(Cross-posted here.)
To explore more of Karnataka I set off to Mangalore with colleagues for a team member’s wedding on the evening of January 25. We took a sleeper bus from Bangalore. The bus was far from what was portrayed on the website of the bus service but the journey was just about decent. After a long night's ride in the cold with no bed sheets and bad roads after Hassan, we reached Mangalore the next morning. Our colleague, the groom received us at the bus stop and took us home. His family was warm and welcoming, very simple yet sweet.
The place where we stayed was calm, serene, quaint and beautiful. After a shower we explored the city. We visited a store of local handicraft articles followed by a cashew shop where we all bought cashews of different kinds - cheese coated, honey sweet, pepper roasted. Then we headed to Ideal Place, known as the best ice cream parlour in Mangalore. We dug into flavours like Gudbud and had Falooda which didn't turn out to be as enticing as expected. Our next stop was an architectural marvel, the St. Aloysius Chapel built in 1884. The walls and ceiling were painted in two techniques: Fresco and Oil-based. Artist Anthony Moscheni from Italy takes credit for this marvellous creation. The central row of paintings on the ceiling depicts the life of Aloysius Gonzaga to whom the College and Chapel are dedicated. The floor is made up of brick that gives a 3-dimensional effect.
