24 RTW Day 45 Salvador, Brazil

By travelerdon on June 20, 2024

Thursday, April 18, 2024, Salvador, Brazil

We have a semi leisurely breakfast today. The ship is in port but we don’t intend to maximize the hours in port. We head out and walk into town looking for the Lacerda Elevator (pronounced La-say’r dah El-eh-va-Tor). we are told it is closed today. Hmmm, this city is on two levels and walking up the steep hill is not our first choice. But we are told there is a Funicular called, ‘Plano Inclinado Goncalves (Plane-O In-clin-ah-doe Gon-sal-ves) and we locate it. We are beginning to love the fact that public transportation in Brazil is free to those over 65!

So we queue up for the Funicular and ride it to the top. We find ourselves in ‘old-town’ Salvador. Walking around, we see cathedrals everywhere! There must be 9 cathedrals in two blocks! We visit a few of them at the cost of $2 USD per cathedral and marvel at the quantity of gold facades and alters. Amazing yet beautiful. It seems like each cathedral tries to outdo the next one! Blue Portugese tiled walls surround courtyards and depict different subjects and religious philosophies.

Outside the cathedrals, the city streets are poor and cobblestone. We are told this is not a safe area to walk around but there are several police officers every block. Probably why we are told it is not safe. Many vendors selling all kinds of trinkets and tourist commodities cover the sidewalks. We acquire our wall magnet and then find a Brazilian Steakhouse, Odoyo, to sit and have lunch. The meat is tender and tasty and satisfies our desire for a Brazilian Steak. There are also some Brazilian ladies walking around in traditional hoop skirts and dresses that grab our cameras attention!

We feel we have seen the essence of Salvador and head for the Funicular and ride it down. At the base, we saw several paper stores and we do a little shopping. Elee finds watercolor paper as she has joined the watercolor group and wants to save money from the costs of materials onboard. I find regular printer paper as the Ukulele group has mentioned shortages in paper to print the song sheets on and I pick up a ream to give to them. Then we walk back to the ship where much needed naps are taken.

We manage to change and make it into the restaurant for dinner and then meet up with the Trivia Team for the nightly game. It seems everyone has had a good day in Salvador. We do hear of one couple that reports being ‘Mugged’ in town but do not get any detail beyond that a lady lost her purse and has some scratches. Maybe we’ll have more details tomorrow. We can’t help but think they weren’t being careful enough.

Oh well, the day is done. We get nightcaps and retire to the room. Elee goes out to get her water bottle filled and must have found something fun to do as she doesn’t return for a while.

Goodnight All!