Salvador, Brazil (continued)

Sat Dec 3
We were docked in Salvador for fifteen hours today. It's unfortunate that we couldn't have had that much time in Recife. This was probably the best group tour we have taken. We learned much about the history of this city which was once the capital city of Brazil.

Monument to a martyred champion of abolition



Inside an appliance store

It was the primary center for slave trade and consequently has the highest density of black population in Brazil. Much of the culture consequently also comes from Africa. We enjoyed just watching people as much as places.

Young musicians working for a living



Market vendors (can you pick out the tourists back there?)

We saw the building on the shore where the slaves were brought in and sold. Just behind it in the bay was a Brazilian form of Alcatraz no longer in use.


Prison is in upper center. Blue and white building is where slaves were
brought in and sold and owners had to pay taxes on their purchase.

We also saw the church that took over a hundred years to complete because it was built entirely by slaves by moonlight because they were all working during daylight hours. It was only when this was completed that blacks could attend church as they were banned from the other churches.

We also saw the church that was build in the 16th century that is adorned with over 1500 pounds of gold with tile paintings completely surrounding the courtyard, each with a stated theme. We haven't shown interior pictures of many churches we visited but you have to see this one!

 

Courtyard - notice blue and white tile paintings on 360 degrees of surrounding inside walls



Example of one of the tile paintings with theme on plaque below
stating "Virtue is Envy's Target."
Keep in mind these were made 500 years ago and had to have
been painted on the tiles before they were fired or laid.



The city has basically two levels, one at sea level and another on a plateau about two-hundred feet higher and inland a short distance where there is a magnificent view. There are streets that climb around the sides to the top where the old historic city is located but an elevator is also available to transfer pedestrians between levels.



From the lower level the elevator can be seen at the right.
It can also be seen from above in the third photo above to my right.

At one stop a group member named Sergio, who is a native Brazilian now living in the U.S., bought us each fresh fruit drinks of mango and cashew fruit that were just delicious. His wife's name is Jana and they were great to have along.

We also got dropped off in the usual market area where Dad finally found and bought the Brazilian hat he has been looking for. We then visited the beach and a very old lighthouse but didn't have time to swim.

Our tour ended by visiting a jewelry dealer that specialized in many of the semi-precious stones for which Brazil is famous. There were gem stones both mounted in jewelry and not but it was all very expensive and we bought nothing. We came back to the ship and swam in the ship's pools and soaked in the hot tub, then read and watched some of the games on the open deck before preparing for dinner and the evening show which was traditional dancing and songs from this area of Brazil.