Customer delight

"We are not talking to each other, but we don't mind posing for you" This could be one of the captions that I could think of after clicking this sunset picture at Colaba.

They were actually posing for me, because after clicking when I started walking, they too started walking with me. Sunset is a good opportunity to click good pictures, like these kids having a lively chat while the sun goes down.

While clicking I saw this lighthouse, which came into existence in  1770.  This is situated at the prong of Colaba.

When the Portuguese occupied the island of Bombay in the 16th century they built a watchtower on the Old woman's island (Colaba)

Later it was. modified into a lighthouse by the British in 1770. It was further improved in 1800 by a powerful wick lamp.This was the first major lighthouse in British India followed by one in Madras in the same year.

After many changes in the lamp, in 2008 it got its present 70 Watt metal Halide lamp.
Not much has changed in the Marinedrive area of Mumbai. Like this font from the 50s still stands as a sign board in the area.

Some of the buildings with rounded corners which I have seen in the early 60s, still stands.

The heritage structure next to Churchgate station stands in all its glory with the tricolour and the ever present yellow taxis of Mumbai justapositioned in the front. Incidentally I found that the taxis are cheaper than the Uber.

Years have gone by but the buying and selling power of this simple flower lady remains the same (not far from the Sensex office)

The bus service by BEST keeps improving as the years go by. Like they have seperate lines for gents and ladies (ladies from the front)

In the bus I was highly impressed by the conductor's interaction with the passengers, always jovial and happy, cracking a joke here and there. One lady did not know where to alight, but had the address on her phone. The conductor took the phone from her and had a look at the address. Then he opened google map on her phone and fed in the location on the map. From the route he got the stop which was closest to her destination and issued a ticket accordingly. All this with a smile. I would call this as customer delight.

Keukenhof III

A mention should be made about the dedicated bus (route No 858) which runs from Schiphol station to the garden.

In fact it is easy for any tourist to find their way to the place as there are proper sign boards everywhere (like this one at the Schiphol railway station)

As you approach Keukenhof, the roads too have a dash of tulip colours.

The tickets are reasonably priced at 23 Euros which includes the to and fro trip + entry to the Garden. (a distance of 22 kms one way)

The fountain that you see when you enter the main gate:

These young Dutch ladies, dressed in their traditional dress were willing to be photographed with the tourists.

Further down there is this big enclosure (something like a greenhouse) with varieties of Tulips. It is named as Willem Alexander.  I must confess that I could click only about 30 % of the flowers in it, and what I am putting up here is only about 3% of the 30%

Oranje Nassau is another enclosure where you get to see some of the indoor flower arrangements.

Its interesting to observe some of them done artistically like this one with twigs tied together:

Time for some more flowers from Willem Alexander:

 I spend the whole day at Koekenof and must admit that a day is not enough to see the entire garden and all that they had to offer.

                           Tulipa Mutant Holland queen

On my way out at the entrance, I noticed that people were still lined up to get in. I really pity them as they were going to miss out a lot as sunset was not far off.

Before I sign off from this post can you guess what is in that canopy in the picture below?  

While you keep guessing I will start writing for the next post - Keukenhof – IV