After arriving in Kolkata and getting familiar with the area, I set out on my second morning to have a look around at some of the sights of the city. I had developed a list of things to see in town and thought I would start with the Victoria Memorial. First I wanted to go and get some water and a couple of cracker snacks. I had seen a supermarket the previous day on my walk with Pete. I started heading in that direction. But I ran afoul of one of the people connected with one of the shops in the market along the main street. He started walking with me and talking to me. I really would rather have shook him, but I couldn't figure out any way of doing so without seeming like an ass. I mean, at the moment he was simply talking to me and at one point, when I told him what I was looking for, he helped find it making sure to point out that he didn't want anything from it. It was then that I knew I was going to have a reckoning to deal with somewhere. If only I had known the supermarket wasn't going to be open for a while yet. Then I would have just headed to the memorial and I wouldn't have run afoul of the guy.
After finding out that the supermarket was closed, I decided to head for the Victoria Memorial, and of course, my unasked for guide came along with me to “show me the way.” I was quite capable of finding it on my own, but again, I couldn't a polite way of shaking him off. We went first to the Maidan, which is a big green belt which is commonly known as the lung of Calcutta. It's a very nice park.
At the end of the Maidan, the Victoria Memorial rose above the trees in the distance. It looks a bit like the Taj Mahal sitting there in the distance. I found out later that that was indeed how it was conceived. Around this time, a friend of my guide called him and joined us as we walked through the park. Now was I double-teamed and not looking forward to not ending up buying something that was going to cost a lot.
We reached the memorial and I got in line to get a ticket. The native/non-native difference is even greater here than I have experienced anywhere else, but it is at least overt, blatant even. They are not hiding that they are taking advantage of the fact that we are from richer nations and can therefore be counted on to pay more, and lots more at that, to provide the funds to keep the places maintained. (Or at least supposedly maintained.) I bought my ticket and my two unwanted companions purchased theirs and we went on in. But they had only bought tickets to the garden park around the memorial, and wouldn't be going into the memorial itself. Aha!!! I thought to myself. Here was my chance to ditch them. My original companion said to me, as if he was somehow in charge of my visit, “I think one hour will be plenty for you in the memorial. We will wait for you out here.” Well, maybe an hour will be good, and maybe it won't, but one thing's for sure pal, I thought to myself, I will be spending a good deal longer than an hour in there just to see if I can shake you. And I headed in.
I needn't have worried about needing to sit and be bored for a while trying to make them go away. It was really interesting in the memorial. The first floor was just a bunch of photos of the construction of the memorial and a statue of good ol' Queen Victoria, erstwhile empress of the universe. I was a bit worried about how long I would actually be in the memorial. But then I went to the back area. There were two galleries there. One was filled with paintings that had been restored. The second gallery was filled with all kinds of historical information about the city of Calcutta as it figured in the history of India. It was a fantastic presentation and reading through it all took me over an hour and a half. By the time I finished with it and then headed outside again, the two gentlemen were nowhere in sight. Whew! I had successfully dodged whatever cost was going to be associated with their company.
Outside I wandered through the park area surrounding the memorial building. It is a nice ground and gives a good area to get nice photos of the memorial building. I enjoyed the time in the garden, even with the oodles and oodles of other people with me.
By the time I finished with the memorial, I was getting pretty hot and tired. I walked back to the hotel and rested for a bit. Then I wanted to see the nearby memorial tower lit up at night. So I walked over and had a look. It was quite nice.
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