I continue to be amazed at the size of the cities that we’re visiting. I had no idea that there were so many large cities in Brazil. Recife has around 3 million people and from the ship the skyline looks almost like Chicago. Recife is called “the Venice of Brazil” because it’s a series of islands connected by canals and bridges. Lining the canals are the ever-present Brazilian style buildings, each one painted a different pastel color with white trim. The climate is dry tropical and flowers are abundant and beautiful.
Our Virtuoso group met early and got on a small bus with our guide, Paul. We toured Recife which didn’t really have a lot to see. Paul was enthusiastic about Recife’s history and told it in a very demonstrative style. We were on and off the bus quite a lot to look at panoramic views and squares. It was quite hot, not as muggy as Salvador, but some of our older companions wilted quickly.
We drove to a nearby town called Olinda which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. It’s a small town overlooking Recife and the bay. There we shopped, visited more churches than one should in one day, and were greatly relieved when Paul announced that our next destination would be a “gastronomic stop”. We went to a bright red building which he said was a former Portuguese mansion. We were escorted into a courtyard where a 5-piece band and 2 dancing girls awaited our arrival. They led us to a bandstand surrounded by chairs where we sat in the heat and they got on stage and performed an interminable dance while we were served some drinks that most of us discreetly poured out, as we had been warned that anything served to us in a cup may not be good for us to drink. When the band and dancing finally finished, they once again led us out and into the restaurant where the quiet was most welcome. We were served a very nice lunch with wine or beer and many of us, including myself, slept on the way back to the ship.
That was our day in Recife. Since we had a big lunch, Ed and I are skipping dinner tonight and going to see the movie Brothers and eat popcorn.
Our Virtuoso group met early and got on a small bus with our guide, Paul. We toured Recife which didn’t really have a lot to see. Paul was enthusiastic about Recife’s history and told it in a very demonstrative style. We were on and off the bus quite a lot to look at panoramic views and squares. It was quite hot, not as muggy as Salvador, but some of our older companions wilted quickly.
We drove to a nearby town called Olinda which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. It’s a small town overlooking Recife and the bay. There we shopped, visited more churches than one should in one day, and were greatly relieved when Paul announced that our next destination would be a “gastronomic stop”. We went to a bright red building which he said was a former Portuguese mansion. We were escorted into a courtyard where a 5-piece band and 2 dancing girls awaited our arrival. They led us to a bandstand surrounded by chairs where we sat in the heat and they got on stage and performed an interminable dance while we were served some drinks that most of us discreetly poured out, as we had been warned that anything served to us in a cup may not be good for us to drink. When the band and dancing finally finished, they once again led us out and into the restaurant where the quiet was most welcome. We were served a very nice lunch with wine or beer and many of us, including myself, slept on the way back to the ship.
That was our day in Recife. Since we had a big lunch, Ed and I are skipping dinner tonight and going to see the movie Brothers and eat popcorn.
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