This weekend I thought I’d take it easy, do some walking, and get reacquainted with Bangalore. Yesterday, Saturday, I walked 15 km (according to my GPS) through Cubbon Park, past the Vidhana Soudha (State Legislature), the High Court of Karnataka, and the General Post Office. I didn’t see Cubbon Park last time I was here, nor the state library. The park is green, but dusty, as it’s the dry season right now.
…And then downtown to Brigade Road where the pubs are.
Pub World is still there. They still only have Kingfisher on tap, and it was even the same bartender! He didn’t recognize me though. I spent a couple of pleasant hours out of the heat, enjoying pints of Kingfisher, watching cricket, and chatting with a banker about the effect of the global economic meltdown on outsourcing.
Oh yes, the heat… 31 degrees Celsius and bright sunshine! Quite a departure from -20 C and snow in Ottawa; I think my toque will be spending the next few weeks at the bottom of my duffle bag. Unfortunately I didn’t think to bring (or wear) any sunscreen, and now it’s too late: I’ve got myself a bright red sunburn.
For walk #2 today, I wore a hat. This walk was 19 km, up around the Bangalore Palace grounds for a start. There was a chocolate festival going on there, and not being a chocolate fan, I didn’t go in. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a popcorn festival.
It was a long, dusty walk. I ended up downtown again, and had a bottle of water on Coffee Day’s patio on Mahatma Gandhi Road. M.G. Road has changed a lot since my last visit, as the new metro rail system is being built along its north side. The plans were still being made during my last visit, and already there’s a considerable amount of progress. Contrast that with Ottawa, where the planning for light rail starts from scratch every couple of years.
