Houseboat

A lovely meal on the houseboat – so much we could not do it justice ending with fresh pineapple. Watching the sun go down was lovely and the birds roosting. The bed was excellent but did not sleep that well. Got up to see the sunrise at 6.45 and a lovely breakfast of omelette and coconut pancakes with fruit. Very cool sitting next to the steering wheel watching the birds and the final journey to where we got on the boat. Did not want to get off it was so relaxing! Drive to Fort Kochi and the Eighth Bastion is a brand new boutique hotel with a huge room and balcony! Strangely no TV in the room. Unpacked and sorted clothes> Cases were weighed and we are under 23 kilos each. Walked to the Bishop’s house (very grand) and Joseph came to open up the Indo-Portuguese museum of church artefacts. He admired my Bethlehem cross. Then got a tuk tuk to the Kathakali centre –a new one with a small museum. Watched the makeup and the show with strange eye and hand movements and extraordinary costumes. Worth going to it. Chandran picked us up and to Dal Roti restaurant which is just around the corner from the hotel. The food is superb and cheap! Met a nice couple in the queue outside.  Internet is free at the hotel and delighted to get a quick reply about the Periyar hotel – a full refund of one night’s stay there.

Slept much better from 8 p.m. to midnight and read New Years Honours list download and then slept again. Dreamt about having a bath and massage and remembering the dead! Weird! Bed is so much more comfortable in this huge room. Lovely wet room. Spoke to AnnMarie and Ann on skype and caught up on emails as internet access is free! Oddly no TV in room or any alcohol so obviously aiming for a quiet get away. We can see the ocean from our balcony and everything is new! Just been hearing about the move of the Masses for gay people from Warwick St to Farm Street. Have unpacked and sorted clothes. Lou will pick us up at Heathrow with Seán and take us home as I was worried about driving after such a long drive. Will have to wait until Wednesday to see Ciarán. Ordination day so will have a quiet morning and a swim and set off at 2 p.m.