MAR 27, 16 .. HAPPY EASTER FROM ARAMBOL (BEACH) GOA ..

HAPPY EASTER 2016 ..

HE IS RISEN !

JESUS  ..

IS THE REASON 

FOR THE EASTER SEASON !

IF THE ONLY PRAYER YOU EVER SAY IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE IS THANK YOU .. IT WILL BE ENOUGH .. Meister Eckhart ..

Oh God of Abraham .. My creator .. Creator of Heaven and of Earth .. Thank You God .. For your gift to the world .. Of your only begotten son .. Jesus of Nazarth .. He Is Risen .. This I believe .. Help my unbeliefs .. Strength My Faith .. O' God I Pray.

Today's Easter Sunday Rhetorical Question : Would you rather believe and be wrong or not believe and be wrong. Choose one.

Today's second Easter Sunday Rhetorical Question : What is the most beautiful church you have ever seen?

Of course for me to name just one-and-only-one church is pretty much impossible. I will say this .. Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Arambol in Goa absolutely has got to be right up there in my own personal top five beautiful churches.

Beauty also has-to-do with one's personal attachment to the work-or-art. I have a most personal and intimate attachment to Our Lady of Mount Carmel church. I love this church. I attended Mass here and I mixed and I mingled with my local Arambol and with my Arambol Beach neighbors. We have two different locations here. The small village of Arambol and the seaside village of Arambol Beach.

The Indian State of Goa was discovered / founded by the Portuguese early in the 16th century. It remained a Portuguese overseas territory for 450 years finally being peacefully annexed by India in 1961. Because of the Portuguese influence Goa has a large population of Christians.

Being Easter Sunday I would be remiss in saying anything negative about my personal obsessive-compulsive photographing of this touching and .. In My Opinion .. Magnificent Edifice. 

Below is the first view I ever had of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Arambol. It was November 15th or 16th of 2011.

When I looked up from the road at the below scene I was: Stunned .. Frozen in my tracks .. I could NOT take my eyes away from the beauty before me. 

I thought to myself .. "What is it that I am looking at in front of the Church?" .. "I wish that .. whatever it is .. it was not there because it detracts from a clear and unobstructed view of the church!"

So I could clearly see what it was that was blocking the view of the church I began walking up the steps.

The below photos very clearly show the statue.

Several photos of the church without the above statue being 'in-the-way'.

I do absolutely no touching-up or computer assisted alterations to any of my photographs ever. What you see is what I photographed. I myself am stunned at the beauty of these photos. They look to-good-to-be natural.

The below photos show the church as viewed in the warm afternoon sun.

The time has come the Walrus said for us to go inside of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church.

Several photos of the church grounds.

I really enjoyed just sitting quietly on the below benches. 

Thinking about life. Meditating on the joy of my own life.

Just .. Being In The Now!

Our Lady of Mount Carmel also has a very active school.

The school as viewed walking West up the road and heading to Arambol Beach proper.

You can see the church in the distance to the left of the school in these photos.

Deep Breath .. Count to ten .. Let it out slowly ..

Look down at the wonder of Arambol Beach in Goa in India on this Easter Sunday 2016.

Listen! Can you hear the surf rolling up onto the beach? Can you feel the wind in your face?

And? 

Maybe pause again to give thanks for the abundance that is yours ..

As my son Robbie would always say when he was small ..


HAPPY EASTER EGG TO YOU ALL!

WITH LOVE .. 

CAP AND PATTI ..

My dearest Patti .. Putting this Post together I have become homesick for Arambol Beach and for Goa .. 

MAR 24, 16 .. ARAMBOL BEACH .. QUICK REFRESHER ON OUR APARTMENTS

Patti and I arrived in India on December 31st 2015. 

After visits in New Delhi ..

"What did you say to me Miss New Delhi?" .. "You are never going to talk to me again because I posted these photos of you Miss New Delhi!" .. "Look you are what your are!" ..

And a visit to Agra Cantt (the home of the Taj Mahal) ..

Patti with our friend Jeevan Lal. I met Jeevan in December of 1990 and we have remained close friends since that time.

We headed for Goa an Indian State located on India's West Coast South of Bombay (Mumbai). We headed specifically for Arambol Beach in the far North of Goa.

We had a great train trip from New Delhi to Goa. First Class Air Conditioned or First 'A.C.'

Bad .. Very bad habit .. But since late 1990 I love to shoot photographs from the open doors between the coaches. I can tell that the little boy ahead of me and looking back at me is going to tell his parents .. "A man is hanging out of the door why can't I Mommy / Daddy!" 

 First A.C. .. Clean and comfortable ..

 Nothing could be finer than a nice nap on the train ..

When the train stops .. I get out and check the local scene ..

 Will I ever .. In this lifetime .. Be in DIWANKHAVATI again ..

We have arrived in Goa. We got off the train in Pernem.

We got a taxi from Pernem to Arambol Beach. It is about a 30 minute ride.

When we got into Arambol Beach it was time for your Captain to pull-a-rabbit out of his hat! I wanted to find one specific restaurant to orient myself. I missed the mark but not by much. I told the taxi driver I would be right-back.

"Hi Mister Rabbit! You will never know how good it is to see you hop out-of-my hat!"

Back I went to Patti and the taxi driver. 

"Patti we have a room with Matilda at her guest house."

We stayed in two guest houses in Arambol Beach. 

First we stayed for six nights in the apartment where I stayed during my November 2011 to January 2012 visit.

To say we two 'lucked out' is a vast understatement. 

We had no reservations but I had contacted Matilda the owner and she knew we were coming. She told me that if she could not provide us with a room she would find one elsewhere for us.

It was a simple case of  us needing a room .. any room .. we weren't choosy but we really needed a room. Room? We got the absolutely very best possible apartment we could have gotten.

Then after six nights Fritz from Germany (who I got to know in 2011-12) arrived and we had to vacate the room Fritz reserves each year.

Patti and I moved basically 'next door' and spent the rest of our time in Arambol Beach at the Vailankanni Guest House. Look very very closely to the left of the yellow Vailankanni and behind the trees you can see Matilda's blue guest house. 

Our room was on the ground floor right off the courtyard.

A very pleasant kitchen area ..

A very colorful room indeed.

 The courtyard was outstanding ..

We all know that overall this was a 'tough assignment' but Patti .. Trooper that she is .. With great resolve and a stiff-upper-lip .. Made a go of it.

"I sure am missing winter in Anchorage Alaska but someone has got to do this." .. Patti did not know it but I overheard her conversation.

Our own restaurant was only about fifty or so feet from our room ..

Nice omelettes with toast ..

Vegetable curry with a mint lassi. Grilled tuna sandwich with (hoo-boy) garlic bread. We enjoyed every meal we ate at the guest house.

Such a nice guest house ..

Yes! Arambol Beach has a beach ..

Well I am getting revved up and warming to the task of doing some justice to our visit to Arambol Beach in the North of Goa on the West Coast of India.

With Joy from Cap and from Patti ..

Not only am I getting revved up .. I am so enjoying this re-visit to Arambol Beach ..