Oldies On Tour

Today is our penultimate day; tomorrow we disembark but fortunately the cruise ship’s itinerary has been considered carefully and we approached Rio at Midday, not at night as some cruise lines do. This must be up in the best “top ten” bays to

sail into, firstly we could see the Copacabana beach in the background then this was followed by the Sugar Loaf Mountain towering over us as we passed. In the distance we could see the 8-¼ mile Bridge, the “Ponte Presidente Costa e Silva”, it has 8 lanes and carries 140,000 cars a day and was opened in 1972.   Curiously, the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were here in on their only trip to Brazil and attended the symbolic start of construction back in 1968.

As we passed the Sugar Loaf we could see the Internal Airport,

the one featured in the James Bond Film, “Moonraker”.  Next we passed their naval dockyard where there was what looked like an old WW2 carrier, it could still commissioned!!!!! We then passed the “Ilha Fiscal“, a former Palace but now a cultural museum.  As we approached the berth, we clocked the new “Museu do Amanhã”, Museum of Tomorrow, opened in 2015; a very impressive building right on the waterfront. This museum mixes Science with Innovative design to focus on sustainable cities.

We were eventually moored behind a P and O Cruise ship that left soon after; perhaps the El Capitaine said something!!!!

We met Christina and David for our last lunch together, we even got to sit at the table the captain usually sits at, the waitress who was serving us was great, and we enjoyed a full three courses, not sure how we are going to do dinner tonight, still it is the last day.

We could have got off but decided not to, instead elected to get the rest of our packing completed. We had agreed to meet up with our Crib playing Canadian friends for dinner and a last few hands of Crib, as there is no “Showtime” aboard tonight, only a film, ugh! The cribbage challenge was Alvin and I against Christine and Laura and after numerous games and rubbers over many days we arrived at the end of the cruise even-Stevens; a fair result me thinks.

Early start tomorrow.

We were not due into Salvador until 1600hrs so had a nice breakfast and a leisurely morning. I went to a lecture on Brazil and Christine stayed in the cabin as she is still coughing and one degree under. Once we get off the ship in Rio and away from constant air conditioning things should improve. Once the lecture was over and following the obligatory coffee and brandy, we decided to start packing. We filled one case with everything we don’t need until we board the Queen Victoria on the 21^st February; this will help us on Friday when we leave the ship.   We also started the process of gathering all the required information to make a claim for the Ships Hospital costs. We have never known such a palaver for a claim; what they want we don’t have with us, of course, so we have been sending e-mails far and wide to get the required information.

To arrive at the dock on time, we actually entered the large “Baia de Todos os Santos” (All Saints Bay) around 1400hrs where we collected the pilot. The entrance to this bay is very wide, but there were numerous freighters anchored all around us, which the Captain had to weave in and out to get to the dock. This was one of the more spectacular docking maneuvers this cruise, so most guests were up on top deck watching. We had to berth between a 4,000-passenger cruise ship and an enormous bulk carrier with minimal room for mistakes; still he achieved it smoothly and efficiently.

As we had had a hearty breakfast we missed lunch so decided afternoon tea was the order of the day before setting ashore; not so elegant or stunning as the Gala afternoon tea, but we still had the string quartet playing and more than enough of all those slimming cakes and buns etc.

Salvador was founded in 1549 and was the first capital of Brazil during the heyday of the slave trade, and this legacy can be seen today in its large, black population. It sits on a Peninsula on the North East coast of Brazil, which shields the town from the Atlantic Ocean. This city is the third largest in Brazil with a population of around 4 million and at the end of the peninsula there is a fort guarding the entrance to this safe anchorage. Today this is a naval museum. Salvador is also one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas.

Once our ship was cleared by the authorities and we had finished our afternoon tea, the four of us “intrepid explorers” set foot in what had been described by Dotty as a dangerous place if one strayed from the main thoroughfare: we did. Firstly we crossed into the “badlands” to find a chemist to get something for Christine’s cough then rather than go back we cut across through a not so “thoroughfare” street to the large tourist undercover market; no issues so far.

Naturally we don’t flaunt jewelry or mobile ‘phones etc., and we keep our wits about us.

A big cliff divides Salvador; its lower town, (Cidade Baixa) and its upper town (Cidade Alta), are about 85 meters apart, “vertically” and there is an elevator tower housing 4 lifts taking about 30 or so people each trip, up and down. The cost of this ride is 15 cents, (local currency Reals) worth approximately 4 pence!!!! We joined the queue which was half way down the road and thought it would take forever but no, the system works well and we were soon at the front of the queue and herded into a hot, sweaty lift. Fortunately we were up to the top in a second so our suffering was minimal.

The top is where the old original town is situated and out of

the lift into a magnificent cobbled area, surrounded with old, large buildings, museum and other local authority buildings.

