Kolkata.. 3 Days not Enough..

Even if one of my best friends in Brussels is from Kolkata, I didn’t know much about the city until I saw it myself. I had enough of research for other cities before, and for Calcutta, being the last destination of my India trip, I was tired i guess and I didn’t check or ask anything to anyone before going. So absolutely, no knowledge, no expectations.

First of all, I knew nothing about the city’s history or how important it was during the British rule. The city had once been the capital of British occupation and was full of British landmarks, Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, Park Street, tiny shops and random small streets with Victorian architecture - also Mother Teresa of Calcutta streets.. It was also the center of the Indian independence movement. After checking the guidebook, I wasn’t sure whether my 3.5 day trip would be enough for Kolkata. And surely wasn’t..

On the plane to Kolkata, not sure what to expect 

Victoria Memorial & St. Paul's Cathedral in Kolkata (rooftop view from Jimmit's place)

I had a chilled out Thursday afternoon after my arrival from Chennai. Even though I was a bit restless due to the sad news of a dear friend in Brussels, I was ready to meet with new faces and go out for a yummy Indian  dinner. Jimmit, my dear host in Kolkata, together with Chirag (his new LCP) and Vaibhav (former LCP/new MC member) brought me to an insanely good North Indian restaurant. I guess it was the best restaurant food I had eaten in this trip so far. Garlic nan was just indescribably delicious. After the dinner there was  the mouth freshener Ice paan from a street shop; and later I went to bed with a full and happy stomach. Even though I wasn’t as lucky in sleeping, I had a good first night and ready to dive into the streets of Calcutta next day to explore it.

Yummies food ever with Jimmit, Chirag, Vaibhav & Ice paan, street mouth freshener typical for Kolkata

With the suggestion of Babitha from Bangalore, I wanted to see a couple of restaurants including Kewpie’s and Flurys. Thanks to Jimmit, I had my lunch in Kewpies (a quite luxurious one) and my afternoon tea in Flurys. In between we smoked nargile, walked around Park Street and had a small bit of the New Market. But the best time of the day for me was the rooftop session with Jimmit.

My luxurious Bengali dinner at Kewpie's & Jimmit 

 I was just so lucky to have a host with such a great rooftop. Yes, Rooftops are essential in India given the fact of the weather; however in a city like Calcutta, it is even more essential as there were a couple of beautiful buildings to see (despite the pollution). I was quite happy there, I didn’t want to move from that spot however I had to move. But at the end, I was happy because I went to stay with an amazing group of people.  

Me on the rooftop of Jimmit, very happy

I had later the chance to really discover New Market with the interns whom I was staying with. Thanks to Pedro & Vivian + accompanied by William & Allison, Anh & Nguyen (both Vietnamese new interns) and I had a good instruction of the new market. I bought a couple of kurtas and some jewelry for the friends and myself. I wasn’t fond of shopping at all and I had the backpack only, but this time, as in Kolkata being the last stop, I let myself to spend some money and bring some Indian “assets’’ with me.

Victoria Memorial & Japanese AIESECer we met at McDonald's

Victoria Memorial, more Park Street, more nargile, more rooftop was on the activities of to-do list of the 3^rd day. Haha, I will never forget our chat with Ranomi, Anh & Nguyen in the nargile place or our “burning” around VM, or the random Japanese AIESECer we met at McDonalds, or “the last supper” of pizzas in the trainees house.

Ronami & Nguyen & Anh squezeed  & Ronami smoking shisha for the first time

I had never been to Kolkata before, and before going there, I wouldn’t think that I would say this, but yes, I would like to come back to this special city and hopefully will do it in June on my way back home..