This morning we visited the St. George Museum in Chennai. It was full of great artifacts, paintings, and my personal favorite... musky, old, museum smell. :) After the museum we wandered over to an Armenian Church, where we got to explore, take pictures, and climb the bell tower. In between the museum and the church we visited the local shopping center to get goodies for family and friends, and also had lunch... samosas with our favorite sweet/sour sauce!


After visiting the Armenian Church we all headed out to the Beach! It was packed, primarily due to the Pongal Festival. Police patrolled the beaches, ensuring that all women remained fully clothed, and that only small children could wear swimsuits. The trip to the beach was definitely an experience. I felt like we were at the circus, and WE were the main attraction. People were trying to take pictures of us, with us, and when we were tired of taking pictures there were always the people that would run ahead of us to steal a picture of the 8 American girls dressed like the native Indians spending the afternoon at the beach. It was still a wonderful trip.. the beach was beautiful and the people were as colorful as ever.

When we had all had enough of the sandy beach, we met back up with our loyal driver Albert and went to St. Thomas Cathedral in downtown Chennai. After walking through the beautiful church we were able to go beneath the church, where St. Thomas's remains are entombed. Seeing his tomb was amazing, and as I looked up from where I was standing, there was a picture of the Pope, standing directly where I was. Now Ive never been a super religious person, I tend to keep my beliefs and faith to myself, but standing at the remains of "doubting" Thomas really moved me..