Hyderabad by Walk - Akkanna Madanna Temple, Daira Mir Momin, Sardar Mahal

I got some idea of the old city or the walled portion of the old city from a couple of maps I saw and from my recent walks. From what I now know there were 13 gates to the walled city of Hyderabad of which only two remain - the Purana Pul gate and the Dabeerpura gate. I have seen the former, the latter I have not. The gate which would have led into the main access to Charminar from the Naya Pul side would probably have been Delhi gate or Afzal gate, both of which have been brought down to facilitate traffic. When you go past Hotel Nayaab you find the gate to the Dewan Deodi or the palace where the Salar Jungs lived - a massive place that extended almost from the bank of the Musi to the Mir Alam mandi street. Just before that, perhaps after Nayaab, you turn left, and you end up at the Chatta bazaar gate. Going straight down the road towards Charminar you pass by the Pathergatti market, past Medina hotel on the right, get to the Char Kamans, the Gulzar Houz and then to the Charminar itself. The area between the char kamans was called the jillu khana I think.

Chowmahalla Palace

Side entrance - or was it the main one

If you are at Gulzar Hauz and facing Charminar, the kaman to the right led to the palace complex where the palaces of the Qutb Shahi kings, such as Dad Mahal. Lal Mahal, Sajan Mahal, Khudad Mahal and such were. To the right perhaps were some 14000 houses built for the public - traders, artisans and others - for us for free. Gardens and fountains abounded the original plan which according to Sultan Quli, should be a replica of Paradise. Now nothing remains but for the gates, the kamans and Charminar.

Anyway, I know now a few roads thanks to my recent explorations and decided to extend the exploration further. I found an able ally in Vasu who was up by 530 and we parked in the parking area behind Laad Bazaar and went by foot past Chowmahalla Palace. Straight down the road we walked, past an old building which we could not make out, the Mahbub Chowk area which is being rebuilt, and at the corner of the road, turned left towards the parallel main road that leads from Charminar to Falaknuma Palace. To our right the road led to Fateh Darwaza (now no more).

Akkanna Madanna temple, Hari bowli

A little walk and we crossed the main road and on the other side, at a distance of some 200 metres came across the Akkanna Madanna temple, where the two brothers, high ranking nobles in Tana Shah's court)  would pray before heading to the Golconda court. Akkanna was the Commander-in-Chief and Madanna was the Prime Minister for Abul Tana Shah the last Sultan of the Qutb Shah dynasty, before they were assassinated. The temple's presiding deity is Mahankali and the two brothers lived in its proximity if I am right. The temple fell into disuse and was rediscovered only sixty years back and revived. It is now one of the popular places during Bonalu and is known for the Ghatam procedures. There is some kind of a community hall in front of the temple.

We walked down the road and found the Daira-Mir-Momin, a Muslim cemetery named after Mir Momin Astarabadi, a Persian scholar who came to India in 1580 and quickly grew to be the fifth Qutb Shahi Sultan Mohammed Quli's Prime Minister (he was PM from 1585-1624). 

Entrance

More significantly, Mir Momin was involved in the planning and construction of the Hyderabad city and was considered a highly knowledgeable man with command over a wide variety of subjects including occult. It is said that he brought camel loads of soil from Karbala and sprinkled it all over the graveyard. Mir Momin was the one they say who gave Bhagmati the name of Hyder Mahal and converted her into Islam (he initially tried to dissuade Sultan Quli from marrying Bhagmati). Mir Momin also taught the next Sultan, Muhammad Qutb Shah, the nephew of Sultan Quli, who married Hayath Bakshi Begum, daughter of Sultan Quli.  The graveyard has a gate, perhaps four centuries old, is filled with graves. One can see a green one which is well maintained, which is perhaps Mir Momin's. A few other beautiful old tombs, one with delicate jaali work. 

We could see some people praying at the green tomb, some other sitting by the tombs of their loved ones perhaps. This graveyard is where Mir Momin, and Prime Ministers for the Nizams, Mir Alam and the Salar Jungs, prince Moazzam Jah and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Khan-e-Khanan and many others are buried. Right now its badly kept, encroachments from all around, but still, very peaceful.

