Chennai and beyond

Let’s see.  We were about to go out to dinner, weren’t we?

We enjoyed a delicious “Southern Spice” meal at the Dakshin Restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel here in Chennai.  Of course, we eat far too well here on the ship and have way too many choices of venue to enjoy dinner. But, we thought that the opportunity to eat delicious and authentic Southern Indian food in a top class restaurant was not to be missed, so along we went.

We were not disappointed!

Our meal was served on an elegant silver platter, lined with a banana leaf.  A selection of pickles were served to one side, leaving plenty of room for the succession of small, tasty dishes which were brought to us by our efficient waiter KK and his assistant Pravin.  During service, we were entertained by a couple of beautiful young women, performing traditional Indian dances. These were truly remarkable for highlighting every part of the body, most especially the eyes and facial expressions, which could have been taken from any classical Indian painting.  Atmospheric?  you bet.

The food was delicious and later, enquiring of our guide about the authenticity of the dishes served, we were assured that they were absolutely authentic in every way, except for perhaps being about 80% of normal spice level.  Considering we all left feeling pretty hot around the taste buds, I think that this was a wise move on the part of the chef!

Surprisingly, considering the quantity of food consumed and the level of spiciness, we slept wonderfully and woke to the most beautiful sunrise this morning over the marginally less poetic scenery of a Chennai dock.

Through the soft focus lens (really, the steamed up lens of my camera in shock from being taken from the cool air-con atmosphere of our suite to the sticky Chennai early morning air), 6am on a Wednesday morning overlooking the dockside really didn’t look too bad!

For further tales of how the day progressed, then the same patience is required as was needed when this train was passing the level crossing at walking speed.  We are in India, it’s hot and sticky and things happen – well, when they happen.

To be continued …