A Hot Day in Recife

 Recife, on the point of the eastern coast of Brazil, is one city we had not visited on our previous cruise in this part of South America, so we had no idea what to expect. The city is known as the Venice of Brazil because it is made up of three main islands crossed by two large rivers, the Beberibe and Capiberibe, and their tributaries. There is something in the order of 50 bridges in the city itself so people and vehicles can get around. Unlike most other large Brazilian cities, it can't have a subway system, so there is an extensive tram and bus system for public transport.

As with all of the large cities in Brazil, the rural immigrants have created their own favela communities, although here most of the inhabitants of these areas are fishermen or may have stalls in the local markets to sell anything and everything you may need.

Fishing boats in one of the major rivers

Our tour today took us to the original old town of Olinda, up on a hill just outside the city. It was founded by the Portuguese in 1535 and at that time was the centre of the local sugarcane industry. Now it is more of a historical site and artists' colony.

The Holy Saviour of the World Church was originally established in 1540, with the first buildings replaced and extended in the 1580s. It was elevated to Cathedral status in 1676 when the diocese was created. Considering the Franciscan Church we had just seen in Salvador, this one was very plain, 

From the courtyard behind the Cathedral, we could see over all of the lower town of Olinda and to the ocean. This is the Igreja do Carmo, a large Catholic Church and convent. We passed this on the way up the hill to Olinda. Our large tour buses would never have been able to manoeuver in the narrow streets, and the road coming back down had probably a 45 degree incline, so we transferred to small vans for the trip up and back, and stopped briefly in front of the church for a very short explanation.

Once we got our bearings in the town, we were treated to a short demonstration of the local dance called frevo. If you thought the Samba required some stamina to dance for any length of time, those people almost look like they're standing still compared to the dancers in this part of the country. This dance is very athletic, incorporating a lot of jumping. It looks more like a cheerleading dance at a football game.

Yes, she is in mid-air. They don't jump high,
but they jump a lot!

And after this demonstration, we were allowed almost 45 minutes of free time to wander around and check out the old town. When researching the shore excursions for this trip, I had found photos of brightly painted houses with white door and window trim, and was wondering where they were. We didn't see them until later, while in the van on the way back down the hill, where I couldn't get any good photos of them.

We found the local Astronomical Observatory, which
is open between 4 and 8 p.m. every day. You could
probably do some really good stargazing from there.

One art gallery in a small shaded square also
had some interesting sculptures to show.

This is the Misericordia Church. Our guide didn't tell
us much about what was around so we didn't see it
until there was no time to go inside.

Our tour continued in the city of Recife itself, where we stopped at the Government Square for a few minutes to check out the statues and buildings, after which we climbed back on the bus, heading for the Casa do Cultura, or the cultural centre, in the Old City Jail.

On the way, we passed a number of stalls selling tropical fish for aquariums, like these in the plastic bags. Local fishermen must have been catching them in the rivers; otherwise they might have been better 'packaged'.

We arrived at the Old Jail where we were expecting, perhaps, a museum of local cultural artefacts or something, but, no, it ended up being a stop where one could PURCHASE local artefacts, like t-shirts or hats or table linens, etc.....

The cells in the Old Jail had been converted into stalls for local people to sell their wares. They had kept one cell, #106, in its original condition, but otherwise it was a mini shopping mall. Not being shoppers, we spent about 10 minutes of our hour there looking around, and then went outside to check out the building.

One of the old guard towers. Sections of the
original wall were left around these towers to show
the size and construction of it.

When we finally let shopping stop #2, we had a drive along Boa Viagem Beach. This means 'Bon Voyage', and is in the fanciest and most expensive area of the city to live. This beach is 7 miles long, but Recife has something like 34 miles of beaches in total, which makes it a real destination for Brazilians from all over the country,

As the tide had gone out during our tour, on the way back to the ship we saw fishermen in the rivers, in water only up to their knees, digging for clams and oysters. These are the fishermen who live in the favelas on the banks of or near the rivers.

Torre de Cristal in the sculpture park
near the port.

So that took care of our tour of Recife. It is very interesting city, large, as all of them seem to be, but well-maintained and with a modern economy that includes medicine, IT and logistics as well as tourism. Should we be in this area again sometime, we would definitely want to see other aspects of the city on another tour.

The sun setting over the city. It has been so humid that
the skies have been a bit hazy, and the sun has been
setting before 6 p.m.

We had dinner at S.A.L.T. Kitchen, and stopped
at the small attached bar where I had the signature
drink, the Celine, with a smoke bubble on top.

Sailing out of Recife at 11 p.m.

The city's name, Recife, means 'reef', and
there is a long one protecting the harbour

Our next port of call, Fortaleza, is coming up after another sea day. I'll put up a post about the ship and the food next.