Our Christmas in Bangalore

It wasn't hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year despite the 80 degree temps as everywhere we go there are Christmas decorations and Christmas music playing. I even managed to get my typical last minute Christmas shopping done with the help of Mr. Swamy. As per our usual Christmas tradition, our Christmas Eve started off in the late afternoon with a couples massage in the hotel spa while the kids watched Home Alone 2 back in the room. We had booked dinner at the Leela Palace hotel for what we thought would be a cozy traditional candlelit affair as their advertisement displayed (see picture). We exchanged gifts to each other in our hotel room before heading out around 8 PM for the Leela. We arrived to this beautiful hotel with high hopes but soon discovered that it was nothing like we expected. A 3 piece cover band was belting out a mix of Christmas and top 40 hits near our table so we realized our conversation would be limited to short command oriented bursts. A large buffet had been prepared with a great variety of entrees, salads and desserts but the atmosphere reminded us more of a college cafeteria than a 5 star hotel. Recognizing we were already committed to the dinner, we all explored the food options which varied from Indian to English and even a roasted turkey and cranberry sauce. A single glass of wine accompanied this rather expensive dinner but unfortunately the quality of the wine was sorely lacking. Now, I realize this might be coming across like an ungrateful American with overblown expectations but we truly were disappointed given the price and the setting of the hotel. We certainly made the best of it though and as soon as we were finished, we departed for the very beautiful outdoor patio area. There we found some tranquility and I also discovered that the hotel bar is known for single malt scotch so I decided to try a flight of the Highlands variety which improved my mood significantly. Chanda and I enjoyed the peaceful setting and appreciated the fact that we were outside on Christmas Eve as we tried to keep the kids awake for the next stop on our Christmas Eve itinerary, an 11:30 PM church service at St. Mark's Cathedral in central Bangalore. We had heard that we needed to arrive early to get a seat and that was an understatement. After a 20 minute drive from the hotel, we arrived at 10:30 to find the very large church (approx. 1500 seats) almost full already. We squeaked into a back pew behind a 3 foot wide pillar and settled down for a long 1 hour wait before the service even began. The kids were really tired by now and they started to drift off and even I was starting to head bob a bit. At one point, the elderly gentlemen to my right, poked my arm and politely introduced himself and his son. He was a retired minister from a church north of Hydrabad and we enjoyed a little conversation about his ministry and our reason for being there. At promptly 11:30 the service began and Chanda and I were relieved to get things moving. The church is part of the CSI (Church of South India) which came about from the English Church after independence in 1947, so the service was very familiar and included most of our favorite carols.  The primarily secular nature of the holiday in India was made evident at exactly midnight when fireworks erupted from the nearby city park during the readings, which is especially noticeable when all the windows are open.  With both kids slumped over in their seats, we stayed seated most of the time until communion began.  By this time we were almost 1 hour into the service and the kids began to stir enough that we could prop them up and exit the pew when our time came. The communion provided us the opportunity to walk to the front of the brilliantly white interior of the church and take in the classical architecture. While I'm sure the travel books don't recommend drinking from the same wine chalice as 1500 other people your first week in a new country, we went with the flow and completed the sacrament along with everyone else.  Besides, the alcohol surely helped keep it clean, right.  After singing about 5 more carols with every verse included, the service concluded at around 1:15 AM and we exited the church to find Mr. Swamy waiting for us. We raced back to the hotel as speeds only dreamed about during the day to find that Santa had not yet visited us.  But we comforted the kids with the fact that Santa gets to India a little later in the night than in Minnesota. We awoke this morning to the kids happily opening their presents (yes Santa did find us) and yet Chanda and I could hardly pull ourselves out of bed until around 10 AM. We listened to Christmas music in the room and lounged about until we headed down to the pool for the big Christmas Day brunch.  After the previous evening, we were a bit skeptical but when we arrived a few minutes later, we were relieved to find a beautiful setting and our reserved table right next to the pool.  The hotel staff made sure that our glasses were never empty and I tried a little of practically everything from grilled fish to a southern Indian traditional chicken dish.  This time, all the food was excellent and sitting outside on a warm day made it all seem perfect.   Certainly, a X-mas unlike any other we have celebrated.  

Gingerbread houses in our hotel lobby

The Ista Hotel - where we stayed in November.  

Our hotel lobby X-mas tree

Advertisement for X-mas Eve dinner at the Leela Hotel

Reality - seat by the band

Beautiful lobby of the Leela

St. Mark's Church - X-mas Eve 11:30 pm

Christmas brunch at our hotel

Santa brought chocolate!

Santa even came to our table

Cocktails as first course of our brunch

Chef's grilling and running pasta bar

Food set up near the pool

Buffet tables for brunch

Live music - great Abba covers

After brunch, Jorgen hit the pool for his daily swim