We walked from the Hari Bowli road towards Malwala Palace (now no more) on the Sultan Shahi road (I remember there being a cricket team called Sultan Shahi in the lower league). This road seemed to be marked for expansion for the Metro and there were signs of demolition and posters of the Metro which promises development. We saw a huge gate with Kota Maisamma temple written on it -   a massive gate when we examined it from closer. 

Kota Maisamma temple at the Alijah Kotla gate

Check out the size of the gate

The temple

The gate

Inside the gate was the Kota Maisamma temple. As I understand it, the Katta Maisamma temple is for the deity to protect the katta or bund and similarly Kota Maisamma must be to protect the kota or fort. I am assuming this is one of the gates or where one of the gates stood.

Kalyani Nawab ki deodi?

Down the road we went past what was an old dilapidated tomb inside an enclosed space - later I found it marked to be Kalyani Nawab ki deodi on maps which I must cross check with someone. 

Further down the road we came across a small chowrasta that was redolent with fresh baking smells, and turned left. At the place showing where Malwala palace was to be, was an empty lot. Apparently in August 2000 they demolished it and as per the court ruling nothing can be built over it. Masqati Dairy seems to have some activity there. Right opposite it was a small enclosure with a lovely wooden beam - didn't take pictures. 

This was where the Malwala Palace existed

The Mawala Palace (1845) was built in Mughal-Rajasthani style and boasted of a lot of wood work with richly carved wooden pavilions. The Malwalas were revenue record keepers or daftardars of the Nizam and seem to have some connections to the Mal's of the Mughal dynasty. Some connection to Dewan Chandulal who was a descendant of Todar Mal they say.The palace was built by Sagar Mal - Mathur Kayasthas and Malwala comes from Mal and wala or 'of the Mals'. In the 1940s, during the reign of Raja Dharam Karan, its popularity peaked. I remember reading somewhere that celebrities would want to visit the palace just to have a glimpse of its luxury. The palace also boasted of a massive library. Now Raja Dharam Karan has a road named after him at Ameerpet and an adjacent road named after Sham Karan. Geeta Karan of Gitanjali school fame is their daughter in law, married to Uma Karan, son of Raja Dharam Karan. Just as the huge plots of land in Ameerpet which are hidden inside must be their own - I am sure there are remnants of many of their palaces etc which have been brought down. In fact Uma Nagar is a venture by Uma Karan, an architect and builder.

Sardar Mahal to the left - the two ladies who educated me about it sitting on the right

Sardar Mahal

An interesting gate which perhaps led to some palace at some point of time

Further down the road we could see a glimpse of Charminar, shining beautifully in the morning sunlight. To the left we passed Sardar Mahal a palace built in 1900 for Sardar Begum, one of the consorts of the sixth Nizam Mahboob Ali Khan. She never lived there apparently and is now being used by the GHMC. There are plans to renovate it and convert it into a museum, a cultural centre to be started by Kalakriti India.

Jama Masjid

We stopped by at the old Jama Masjid which is to the right and which they say was the second stucrture to be made after Charminar. But since it is small and the imposing Mecca Masjid has come up, it is hardly see.

Can never resist taking a pic of Charminar - that's what beauty does

One of the char kamans visible through Charminar

A bit into a hot egg puff, a tie biscuit and a fine biscuit awaiting the arrival of their companion, chai

We skipped some photoshoot people at Charminar, went to Nimrah, had tea, tie biscuit, egg puff and fine biscuit and headed back to the car. I realised I can never be in the vicinity of Charminar and not click a picture - is that the definition of beauty? I guess it is. Compelling! 

In the car we detoured a bit, took a right to Fateh Darwaza chowrasta, turned back and took the Amir-e-Kabir road and went past the Iqbal Ud Daulah Deodi and the Khursheed Jah Deodi and past the Mahbub Chowk and finally back. 

Another interesting gateway

Old gate on Amir-e-Kabir road

A few more walks and I should have a good understanding of the walled city I feel. And each time I go, I fall that much more in love with this city.            

Mom's Village - Padmanabhuni Cheruvu

 If I put Padmanabhuni Cheruvu on Google maps it does not recognise it - its that small. We headed from Polamuru towards Maruteru which is a town close by, some 15-20 kms. We headed straight up and hit the road that connects Maruteru with TadepalliGudem and turned right to Maruteru. Its a cute town and we wound our way around it and headed out. 3 kms from there was where Padmanabhuni Cheruvu is - but we had to ask so many people about it because it is off the road. Very few people could recognise it.

