We made the journey to Olinda today, first flying into Recife. We are staying in the Pousada do Amparo (over 250 years old), located in the colonial old town. Once again, this area isn't as big as we had anticipated, and the portion that is busy with tourists is even more limited. The entire walking circuit of the district takes about an hour. |
We ventured just beyond the tourist zone to see the local beach and to find lunch (fish in coconut sauce). After our meal, we returned to our sightseeing walk of the old town.
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We took a local bus to another part of Salvador today. We got off the bus at the Porto da Barra Beach and walked along the coast, visiting the Forte de Santo Antonio, Walmart, and the Barra lighthouse, before reaching Praia do Farol da Barra. After taking the bus back to Praca Municipal, near our hotel, we decided to walk in the opposite direction from the touristed Old Town. We had been warned not to go this way due to "drugs", but in the light of day, it seemed to be populated by normal folks conducting legitimate business. Once we'd left the cobblestones behind, the prices dropped to a fraction of what they were in the square. We were also not harassed in the slightest as locals here weren't accustomed to having tourists visit, so we were left to shop normally and without pressure. We bought some Brazil soccer jerseys, a t-shirt, some flip-flops, and several inexpensive treats and snacks. We didn't walk down the narrow alleys, nor would we venture here at night, but we were glad we explored this part of town. No idea what the red building may have originally been designed as, but it now serves as a fire station. We headed back to the Terreiro de Jesus in the Pelourinho. Since this is the main square of the touristy historic district, it is filled with people waiting to pounce on tourists. There are two main tactics here: the first is to offer you a free "gift" of a cheap bracelet and then ask you for money once it's on your wrist. The second method of harassment is to have people in "official" tourist information shirts ask if you have any questions. If you do pose questions, they steer you to tours and businesses that give them a commission and they also try to get you to tip them for their assistance. As soon as we entered the square, we were accosted by half a dozen of these people. After greeting many with a simple "Bom dia" and continuing to walk, they became more persistent. Finally, Lisa just stopped addressing them and tried to ignore them as we made our way through the square. After she walked past one of these "official" helpers without acknowledging him, he lost his mind. He began to shout and curse at her. He told her to go f@*! herself, "get an education", and go back home because she wasn't welcome in Brazil. He also kept saying that she was rude to ignore him since he was a "professional". This altercation escalated to involving the police (who spoke no English) and several locals including many more "tourist assistants". Most said that the man was "loco". This experience shook Lisa and she no longer wanted to explore the area. We briefly returned to the hotel, but I managed to convince Lisa to set out once more. The purple building in the centre is the Bahiacafe Hotel, located in the Praca da Se, just 100 metres from the Catedral Basilica.
We returned to the Upper City and the Pelourinho to continue to admire the colonial buildings and Baroque churches. I am not the first Michael to grace the streets of this square. We spent most of the day in transit, first flying to Rio, and then flying to Salvador. We checked into the Bahiacafe Hotel and set out to find dinner and have a quick look around the historic Pelourinho district. We watched the sun set from "The Fallen Cross". We wasted no time trying the area's number one "snack", acaraje (Cajun shrimp mix in a deep-fried bean bun). Upon returning to our hotel, I consulted my notes in preparation for tomorrow's sightseeing. I discovered that in our brief 25 minute walk, we'd already seen all of the notable landmarks in the tiny Pelourinho. This didn't mean that I didn't want to see them again in the daylight, but it did mean that doing so wouldn't take anywhere near as much time as I'd allotted. Once again, the historic, tourist centre was much smaller than I'd anticipated.
Sunday was basically just a travel day as we had a long transfer from Paraty to Sao Paulo Guarulhos to fly south to Foz do Iguacu. We got our first look at the spectacular falls from the plane when we flew in. We checked into the Hotel Wyndham Golden Foz, booked our transportation for the following day, bought beer and water at the supermarket, had an evening coffee, and found shwarma for dinner. We are fortunate to have previously seen Canada's famous Niagara Falls and the beautiful waterfalls of Croatia's Plitvice National Park. If these two sites combined, they'd come close to the magnificence of Iguazu. After seeing the falls, we spent much of the next day and a half at the Wyndham. We unexpectedly had an apartment size suite where I watched Champions League soccer and I enjoyed sampling local brews while relaxing poolside. The complimentary coffee was also appreciated. When we flew out, our pilot got permission to circle so that both sides of the plane were afforded a final aerial view of the falls.
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