Kolkata and all of India can be (and is) dirty, hot, congested, chaotic, has heart-wrenching poverty, some of the worst roads in the world, and demands patience along with constant vigilance regarding water and food but… India is also one of the most colorful and interesting countries in the world. Prepare to never know what [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Kolkata/Calcutta”
Sheila’s Fast and Easy Kolkata/Calcutta, India
May 19th, 2009 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta 
Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, travel 
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The Ancient Jewish Synagogues of Kolkata/Calcutta, India
May 18th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Kolkata has always had a diverse community that includes Chinese, Tamil, Armenian, Tibetan, Greek and Jews and India (historically) has provided shelter and asylum to people facing persecution, but if someone doesn’t take you by the hand and show you where the two synagogues (…”synagogue” means house of assembly, house of worship…) of Kolkata are, [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, india, information, Jews, Judaism, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, synagogues, travel 3 Comments »
A Day at The Horse Races – The Royal Calcutta Turf Club, India
May 17th, 2009 Sheila Simkin And now for something completely different… With another free day in Kolkata, Tomas (Footloose Travel) earlier suggested that we might enjoy spending time at the venerable Royal Calcutta Turf Club (race course), built in 1820, if the horses were running that day. It’s difficult to get information on-line but the daily newspaper showed that there [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, horse races, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, Royal Calcutta Turf Club, sightseeing, travel No Comments »
Dakshineshwar and Kalighat Temples in Kolkata/Calcutta, India
May 16th, 2009 Sheila Simkin The first visit was to the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple located across the Houghly River in the North Kolkata area. Off with the shoes and paid a few rupees to have them watched (they would not be there when leaving if you didn’t)… View image…before heading inside. On weekends (which this was), there is a very [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, Hotel Lytton, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, temples, travel No Comments »
Kolkata Clay Modellers and Queen Victoria Memorial, India
May 15th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Even while leaving the Kolkata Flower Market there was much to see. Men loading and unloading trucks filled with heavy bags of rice and grains…View image…sellers of fruit….View image…and green coconuts to drink…View image…people picking through garbage (remember Slum Dog Millionnaire?) and small carts carrying cardboard…View image. There was never an end to the varied [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, travel No Comments »
The Kolkata/Calcutta, India Flower Market
May 14th, 2009 Sheila Simkin The Kolkata Wholesale Flower Market is one of the Kolkata highlights. I dearly love flowers and the sight (and smell) of thousands of roses will forever remain with me. You can buy one dozen long stem red roses for less than $1.00 U.S. That blew my mind. The market is almost directly under the Howrah [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, india, information, Kolkata, Kolkata Flower Market, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, travel 7 Comments »
On The Way To The Kolkata/Calcutta Flower Market, India
May 13th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Malini and driver from D.J. Tours & Travel, Kolkata, picked us up at 9:00 a.m. for a long day of sightseeing and promptly began filling our heads with facts about Kolkata on the way to the Flower Market. Keep in mind that these are Malini’s facts: – There are over 70,000 metered taxis. – Kolkata/Calcutta [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, nature, sightseeing, travel No Comments »
Explore Kolkata/Calcutta, India in Depth
May 12th, 2009 Sheila Simkin Yes, they did change the spelling from Calcutta to Kolkata in January 2001 with many conflicting explanations. Fortunately, all ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I had to do today was wake up for breakfast. The Hotel Lytton looked much better in the daylight (contrary to arrival at 2:00 a.m. in the dark) and is ideally located in [...]
Posted in India, Kolkata/Calcutta Tags: accommodation, adventure, Asia, Calcutta, destination, event, events, food, hotel, hotels, india, information, Kolkata, landmark, log, Lytton Hotel, nature, Oberoi Grand Kolkata, sightseeing, travel No Comments »