Padmanabhuni cheruvu

Achanta Panchayat

The name Padmanabhuni Cheruvu

I remembered that there was a little canal called Nakkala Kalava which had a rope and wooden bridge to cross over to Padmanabhuni Cheruvu. We had nightmares of crossing that bridge which would sway and shake like crazy but somehow we made it alive to the other side every time. On the other side was a small hamlet built around this little pond called Padmanabhuni Cheruvu. the high caste people lived on one side and the lower castes on the other. i wonder what the water arrangements were. Anyway my mom's mother, my grandmother Sastrulamma lived there with her daughter Veremma and her son Raju. My grandfather had passed away before I saw him (I never asked my Mom if she missed her Dad). My grandmother had this ethereal quality to her and that's what i remember most about her. Soft, gentle and royal in her demeanour. Mom's sister Veremma was not easy to talk to.

The village school

In those houses on the left was my grandparents hut

Anyway, with some difficulty we turned off the road and got into a narrow single road, passed a small bridge and hit the little village. the pond was distinctive and we stopped and asked if there was anyone belonging to Mom's family there. They asked the family name and I said Kalabathula and they said there were a few families there with that name. My cousin Raju had apparently sold off that plot and moved out many years ago.

The bridge that Dad built across Nakkala Kauluva

Just as we were about to head back one older gentleman came and asked Mom's name. I told him. 'Ah, Savitramma, she was in Hyderabad wasn't she? Your father was the one who laid that bridge to our village, else we were all crossing it on a wooden bridge,' he said, fondly remembering Dad.

Wow, Mom and Dad. You really left a legacy - that you are remembered after so many years. Anjali was soaking all this in quietly and took pictures of the bridge, the pond, the little community hall of the village. We sat on the benches provided by the village panchayat and enjoyed the peace and quiet of village life.

Road to village - the pond to the left

The bucolic life

Once again, we left, this time with a heavy heart, remembering my parents who left us long ago. dad left in 1984 and Mom in 2002. i wondered how nice it would have been if we had made the trip with them. But surely they must have been there with us.      

A Much Awaited Trip - Dad's Village Polamuru

I have vague recollections of both villages - Polamuru (Dad' village) and Padmanabhuni Cheruvu (Mom's village) - from my childhood. On vacations (and occasions), Dad would take us there on a whirlwind trip by car - to these two villages and all other towns and villages nearby where other relatives lived. Bhimavaram, Undi, Attili were places where his siblings lived so we would drop by. Polamuru was where my father's mother and father lived so we had a definite stop there. And since we were that close to Mom's village which is about 20 kms form there, a visit to Padmanabhuni Cheruvu to meet Mom's angelic mother Sastrulamma was mandatory. All these places are in the West Godavari district which is full of interesting places I realised.

Fish ponds

My early childhood impressions of Polamuru (when everything seems huge) were that of a mud hut where my grandmother Nagamma, a beedi smoking, feisty old lady, who once asked me if the heroes and heroines really hugged each other on screen, lived. I was ten years old perhaps when she sprung this delicate question on me and I did not know, but I did not want to offend her sensibilities and told her it was all make believe. Hopefully she believed me and slept well, knowing that morality in society was still intact and strange men and women did not hug one another! 

On the beach

She kept her house spotlessly clean, my grandma, and would bring down stuff from her attic - ariselu and stuff like that - for us to eat! Her officer/engineer son coming in a car to her village was a big thing. And there would be a mandatory chicken curry and rice feast. Boys would be sent to get soft drinks or goli sodas and stuff like that. I do not remember much of my Dad's father Paruvu Ramayya who was a tall, reticent man, and who passed away pretty early. Both grandparents of mine worked as farm labourers I heard, and my grandpa would also engage in some cattle trading or so. 

I love Polamuru - Koni pushed us to take a pic

A church

Polamuru

For someone coming from such humble backgrounds they were pretty ambitious and realised that the equaliser was education. My father Paruvu Venkanna, the eldest of the children, was identified as the one to educate and he was sent away to another town, Narsapur to study. He did well, went to Guindy Engineering College in Madras and his career took off as an engineer in the state government's Roads and Buildings department. Dad also seemed to have had a hand in inspiring his younger brother Ramaswamy who became a doctor, and the youngest brother Ramakrishna, who was a fine gentleman and huge hit with us youngsters because he broke all rules and laughed (and made us laugh) all the time. The sister Sampathi was after my father and she, of all four, is still alive and healthy. 

