I can now spell Thiruvananthapuram without looking it up!
For breakfast, the owners made a delicious idli, sambar and coconut chutney dish.
After some dawdling, Cath, Helene and I headed out. First we visited Helene’s apartment. Next, we went to find Tiger Balm. I use it for mosquito bites and the itching disappears very quickly. Cath had an annoying bite on her big toe. It was very itchy. Nothing helped until I gave her Tiger Balm. She was so impressed by its magical properties, she wanted to buy some.
Helene took us to Cafe Saawaa, her favourite cafe. It was very relaxing. We had some grilled sandwiches with melon and some refreshing lemon juice.
After our lazy lunch, we headed to the State Legislature building, which I’d been to. It was a palaver getting in. We weren’t planning to go in. However, I said to Cath and Helene that the assembly hall was impressive.
At the entrance, my guide from two day’s ago, Sunil, recognised me immediately. He fast tracked us through security and straight into the assembly hall. We were joined by some incredibly well behaved young school children, who’d come from Alappuzha. Sunil gave a brief history of the building in English and Malayalam.
Malayalam, when spoken quickly, sounds like machine gun fire. I mentioned this to Sunil during my first visit. This time, whilst talking in Malayalam to the school children, he started speaking very fast for effect. It was quite something. After his virtuoso performance, he looked to me and said with a smile, “Machine gun”.
The state legislature does not open that often. As it happened, they were sitting today to set the budget and in a couple of days’ time. Sunil said he could get me a permit to watch the proceedings! He gave me his phone number.
After leaving the assembly hall, we saw the school children again and took some photos with them.
We walked to St Joseph’s church via a mosque, the college art, and State Library. After that, we went to eat at a veg restaurant. We were joined by Helene’s work colleague. The restaurant was busy. I had my usual masala dosa. The food was delicious!
