Living large

this is more like it ... my own personal butler !!!

well i say my own but I do have to share him with the two rooms either side which were occupied one of the three nights we are here but it'll do for now ... except that his call bell is next to the lightswitch and three times now i have pressed it by acident and he has come scurrying along in his white 'days of the raj' outfit to see what I needed and i had to blame Toby.

the reason for this sudden upturn in our fortunes is quite bizzarre. Three days ago at about 10:00 am after reading some decent reviews we booked a reasonable guesthouse .. the Forthouse in Kochin for two nights at about 30pounds a night. Two hours later they rang back to say they had made a mistake .. double-booked us and by way of apology had booked us into the owners private members club where they only have three rooms - and they are huge !!!!! - at the same rate instead of the clubs normal presumably exorbitant charges.

Seperate dressing room area plus dining room area, ceiling height of about 18 ft and a lovely butler called Adrian to take care of Laundry and whatever else you need in amazing style. we even cheekily asked to extend to three nights and didn't hear a murmur of complaint. There is even a beautiful outdoor five-a-side pitch where toby has had great fun, tennis courts, childrens playground etc. and right in the centre of Fort Cochin.

Fort Cochin itself is a lovely place with some great posh restaurants and the brilliantly named 'Jew town' around a gorgeous synagogue with some great shopping ! Tomorrow we head south to Alleppey to stay on a 24 hr houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala... so many people have told us it is THE number one experience in India so we are loking forard and then the plan looks something like down to Varkala for some time on the beach then accross to Chennai, pondicherry a quick visit to Harriet for a few days (are you reading this Harriet .. is that ok?? I'll ring you soon to arrange !!!) before flying out of Mumbai.

big shout out to a man like jez for being the first person to post three messages on here .. I love ya big guy !!! and loving hearing from you all on email but most cafes have slow connection so apologies for not replying more.

look forward to seeing you all soon

M

xx

p.s. Toby has coined a new phrase 'Home is where the cars is' ... he loves some of his Toy cars so much that three times now in the last fortnight he has uttered the words I dreaded while on a train / in a long car ride 'I want to go home' except when I ask fearfully where home is hoping he won't say London he always says 'where my cars are' - he hates having them put away for the duration of the journey !!