After a reasonable night's sleep in a room where the air-conditioner stopped at 4 in the morning and we couldn't open the window we were up at 8 and ready to go. The "we" was Tim and myself. The girls were going to go shopping for the day. Tim and I preferred to see the sights. We had breakfast at the hotel. I had a wonderful glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a scrambled egg sandwich.

We took an auto to Fort St. George and saw the museum and St. Mary's church. The fort complex is now the Secretariat for the government and so there were plenty of military police around. We were not hindered as long as we kept to the tourist areas. When we tried to walk up the steps to the flag pole we were very quickly stopped by two women soldiers with guns. No fooling around here.

The museum showed the outline of the fort when it is in operation. The church was still quite beautiful with some stained glass windows and a small garden.

Following the visit to the fort we walked up to the High Court buildings. There were many auto drivers who offered to take us on a tour of the city for 10 Rs an hour. This is a trick to get you in the auto and then take you to a shop where there is pressure for you to buy! Tim had previously experienced this in Delhi and so we just walked right on. There was a separate entrance for the judges at the High Court. We went in through the main entrance into the grounds and walked around and eventually made our way into the court building itself. We went up to the first floor and saw court was in session. After checking with a black-robed clerk/lawyer or whomever we went into the back of the court room and observed the proceedings for about 20 minutes. The court room was a juxtaposition of old with beamed ceiling and stained glass windows and new with neon lights and air-conditioning.


Following our time at court we headed for Marina beach. This is the longest stretch of beach in India and is very dirty with the flotsam and jetsam of the city. You certainly do not go swimming in the water. There is an advisory to not go barefoot on the sand due to broken glass and other debris. We did see some fish laid out in the sun drying.

After enjoying the sound of the Bay of Bengal and getting all covered in salt spray we took an auto to Spencer's shopping complex. This is a huge mall on 4 levels. We found the Food Court and had lunch. After looking around the shops for a bit we took an auto back to the hotel and just relaxed until it was time to leave. The girls eventually returned with their purchases and we left for the train station. We had supper just across the street and then were on the train at 9:00 P.M. for the overnight trip to Mettupalayam.