Mumbai - city that never sleeps!!!

 Mumbai - the city of dreams

When someone talks about Mumbai, the first thing that comes to mind is the Gateway of India. We are no different and decided to go to the Gateway of India and the famous Taj Hotel to click some pictures. The idea was to go in the evening to see some lighting, and the temp would be a few degrees cooler than the day. 

 

The Famous Taj hotel looks much more picturesque than the Gateway of India. It is the same place where terrorist attack took place a couple of years back. 

Colaba Causeway is a nice place for shopping as well as home to some of the oldest cafes in the city. 

These are two popular cafes in the area. I personally preferred Cafe Mondegar due to aircon and better sitting. The food quality was equally good in both the cafes. Leopold cafe has their own merchandise like mugs, t-shirts which is a delight to see and tells about the popularity of the cafe. 

 Cafe Mondegar has its own cutlery which is a delight to see. These cafes are crowded most of the time. 

The city looks beautiful in the night. Even regular buildings look so much glorified and beautiful due to lighting. 

Maharaj Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus looks amazing during the night time. 

There is a famous Vada Pav shop with a variety of vada pav starting from Rs 25 - Anand Vada Pav. A trip to Mumbai cannot be completed without having a vada pav. I am no different and had one, it was amazing and filling at the same time. 

There are a few art galleries near Colaba market, Kala Ghoda Chowk. Jahangir Art gallery being the first one which has a free entry, CSMVS (Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya) is bigger and has a entry ticket of Rs 200 for adults and Rs 100 for students, and National Gallery of Modern Art which attracts an entry fee of Rs 20 only. 

Jahangir Art Gallery

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya

National Gallery of Modern Art

If you are still missing the chowpatty, the best place to go is Girgaon Chowpatty. It is one stop place for being next to the sea, have some great street food at reasonable prices, and enjoy the local Mumbai food joints. The variety of Kulfi and Shakes that are offered here can beat any cafe for that matter. The quality is also reasonably good. Most of the localities come here and have food while sitting on the mat which is put on the sand. It is a nice and relaxing place to spend the evenings. 

Views from Chowpatty look like something as below. It is great to see the mumbai high rise buildings while having some snacks. 

Many bollywood movies have been shot at this location from the 80's till date such as Munna Bhai MBBS. 

The famous Mahalaxmi temple and Haji Ali dargah are also near to the Girgaon Chowpatty. 

It is not possible that someone comes to Mumbai and that too near Colaba and not go to Marine Drive. We were staying on the Marine drive and that is why we could be there in less than a minute from our room. I would say that a sea facing room at Marine drive is what would make your journey successful. This will give you unlimited access to the marine drive with opportunity to do morning and evening walks, and you can enjoy the sea irrespective of whether it is rainy season or hot during the day. 

I used to start my day with a morning walk at Marine drive and then go for sight seeing during the day. My day also ended with a leisure walk on the Marine drive. Nariman Point is the last point of this stretch. The walk way extends from Nariman Point to Girgaon Chowpatty, and is around 3 Kms stretch but a must walk at different times of the day as each time it gives a different experience due to breeze, people, and lighting. Any number of hours spent on this stretch are less. 

Mumbai is also famous for Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Dadar. 

Ambani's have recently opened a Mall in BKC - Bandra Kurla Complex known as the Jio Mall. It is a delight to visit with some of the brands that we can see only in international airports. It is a super luxury mall. There is also a Nita Ambani Cultural Center which hosts corporate events, promotes handicrafts and some traditional skills, has the biggest lift in the entire world (even bigger than houses of many of us), movie theatre, and a special effects galaxy room priced at Rs 100 for five minutes. 

I was excited to see where are film starts stay and what best than starting from Bandstand - Shah Rukh Khan's famous house - Mannat. 

Antillia House - Mukesh Ambani's Residence 

We also had a change to see some other actor's house such as of Amitabh Bachan, Sanjay Dutt, Kiran Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor and Neetu Singh, Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartment, Fardeen Khan, Rekha, Kishore Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Kajol, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan, Raymodn house and a few more. It is very common for the cab drivers to show you these places and they stay mostly in the Bandra West area. 

We could not spot any of the actors but I guess there eveyone considers them as a star - even the cab drivers. 

Mumbai is a city of sea, tall buildings, vibrant night life, open culture, film city, financial capital, and the list goes on. 

There are some area names which I had heard only in some daily sops or Kapil Sharma Show. I was excited to see that these places do exist in reality. 

Mumbai is a lively city and any number of visits to the city are less to cover the city end to end due to its vast area and numerous places to visit.