Cal 2011

Kolkata was so cool and I'm really glad we went even though we didn't get to see nearly the amount of things that I would have liked to see. This is going to be more pictures-caption style because I am trying to do too much in the space of the two days that I am back in Varanasi.

 Me in front of the Victoria Memoria, a symbol of imperial Calcutta and a beautiful building.

 Be sure not to exercise in the Victoria Memorial grounds- it's not allowed.

Another view of the memorial.

 Inside the Saturday Club, one of the most prestigious clubs in Calcutta (called Cal by all of the locals).

 At the house of Tagore, who is famous for his poetry and painting. He wrote the national anthem.

 Statues for Durga Puja. They are made from plaster/mud and straw. I would say that they are quite impressive.

They parade these statues through the street for 10 days and then afterward put them in the river, the Hooghly. Yes, this is my favorite name for a river.

This is one of the temples at the Ramakrishna ashram at Belur Math. It was a peaceful and beautiful place by the Hooghly river and it was nice to see so many people meditating in peace.

Bengali ice cream! Did you know that Kolkata is in West Bengal? It's one of the many states in India, and in West Bengal, Bengali (or Bangla) is the languages of the masses. However, most people did also speak Hindi or English too.
Back to the ice cream though- it was delicious and made out of wheat and molasses and something else. So tasty!!!

A last view of the city from the train station. The language grafitti'ed on the building is Bengali.