightmare. Phoned East Meets West and the lady owner explained that we would have a table inside so everything would be ok.
I like East Meets West and there is plenty of variety and its a lovely setting, but they do rush your meal. No entertainment tonight because most people are sitting inside and there are even tables on the stage where the groups normally are. Polly hadnt even finished her starter and her main meal was put beside her, what a cheek! Everyone was quite tired tonight so we had our meal and a couple of drinks and called it a night. We headed back to the hotel for an early night.

Tuesday 25 March - Got up and packed our cases, got showered so we could be out the room for 12 noon. This wasnt inconvenient at all because our taxi was booked for 1.45pm. We got to reception and Edwin said we could have stayed in our room as long as we wanted because no one was booked to go into it after we left. We headed along to MoJos for a bite to eat and then back for our taxi to get to Dabolim Airport. Said our goodbyes to Amigo who was fantastic, he doesnt speed, hes reliable, always on time, offers any help he can and never lets you down. We got to the airport and he said the ride to Dabolim was free to thank us for all our business over the past two weeks. Not a lot of taxi drivers in Goa would do that!!! We were having none of it and gave him money anyway. He then told us our trip from the airport to the Marinha Dourada in November would be free instead, what a lovely guy.
We always like to get to the airport early then the queues arent as bad and you get checked in quicker.
I made sure our cases were not overweight, no toiletries and other stuff to bring back so our two cases combined were just under 40 kgs. However, they were trying to pull a fast one and weigh the hand luggage as well, they will stoop to anything in that airport to try to make a fast buck anyway they can.

Flight home was on time. However, return flight also didnt have any private inflight entertainment, so a letter of complaint has been sent to Thomsons about this.

Gatwick was a nightmare waiting for our luggage, we waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for our cases (everyone on our flight was the same) God knows what that was all about. Then it got worse, we got to the Travel Lodge only to be told they had no rooms for us!!! Their excuse was "we've had an influx of bookings today". Dont understand what that has got to do with us because we booked our room a month or two in advance. We got moved to The Moat House for the one night. So another letter of complaint has been sent, this time to Travelodge.

We had a great holiday and I will certainly return to Goa. Every winter we go twice but maybe once is enough or I think it might lose its magic. We are booked for November 2008 and then we will see what happens after that.

Sorry if ive gone on a bit in my report, I just hope I havent bored everyone too much. Thanks for taking the time to read x

Great report Gemma thanks for chearing us all up
Pat

Thanks Smudger and hope to meet you in November.
Miccie we will get to meet one day (I hope). Did you meet Spinner and Gazthomas, I think they were at the MD at the same time as you.
Shirley it was really lovely to meet you after chatting on here for so long, you and your husband are a lovely couple.