Salvador, Brazil. Never heard of it, San Salvador, yes, but not Salvador Brazil. It is a Brazilian city with deep roots in the Portuguese slave trade so it is more like a Caribbean town than Rio.
I cannot really comment on this large city except for the 10,000 steps we took today, mainly in the Old Town which is a bit depressing in places and interesting in others. Past Splendour would best describe the old city and poor planning and decay would be my choice of words for the lower, more modern stretch by the waterfront where we were docked: right in downtown Main Street. Mind you the 'whole city' stretches for miles so we have only seen a tiny portion of Salvador.
We walked off the ship shortly after 9:00 AM. We then made our way through the gauntlet of tour people trying to get our attention, then taxi drivers, then people selling water, heading in the direction of the elevator to get to Old Town. We took the elevator up, [cost five cents US money], we were then immediately confronted by hawkers who seem to think that the money in our pockets belongs in their pockets. I then started to get a bit uncomfortable and annoyed that we could not enjoy our surroundings because of the damn vendors. I could sense that these people do not have it easy here and have to fight and compete to make a living.
The architecture in towns and cities I always find interesting and today was no exception. However I don't think that the population ever had the sophistication to match the lovely style and class that you can see in the decaying buildings. Obviously the designer had some class and was likely from Europe. My opinion.
We rambled through the streets, Jim with map and camera in hand. He has an excellent sense of direction so we three just have faith!. We ended up taking a funicular down to near the modern part of this strip of city and navigated to a giant undercover permanent market that some people find intimidating. Very, very crowded and the beating of Samba drums still ringing in your ears from the street musicians and performers. Eventually you seem to become immune to the crowds, bustle and noise.
But then after a while it becomes a blur and you want to scream or get out of there. We found a restaurant on the second floor and ordered a dinner for two for the four of us. [No meat!] It was quite restful in spite of the heat and noise somehow. We then made our way back to the ship around 1:30? Doug lingered in the terminal with free wi-fi trying to sort out his iPad.
It was very nice to get back into our air-conditioned cabin and watch the bustling street below which is nicer to look at from afar than be down there dodging people and clutching onto your belongings. Don't get me wrong, it was fun and enjoyable, for a while!
Our view this morning. See the officers on the bridge and the downtown traffic.
Looks beautiful. I was dodging hawkers when I took this shot.
Find Fellette in the stylized SALVADOR.
Good prices on good quality leather sandals here.
The sign gives one a sense of the place and its heritage.
This scene just about says it all here today.
Some hot, sweaty, thirsty people in a rest mode before heading back to the ship.
That's somebody's interpretation of this section of the town. Samba performance in the foreground, sea in background and elevator up to town in top right.
Some great murals. Note the ship on the left. Gail's and Fellette's heads on bottom left!
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