Dad and I

Me, Ramakrishna garu, Anjali and Koni

Polamuru's little colony where grandfather lived was also the place where grandpa's two brothers Bheemudu and Narsimlu lived. They had their children - Dharamaraju (who was another favorite uncle of ours) and Samuel Prabhakar (who was not so much of a favorite). They have their houses next to this one.

A moment with Dad

Father was the one who reached a high office (he retired as  as Chief Engineer, NH) from that village and he was instrumental in getting several of the local boys jobs that set them up for life. Samuel Prabhakar was one such person, who, after his retirement, had political aspirations. He installed Dad's bust on the road side many decades ago. After a few years the badly made bust fell off, Samuel passed away and all was forgotten. A few years ago, me and Ram went to those parts for some work and checked in on these spots. 

Dad's cousin's house

My aunt's part of the Trust

Then last year, one Ramakrishna garu (no relation of ours), who benefited from a job that Dad got him, took it upon himself to get a new bust installed on Dad's 100th birth anniversary (April 1, 2024), got Panchayat approval, organised a grand function and got the bust installed in the presence of some 20 engineers. I heard about it after the function was over and mentally decided to visit sometime. I spoke to Ramakrishna garu over phone and thanked him for the good job.

...

So when Choudary said he had some work in Bhimavaram last week I asked if we could take Anjali and Shobhs along because Anjali had never been to these parts. I wanted her to see where her grandparents came from - she never saw either of them because they passed away before she was born. 

We took off at five am on Sunday morning. 

This was where grandparents hut stood - now just an empty land

We reached Bhimavaram by 2 pm, passing by several fish and prawn ponds. Bhimavaram was where my uncle lived but now no one lives there. My cousin Ravi used to live there but he passed away a few years ago. I asked my pal Ramaraju who is from Bhimavaram where to stay and he suggested Ananda Inn which has a fine restaurant called Adurs. We checked in, ate a fine lunch with prawn and fish and that stuff (they have huge servings) and headed out to the beach to check out the property Choudary wanted to see. They made an offer for fifty lakh and his counter offer was 18 lakh so I don't think it will go anywhere.

The beach was empty, very few people. It's also kind of left to itself with no place to buy anything or rest. Its brown and not the most pleasing to the eye. We spent a bit of time there and headed back to the hotel and watched IPL. Punjab beat Mumbai - a match I watched towards the end. 

...

Next morning was Polamuru day and we headed there after breakfast. We drove past Veeravasaram and Attili and reached Polamuru in 45 minutes. Ramakrishna garu was waiting at the Ambedkar statue but before that we saw a 'I love Polamuru' board and me and Anjali got a pic with it. 

Dad's pic that he kept at his house

Then we saw Dad's bust right across the road. We parked, got down and paid respects to Dad's bust, got pictures. Ramakrishna garu showed us Samuel's house, nicely done up, our grandfathers plot which is empty and has some vegetative growth, Dhramaraju Chinnanna's house on the other side. 

Ramakrishna garu, me, and Vedamani garu with Dad's pic at their place

He took us to his house which is in the next lane and we met his wife Vedamani who was very sweet and immediately likeable. She got us coffee, told us how they owed so much to Dad for that job he gave her husband, how well Dad treated him when he went to seek help and not like some random person (when Dad saw Ramakrishna garu was being seated on the floor by the peon, he chided him, got him inside and made him sit at the table and share his meal). 

Anyway,they said they get a pension of 47k a month which is a luxury in Polamuru - you cannot spend more than 10k there even if you want to. (But you could spend a lot if you went to Bhimavaram which they say is Las Vegas of India.)

It was nice to see Anjali soak in the information, take pictures of where her grandfather came from. I tried to fill her in on the story as much as I could - even I was discovering new stuff about him. Ramkarishna garu showed us all the paperwork, made  me talk to one of the engineers who came as Chief Guest to unveil Dad's bust and said he would accompany us to Padmanabhuni Cheruvu which is mom's village. We walked about, taking pictures and then left Polamuru. 

