February is a carnival time in Goa, as I have mentioned a few times over the years. The Goa Carnival parade can be seen in Goa on four different days in four different cities, which most often are Mapusa in North Goa, Panjim and Vasco in Central Goa and Margao in South Goa.
I blogged about the Viva Carnival -event for the first time in 2006 with authentic Nokia mobile pictures and you can still see those carnival pictures here.
As I recall, the same year 2006 I had also filmed a huge carnival parade in Panjim with a film camera, but because of some misfortune with my travels I lost all those stunning carnival images with the camera film roll.
Carnival parade and audience in Margao, Goa, India, 2013
In 2013 I again posted fresh carnival pictures from Goa and now, seven years later, it’s finally time for the video. You can watch the full 20 minute carnival video here!
The video shows how local children, young people and adults have gathered along the streets in Margao to watch the carnival parade including traditional fishermen and farmers from Goa with their respective outfits and also Goan folk dancers. In addition one can see for example young people demonstrating on behalf of local farmers, tiger protesting on behalf of Goa’s nature, local sex education, men dressed as oriental women, Smurfs, Indian and European cartoon characters and young girls and boys dancing with each other.
From this video I made you will get a little glance of what the carnival in Goa, India, looked like in February 2013:
The year 2019 came to its end and now it is time to pick the best café of the past decade in South Goa. Not counting the beach restaurants makes it a bit easier thing to do.
German Bakery products such as lemon cake, chocolate walnut cake, honey peanut cake, cheesecake, carrot cake, croissant and vegetable pastry
The winner is a small cafe in Benaulim called German Bakery, which has existed for as long as I can remember. A restaurant with the same name and a bigger size has also operated in North Goa at least one decade ago, but this article tells about that small cafe in the village of Benaulim in South Goa.
The winner is a small cafe in Benaulim called German Bakery, which has existed for as long as I can remember. A restaurant with the same name and a bigger size has also operated in North Goa at least one decade ago, but this article tells about that small cafe in the village of Benaulim in South Goa.
German Bakery is a great place to go if you need change for the Indian masalas and Goan bebincas, as you will find Western cakes, buns, breads and pastries over there.
Ginger-lemon-honey tea in German BakeryVeg sandwich in German Bakery
That modest café German Bakery has four tables and chairs alongside Benaulim’s grocery store, and the tables are almost always full. Still, one can always find room, at least after a little waiting. A grocery store is located on the other side of the café and a pharmacy in the other side.
German Bakery has clients for every occasion, but most often you hear English and Hindi spoken. The cafe is about 700m from the Benaulim beach and approximately the same distance from the main road and Maria Hall, which is a well known building in that region.
The baked products are manufactured elsewhere, and they are not spoiled with price and neither will they spoil the tourist’s stomach, if moderately eaten. In the café itself they make tasty vegetable sandwiches, ginger-lemon-honey tea, omelette and juice made of freshly squeezed fruits, among others.
Café staff
Their customer service is good and it is amazing, how they cope with their friendly customer service with smile in their face day in day out, regardless of the weather. They must be really doing what they like to do.
Even though the café is modest in appearance, the level of hygiene is mostly good, considering that there is constant traffic around with passing cars, scooters, cows and dogs.
The endless stream of tourists and locals will keep the viewer, the café customer, interested, and no television or even a friend is necessarily needed.
Occasionally, an exciting addition to the customer is brought by sudden power outages, which, without a warning, darken the environment for a moment until the lights come up with the backup generators in the near-by shop. Little bit later, the electricity in the whole village starts working again.
Although gluten-free products were already available in Goa‘s local stores one year back, German Bakery had not yet invested in them, at least in January 2019. However, for a gluten-free diet, there was tea and coffee, fruit juices and omelettes available in the café.
My absolute favorite in the German Bakery was their ginger-lemon-honey tea, and I recommend you to try it, though I’m still not sure if honey should be mixed with hot water or not. But it tastes good anyway.
Couple of walls by the German Bakery served also as bulletin boards promoting eg. local concerts, yoga classes and more. INDIVUE has also been seen there.
INDIVUE chose German Bakery as the best cafe of the past decade in South Goa
If you’re planning to travel to Goa, check out the travel guide in the link!
Here’s a video I made of the trip to Goa, India, in January 2019. The video focuses on the good Indian food I was happy to experience. It will tell you the good foods to try out in case you’re travelling to Goa. Take a look –
My flight was through Delhi, so delicious hints from the Delhi domestic airport and Delhi international airport will also be shared.
The restaurants from South Goa featured in this video were Portofino, Sagar Kinara and German Bakery, in addition to some beach shack restaurants on the Goan beaches.
The video visits also in local shops and fruit stalls in South Goa and even a sweet shop in Margao, the capital of South Goa.
The Indian sweets mentioned in the video are milk cake, imarti and an extremely delicious velvety smooth Gulab Jammu from Kolkata that practically melts in your mouth when you take a bite. See, so that you know what a tasty Gulab Jammu looks like.
I was happy to notice that in some local shops in South Goa one was able to find some organic products also. Especially some nuts and atta. And also gluten-free atta made from quinoa. Combined with psyllium, one was able to make gluten-free rotis out of quinoa atta.
Another thing I was happy about was a South Indian dish poha, which was sold without unhealthy preservatives in the Indian domestic flight from Goa to Delhi.
Notice that this video comes with subtitles, which will give you more information in either English, Finnish or Swedish.
You can choose the language you prefer from the Youtube settings.
This video is also part of the Travel Opus to Goa – do check it out as well and subscribe for the new updates!
