Saturday, April 20, 2024

We arrive today in Recife, Brazil (pronounced Es-e-fee) in the rain and fog. The shoreline is interesting as this place has its own harbor. We get breakfast and don’t stress over time. We are only in port for 8 hours but we are basically convinced we only need 4. Add to that my Bronchitis and I don’t want to over exert myself. We are told, though, that this is not a place to wander around on your own and we take heed! Need I tell you that Brazil has more crime than all the other countries on earth combined!

When we get off the ship, there are busses waiting to take us to the terminal (we are not allowed to walk through the port!). This a good thing for most ports have almost a mile to walk to get to the taxi stands. We have no excursion planned for the day and we negotiate with the taxis and agree on a rate of $100 USD for 3 hours. We probably could have done better, but hey, these people need money too!

So off we go with our driver, Franklin, cruising through Recife! He doesn’t speak a single word of English and we don’t speak Portuguese (How many of you thought Brazil spoke Spanish? You’d be incorrect!) We never find anyone today that speaks English! So we defer to our uncle. And our driver’s uncle! Uncle Google! We chat all day with Franklin via Google Translate! Such a marvelous modern tool!

Franklin takes us up the hill to the next town of Olinda where colorful buildings and houses are everywhere! We visit Cathedrals and churches and photograph them to our cameras delight! We get ocean and harbor views in the rain and fog! At times the rain is heavier. But it is a warm rain and at no time do we feel uncomfortable! Soaking wet, the only thing i attempt to do is keep the camera dry. I am mostly successful at that. I am carrying a dry cloth in my back pocket that I use to occasionally wipe down the camera.

Franklin takes us to the Mercado and finds us a lunch restaurant called ‘Cafe de Mercado where they have an upstairs buffet of local foods, most of which we don’t recognize! But it all looks delicious, including some sushi. Franklin assures us that all the food is made fresh! We buy Franklin his lunch and we all have a good time, all the while chatting with Franklin via Google Translate!

Franklin tells me to put my camera away until we get back to the cab. I have no place to put it except hold it close to my body so that is what I do! You think this is foreshadowing? It’s not, LOL we arrive back at the cab even with me still taking photos and all is well!

We then drive back down into Recife which turns out to be a bit disappointing as it is no where as photogenic as Olinda. But we see some sights and Franklin takes us to a prison that is now a marketplace. We decline to go inside and from shipmates later, we discover that this was a mistake! The photos we see of the Marketplace are spectacular!

Back to the ship, we go to our cabin and change into dry clothes and go to the bar for a drink. The ship leaves the dock at 4 PM and we are on our way back across the Atlantic towards Africa!

We go to dinner and then to the show where Davey McCaulley entertains us as an Escape Artist, Comedian, and Sleight of Hand Artist.

Now it’s off to bed! Goodnight All!

Friday, April 19, 2024, At Sea

I am sick with Bronchitis that I likely caught from Elee. It has been coming on for several days now. The exploring we did in Salvador yesterday wore me out. I will be spending the majority of the day in bed. No fun and games for me. I do go up to the buffet for lunch and dinner but I eat as far away from everyone as I can.

I visit medical and get the same diagnosis as Elee got. They give me antibiotics and cough syrup to get me through it. Glad we have a day At Sea! The cameras get a break for the day.

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!

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

It seems I am catching whatever Bronchial Cold that Elee has been suffering from in the last week and I choose to avoid most of the ship’s activities happening aboard. I spend a lot of time in my cabin. But the muscles were a great appetizer at dinner!

See you all in a couple days while I recover!

Tuesday, April 15, 2024, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Afternoon

Our tour driver arrives on time. We were hoping to be the first on the bus but we are next to last. All is okay though as I get a seat with availability to take a few photos and am seated next to a man from New York who is a Navy Vet and very pleasant to chat with. He is only in his late 20s and has a fabulous sense of humor! The tour picks up one more passenger and we are on our way!

The road up to Christ the Redeemer is tree lined through a forest with occasional views down on the city. We arrive at the parking lot and unload the bus. Our guide takes us up a ramp and small sets of stairs to a gift shop where he buys our tickets. Then we go back down ramps (hey, what is with this?) to load more busses that take us to the top parking lot. We unload the bus and are presented with a massive stairway. We look off to the side and we are overjoyed to see a sign pointing to an elevator!

We emerge from the elevator to see the final 220 steps to the top. Then we look left and see escalators! Wow! So escalators it is! 4 escalators later and we are at the top looking up at this monolith statue. Our cameras report dizziness as they look up to get their favorite shots! Throngs of people are mingling and getting their own photos (hopefully not as good as ours!). Dozens of people pose with their arms out, posing like the monolith! We join suit and get our own photos. The weather and sun and clouds and blue skies all help as we tour the area. The views down onto the city are spectacular as we walk around!

Our cameras satiated, we travel back down the escalators and elevators and meet our guide who then loads the bus and takes us down the hill. Now it is on to the famous Cathedral that is unique in it’s own right and definitely unique as cathedrals go in the world! It is like a pyramid in the middle of the city! Our cameras are set free for 15 minutes and they make the best of our time!

We now board a new bus and travel to the ‘Selaron Steps’. A famous set of tiled steps named for the designer. Fun place but we only climb a short way. Our cameras capture the marvel of the steps and we then progress down to the bus. Elee and I go down first to get some photos that we saw as we arrived but couldn’t get. We go and take our photos and the tour guide chases us down and tells us we are not safe here! But we never felt threatened (except for a crazy lady yelling at me) yet we go back to the bus.

Next we head off towards Sugarloaf Mountain. The afternoon is waning and we arrive at Sugarloaf an hour or so before sunset. Perfect! We cross the street to get to the cable cars and an actual crossing guard is dressed as a Star Wars character! We get in line to load the cable cars and along with 63 other tourists per cable car we get in. The first cable car ride goes to the top of Morro Da Urca Mountain and we walk through a fairly lush garden (surprisingly) to the next cable car station. Boarding the next cable car, we are first in line to board so we get prime locations in the car! It is a fun ride up as the sun is starting it’s descent in the sky!

We unload and walk around the platforms and marvel at all the restaurants and snack shops at the top! But our cameras rebel at all the shops and drag us towards the railings and views off the top! So we allow them to capture the views as best they can and eventually we force them into temporary retirement while we share a slice of pizza and a beer as a snack! Then, after our cameras convince us to get a final few images, we cue up and ride down the cable cars, once again jockeying for position for our cameras! Nice tourists recognize our cameras and happily make way to give me a prime position!

At the bottom of the first cable car ride, we are back on Morro Da Urca, while we wait for our group to gather, we are still at a decent altitude and we grab photos of the city as all the building lights come on! Great shots! We even see Christ the Redeemer in the distance and get shots from afar as the statue is lit up!

Then our bus starts dropping tourists off at the different pick up points. We tell the guide not to take us to the Porto Bay Hotel where we were picked up. It seems we have met another couple from our ship on the tour and they know how to ride the Metro Trains back to the ship for free! So we go with them and we get back to the ship.

Tonight the ship is throwing a “Carnival” party on board. We think the ship’s timing of some of these events is poorly planned. There are people still not back on the ship yet and those of us that are aboard are tired from touring Rio all day! Good night all!