I hope to come back again, perhaps with my siblings later. The thought in my head - this hardy bunch of farm labourers who had the gall to educate their children and make them engineers and doctors and even went as far as buying one acre of land from their landlords! They were something.

And Dad, that you are remembered after forty years of moving on, speaks something of you.          

Now, to Padmanabhuni Cheruvu!

Acts of Love - The Two Friends and the Grandfather and Grandchild

Sometimes I see a moment in people's lives - while walking, sitting, or just watching the road. And they are so fleeting that I cannot take a picture. But they are too precious to miss recording.

The first was when two friends passed by each other. Both girls, perhaps in their tenth class, in their uniform. Maybe they had to come to school for some work. One of them was leaving the school premises while the other one was just entering it. She was on the pillion of her Dad's scooter and they passed.

In that moment, their eyes widened, their faces lit up into brilliant, contented smiles and all the joy in the world filled them at discovering their friend. The scooter sped on, the girls waved at one another, those heavenly smiles stuck on their face. And as the girl in the scooter passed me, that content smile on her face, her entire world filled at the moment with just that innocent thought of having a friend, of sharing that pure moment with her.

And I hoped she (and her friend) could retain that moment in their lives as they grew older, as the cynicism of the real world seeps in (I hope not) and they will be able to remain frozen in that moment. Or at least be able to dip into it at some point when they are twenty, thirty, forty years gone!

...

The second was when I saw a little kid of five or so, hopping on to the pavement and going towards a parked motorcycle. I was wondering why he was walking towards it so purposefully - it was just another normal bike. Then he turned and looked at his grandfather perhaps - not a very old grandfather - and the grandpa egged him on.

The kid walked up close to the motorbike and turned again to see his grandpa. I was wondering what they were upto And then I heard the grandpa tell him - Go on read, A, P...'. Then I understood, the grandpa was egging the kid to read the alphabet and numbers on the bikes registration.

And the kid read, one alphabet and turned to the grandpa for approval, which he got in abundance. The two were thrilled to bits at this new learning.

And I hope the kid will somehow remember how wonderful his grandfather had been, when he gets older, and gives the old man, a moment like this where his grandpa's eyes light up exactly like his.

    

Hyderabad by Walk - Badshahi Ashoor Khana

A few years ago I went on a heritage walk organised by the Telangana Tourism people. One landed up at 7 am at Charminar and a small crowd gathers. A guide showed up, one Mr Suryavanshi, and he took us all on a guided tour - there were three separate ones - 1) Charminar to Ashurkhana 2) Charminar to Purana Haveli and 3) Charminar to Chowmohalla Palace. All three walks ended with a idli/vada breakfast and the entire thing with breakfast cost some ridiculously low price like 50 bucks per person or something. I am sure those walks are still going on. Mr Suryavanshi did a good job too - patiently.

Badshahi Ashoor Khana (1594)

Notice inside the Ashoor Khana

So when Mukhtiar, a young software engineer who I met on the Paigah walk told me that there was another walk by Yunus bhai in the old city I thought I would check it out. The old city is like a layered fruit - each time I learn something new. The walk was from the Badshahi Ashoor Khan (The Royal Relic) to Charminar and promised some monuments on the way. 

The Sarai or Resting Place

The Naquar Khana (Drum beating)

The gate from the inside - Hotel Medina looming behind

I showed up at 710 sharp, parked in front of a No Parking sign, worried despite assurances from the tour guide that I will be fined the 1000 bucks that the boards were threatening to, and walked into the Ashoor Khana with which I was vaguely familiar from the last walk. 

The crowd was younger, Instagram seems to be the choice of communication for this lot. Perhaps I was the only facebooker here. (And even facebook I don't do anything but gawk, so I am pre-Facebook).

Anyway, since Yunus was late I walked around and took a few pictures. 

Painted tiles

The Badshahi Ashoor Khana, apparently the second building built after the Charminar (1591), by Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, the founder of Hyderabad and the fifth Sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. According to a notice inside it was built at a cost of 66000 Hun (sovereign gold coins). The Ashoor Khana's construction began in 1594 and it was completed under Abdullah Qutb Shah, the seventh Sultan in 1611, who added the colorful tiles. Today it is the only surviving Irani architecture in prime condition in India as per the notice. 

