We arrived back in Salvador at around midday and headed into the city to explore while we waited until our friends Neto and Carol finished work - (Rach worked with Neto a few yrs ago in the UK). The first thing we noticed about Salvador was the amount of construction that was taking place. The rest of Brazil seems to be stuck in the 1950’s (or earlier). We found out later that there had been a lot of government investment in the north-east of Brazil over the last few years, mainly due to Lula (Luis Inacio Da Silva) being president.
Salvador is split into two levels (Cidade Alta & Baixa) by a huge embankment which is connected by the art deco Carlos Lacerda Elevator. The upper level houses the old city and the area of Pelourhino, an area that has recently had a significant amount of renovation. Pelourhino was very touristy with lots of ladies dressed in traditional dress called Bahians enticing you into each and every craft shop.
Bahians enjoying a local festival - Which Rach and I gatecrashed. Their fault for letting us in...
A trip in the elevator to the Macardo Modelo rewarded us with a short viewing of a Capoeria performance. Capoeria is an art form which originates from Angola and is a ritual fight to gain the nuptial rights of women now celebrated as dance.
After a couple of beers and some ‘Carne do Sol’ with Neto and Carol, we headed back to theirs. They live in an area called Stella Maris which is near the airport on the coast. Their house was gorgeous – a gated modern complex with communal gardens and pool. It was great to be staying in what can only be described as heaven compared to what we have been used to.
Friday night we headed to a Samba night which had been organised in conjunction with a local church and Capoeria graduation ceremony. No entrance fee although you were expected to make a food donation – we didn’t know this prior to arrival. The band was a group of old men who looked like they had been playing for years. The music had a great beat and although we didn’t understand what the singer was singing, we heard the message of the lord loud and clear. This was our latest night yet – 3am we went to bed and after 3 caipirinhas I was ready for it.
A friendly bar man serving Rach some local cachaca. Sugar cane rum.
We learnt a lot about driving in Salavador during our stay, mostly about security. Nobody stops at red lights after dark unless absolutely necessary to avoid hold-ups. Whilst we were in the car after dark we stopped at a total of five police road blocks to allow searching of cars and buses for drugs and guns. When we drove up to the road blocks, Carol naturally wound down the windows and turned on the courtesy lights to allow the police to see who we were. They have never been stopped in the past. Most of the cars have blacked out windows (well beyond the legal limits for the UK) to prevent people from seeing the driver and passengers in the car. Even parking on the street had its own little rules. Random men and women seem to ‘own’ the streets at busy times, with the presumption that they should be paid for ‘looking after’ your car. This charge varied from a couple of R$ to whatever the attendant requested. We realised throughout the duration of our stay that all we have described above is deemed as normality in Brazil, and really brought home the issues of safety we faced during our visit.
Largo do Cruzeiro Do Sao Francisco near Pelourinho
The next day was one of culture. Firstly, we went to see a Rodin exhibition in a beautiful old house, followed with a really good feijoda with a couple of glasses of cachaca. We were then taken by our friends to a really good vantage point to watch the sunset but unfortunately the sun was hiding behind a cloudy sky. Tut!
Outside the Rodin gallery set only 10m off a very busy downtown street
Ryan, Neto and Carol - Did somebody mention it was snowing in England......Sorry!
The jazz concert - Kids were invited to play at the front. A real family affair
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