Mumbai is the biggest city in India, with a population of over 16 million, so needless to say we have a lot to fit in in only 2 days here!! Our day started off on foot as we made our way past the rather uninteresting Town Hall to the St Thomas' Cathedral. The church was interesting, but also quite sad as inside the church were memorials to young colonials who had died of malaria - maybe we should start taking our malaria pills again?!
From there we strolled to the CST train station - the busiest in all India - that's deservedly famous for being one of the most stunning colonial buildings in Mumbai. The Victorian Gothic styles are blended with pure Hindu and result in a magical display of carvings and architecture.
By this time the heat of the day was getting the better of us so we made a stop for a sugar cane and lime juice - vendors line the streets of Mumbai all fighting to serve you this delicious concoction of flavours. 
The sound of crushing sugarcane reverberates within the honking and chatter of a busy and the scent of lime drifts in the breeze: how could you refuse?! In fact we have such difficulty refusing that during the day we had at least 3 huge mug fulls each of the stuff!!!
We also made a quick call to Daddims to wish him a happy birthday (we don't have the big numbers on our keyboard so we can't tell you his age!).
Our next stop was the High Court where we both felt kinda out of place amongst the black robes - the Mumbai High Court was definitely a lot more bustling than the Wellington High Court, that's for sure. From here we peaked into the grounds of the University, where in contrast to the court was completely deserted - where are all these educated lawyers coming from?
We checked out the cricket oval next - a classic example of free open space being utilised for the national pastime.
There were about 10 games going on at once ranging from young lads in school uniforms to semi-professionals decked out in their whites with umpires.
On our way back to our hostel we passed through the Colaba street markets where amongst other things for sale was jewellery, clothes, giant balloons, and trinkets galore. We ended up in the local fruit, vege and fish market that hangs on the edge of town - it never ceases to amaze us that in India slums such as these can be within a kilometre of such grandness as the Taj Mahal Palace.
Back at our hostel we had our free lunch, which was surprisingly good, and gave Adam Aquinas memories by having food served on a tray in a cafeteria.
As if we hadn't packed in enough sightseeing for the day, we then jumped on a bus and made our way to the Crawford St markets - luckily the metro the day before had perfected our barging skills and we managed to get the first bus! We spent a good hour or so at the markets, where Adam was in heaven watching the delivery men slaving away in the heat carrying their loads in baskets on their heads. We also spoilt ourselves to a punnet of fresh strawberries - we couldn't claim to have had a Christmas without them!!
Our last stop was at Chowpatty Beach, where we joined the locals sitting on the sand and looking out over the filthy water and eating icecreams. Having had dessert, it was time for dinner - there's no order in India! So we jumped back on the bus which fought its way through Mumbai traffic (predominantly occupied by ancient black and yellow cabs) for the next hour!
Adlibing a jam-packed day in Mumbai.
From there we strolled to the CST train station - the busiest in all India - that's deservedly famous for being one of the most stunning colonial buildings in Mumbai. The Victorian Gothic styles are blended with pure Hindu and result in a magical display of carvings and architecture.
By this time the heat of the day was getting the better of us so we made a stop for a sugar cane and lime juice - vendors line the streets of Mumbai all fighting to serve you this delicious concoction of flavours. The sound of crushing sugarcane reverberates within the honking and chatter of a busy and the scent of lime drifts in the breeze: how could you refuse?! In fact we have such difficulty refusing that during the day we had at least 3 huge mug fulls each of the stuff!!!We also made a quick call to Daddims to wish him a happy birthday (we don't have the big numbers on our keyboard so we can't tell you his age!).
Our next stop was the High Court where we both felt kinda out of place amongst the black robes - the Mumbai High Court was definitely a lot more bustling than the Wellington High Court, that's for sure. From here we peaked into the grounds of the University, where in contrast to the court was completely deserted - where are all these educated lawyers coming from?
We checked out the cricket oval next - a classic example of free open space being utilised for the national pastime.
There were about 10 games going on at once ranging from young lads in school uniforms to semi-professionals decked out in their whites with umpires.On our way back to our hostel we passed through the Colaba street markets where amongst other things for sale was jewellery, clothes, giant balloons, and trinkets galore. We ended up in the local fruit, vege and fish market that hangs on the edge of town - it never ceases to amaze us that in India slums such as these can be within a kilometre of such grandness as the Taj Mahal Palace.
Back at our hostel we had our free lunch, which was surprisingly good, and gave Adam Aquinas memories by having food served on a tray in a cafeteria.As if we hadn't packed in enough sightseeing for the day, we then jumped on a bus and made our way to the Crawford St markets - luckily the metro the day before had perfected our barging skills and we managed to get the first bus! We spent a good hour or so at the markets, where Adam was in heaven watching the delivery men slaving away in the heat carrying their loads in baskets on their heads. We also spoilt ourselves to a punnet of fresh strawberries - we couldn't claim to have had a Christmas without them!!Our last stop was at Chowpatty Beach, where we joined the locals sitting on the sand and looking out over the filthy water and eating icecreams. Having had dessert, it was time for dinner - there's no order in India! So we jumped back on the bus which fought its way through Mumbai traffic (predominantly occupied by ancient black and yellow cabs) for the next hour!Adlibing a jam-packed day in Mumbai. 
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