An Ashoor Khana is a place designed for Shia Muslims to gather for spiritual practices, for religious education and for commemoration ceremonies especially during the mourning of Moharram (its also called Hussainiya - from Husayn ibn Ali). Moharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar and the mourning of Moharram is done during 10 Moharram or tenth day of Moharram to commemorate the death of Husayn (Prophet Mohammed's grandson - son of his daughter Fatima and his cousin Hazrat Ali). Husayn and his small retinue were killed in the Battle of Karbala on tenth Moharram (680 CE) against an army of Umayyad Caliph Yazdi. The battle took place because Husayn refused to pledge his allegiance to Yazdi - a battle for good vs evil and one where Husayn sacrificed his life for the good. 

The essential difference between Shias and Sunnis is about succession - Shias believe that the succession should be through the Prophet Muhammad's family viz his cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali (who married his daughter Fatima) and his descendants while Sunnis believe that the Caliphate (leader of Muslims) should be chosen by consensus. The Qutb Shahi dynasty were Shia Muslims while the Mughals were Sunnis - which was one of the points on which Aurangzeb's  Mughals decided to attack the rich Golconda kingdom.

When Aurangzeb conquered Golconda in 1687 he converted the Badshahi Ashoor Khana into horse stables for his cavalry and in the process destroyed parts of the building. However during the time of the Asaf Jah II, Nizam Ali Khan, it was restored (in the mid 1700s) - a new gate, wooden colonnades were added. Nawab Mir Nawazish Ali Khan Bahadur Rasheed installed the 'Alam' and the rituals of Majlis and Matam were held. The building has a Niyaz Khana (offering place), Naquar Khana (drums place for making announcements), Sarai (for travellers to rest), Abdar Khana (for drinking water), Langar Khana (for food), a Chabutra and so on.

The Badshahi Ashoor Khana has colourful painted tiles which are four centuries old. Apparently some of them got spoiled in the 1908 flood of Musi which rose to some 17 feet high and caused widespread death and destruction, but most of it survived. There is the image of the hand, which I saw in Moula Ali as well, which is perhaps the impression of the Panjetan, the five holy figures - Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Bibi Fatima, his cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali, and Ali's two sons, Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain. 

There are many pictures of Ashoor Khanas, of olden times at the Badhshahi Ashurkhana. We clicked pictures and walked out. 

...

I could see some traffic cops walking around and taking pictures of cars and realised that my guide was not to be relied upon and I would mostly get a challan for 1000 bucks. I quickly took a picture of the gate of Diwan Devdi, the magnificent home of the Salar Jungs which no longer exists, and hurried back to take my car out and park it in a proper place (which I found for a price of 100 bucks an hour). 

Diwan Deodi gate

I walked back found the group, heard Yunus tell us about the Hauz, which was known as Char-su-ka-Hauz (cistern of four cardinal points). It was the central point from where, on the four sides we could see the four kamans (if one is standing at Gulzar Houz facing the Charminar, the kaman that one sees as we approach Charminar from Gulzar Houz is Charminar Kaman, the one that goes away from Charminar is Machli Kaman, the one to the right is Sher-e-Batil ki Kaman and the one to the left is Kali Kaman). The Sher-e-Batil Kaman led to the royal palaces, each one like a fairy tale palace they say, called Dad Mahal, Sajan Mahal, Kudadad Mahal, Sajan Mahal, Nadi Mahal and Jinan Mahal. Over time the hauz slowly got converted into a smaller fountain and is called Gulzar Hauz. 

Sher-e-Batil ki Kaman from the inside

The Sher-e-Batil Kaman which led to the royal palaces

From here we walked to Charminar, had tea at Nimrah where Yunus told us about Irani chai and stuff while we drank tea and ate (I ordered a tie biscuit and shared my info about it and a few bites with young Mukhtiar and Sriram).

Can never resist clicking Charminar

Intricate work, grand design

Tourists on the first floor

From there we entered Charminar, got some dope on it, and left. Sriram, a young techie and investor who grew up in Ameerpet, and now on a sabbatical before he takes up a writing assignment, said he would join me on the ride back home and we walked back to the car, took off and stopped for breakfast at Minerva and returned. 

Lattice work, pineapple motifs

Rather underwhelming experience but I will not be quick to judge.