.png)
Cochin city on the Malabar coast of India has a good vibe during the winters as the streets light up with twinkling stars, tunes of carols, and shopping to cherish the memories with kith and kin. This city bestows a blend of modern and traditional architecture as few streets of the city depict the eclectic influence of invasion, and few are hued by modern art.
The sound of this place defines its cultural influence, province, economic sectors, and explicitly the spirit of unity during the winters as cochin hosts millions of pilgrims on their way to sight Lord Ayyappan along with Christians celebrating Christmas.
Fort Cochin backwaters:
Fort cochin tops the list as this place has backwater beaches, modern cafes, ancient buildings, and the most famous Chinese bamboo fishing nets. Go for an evening walk to watch the seaside illuminated for Christmas eve after sunset and food stalls swarmed before New year’s night.
The other side of fort cochin takes you to Dutch, Portuguese, and Pre-colonial architectures.
Santa Cruz Basilica church:
This is one of the famous churches in cochin and its construction dates to the Portuguese invasion of cochin and its influence on the locals. The church is packed with people every year when the festival comes around.
The walls of the church are covered by historical paintings, Indo-European and Gothic architecture, murals, and frescoes.
Christmas Menu:
The “land of spices” has a unique blend of herbs, spices, sweet and sour. The cuisine of Kerala is different from other parts with flavors of the middle east, Syrian and Jewish cooking styles. Some of the festive foods you get at every local Christmas meal are Pidi, appam, chicken stew, and Kerala beef fry with Malabar roti on a banana leaf.
Open restaurants on Tower Road:
Tower road offers the best dining out experience with smoke sizzlers to smacking seafood apart from these savories, the Christmas cakes, and muffins are also a must-try on the eve. A night under the moonlight, do try the street food at these restaurants for a new year’s treat.
Mattancherry Palace:
The Dutch palace has murals, paintings, and portraits of Cochin rulers and stories of Jewish invasions. The Jew synagogue is a revered shrine among the locals and the tourists are allowed into the sanctum sanctorum barefoot. This place is even more beautiful during the winters with preachings and prayers.
Jew town:
A rivulet between Synagogue and Mattancherry palace is a Jew town, a place to shop for antiques, metals, and wood crafts made by the Kerala craftsmen. Get all the glitters, baubles, and vintage figurines to make your tree special.
Essential oils and perfumes:
Get your bags loaded with all the handpicked organic stuff like nuts, spices, cold-pressed oils, and floral perfumes. The state promotes sustainability among the locals and tourists by following the methods that conserve nature and its produce. Most of the tourists do pick the beverage bags, banana chips, coconut chocolates, and cutlery. The largest producer of coconut, herbs, spices, and products made of it like oils and perfumes making it safe for all groups.
This winter enjoy your Christmas and New Year with co-travelers, localities, and foreign tourists in the oldest ports of India and get the best travel experience planning it with the right people like Tarzan Way.