Whilst queuing we got talking to a Portuguese family who told us there was some sort of show in the square where the Cathedral is situated.

Armed with so “much” information, the four of us followed the crowds, who seemed to be heading purposefully in one direction. The big area we in after leaving the lift, blended into another, large open space where the surface was smooth and flat. Walking through we passed numerous stalls

selling the usual trinkets, and local arty-crafty things; there were buskers and children everywhere as we then entered a large cobbled square, full of tables and chairs and stalls selling alcohol, soft drinks and street food. At the end there was a band preparing so decided this must be it and sat down, ordered a few drinks and waited. Apart from more and more people flooding into this square nothing was happening though we did her drumming in the background and assumed this was the start of things. Still nothing was happening so David went to investigate. He reported back that there were lots of drummers walking away from our square, oh well the ambience was good and our waiter reminded us of Huggy Bear, a character from the old TV program, Starsky and Hutch; but probably more entertaining.

After a very enjoyable interlude we realised the drummers

weren’t about to descend into the square so we headed back to the lift, and onto the ship, however, we were accosted on our return. 4 Police Motorbikes, with 2 policemen on each, armed to the teeth, surrounded us. They babbled on but we didn’t understand a word they said so got out our I.D. but that wasn’t what they wanted; apparently some other tourists were mugged and they thought we were they.

Back on board it was party night on board, Christine wasn’t quite tickety boo so went to bed, and then David and I went to listen to the music.

Next morning we were up and away fairly early as the ship sailed soon after lunch and we had places to go and things to see.

Back into the lifts, across the three squares and straight to

the Cathedral, but more importantly the “Sao Francisco Church of Salvador” built in the first half of the 18^th centaury. This church has an interior to behold, all the walls, ceiling, acolumns, alter and side chapels are gold. All this sculptured woodwork is covered with gold leaf and is the original, yes in places there is wear due to its age, but on the whole it has stood the test of time well.

Attached to this splendid church is a convent, no gold leaf here but a number of the old wooden ceilings have religious scenes painted on them. There is also a rather large courtyard with all the surrounding walls covered in tiles depicting various biblical scenes.

We spent too much time admiring the interior of the gold leafed church we hadn’t left sufficient time to go over the cathedral,

though from what we had heard, after visiting the Sao Francisco Church of Salvador, nothing else comes anywhere near it for beauty and opulence.

It was a very hot day and it was time for refreshment but more

importantly “loos” were required. We found a small hotel: Parked ourselves on an outside table and rested, enjoying the Brazilian cocktail “caipirinha” (see below); well I didn’t, I had the usual as I find Caipirinha too sour.

David and Christina shot off to look at the Cathedral, whilst we waited. When they reported back they said we had already seen the best; good job we stayed behind!!!!!

Our return to the ship was down several cobbled streets with their multi-coloured façades and several touristy shops. They were very attractive to look at and we were pleased we went, but when we got to the bottom and looked back up the hill, we were shocked and caught a taxi; well we did, our friends being younger went back up.

Back onboard we had a casual afternoon before dinner. Tonight’s Showtime was called “Tuxedo”, a show featuring the ships singers and dancers taking a fresh look at music by such artists as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole and many more. The singers did a good job, very entertaining but we couldn’t think why they had the dancers. Due to it being a small stage the ship only has 2 dancers and as far as we were concerned they were superfluous to the show. “Still, it is what it is; get on with it”.

Tonight was also a farewell night; at the end of the “show” all the crew came on stage and the Captain and Hotel manages did their farewell speeches, usual things, thank everybody for coming, thanking the crew for their hard work, and probably more importantly from Oceania’s point of view, hoping everybody will return for another cruise.   At this point the crew made a lot of noise as everybody joined the singers in a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”. When we exited the Sirena lounge the crew lined the corridors and applauded.

Christine trotted off to bed, and I went to horizons with D & C for a nightcap, or two!!!

Tomorrow is another sea day and then Rio the following Lunchtime

Type	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume	·       Cachaça
Served	On the rocks; poured over ice
Standard garnish	sugar cane, lime(ingredient)
Standard drinkware	Old Fashioned glass
IBA specified ingredients	·       5 cl cachaça ·       Half a lime cut into 4 wedges ·       2 teaspoons sugar
Preparation	Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and muddle (mash the two ingredients together using a muddler or a wooden spoon). Fill the glass with ice and add the Cachaça.
Notes	A wide variety of fresh fruits can be used in place of lime. In the absence of cachaça, vodka can be used, making a caipiroska.[1]

 

 

We docked in Recife at some un-godly hour in the morning, and were woken up when the dulcet tones from Dotty came over the airwaves, loud and clear around 0800hrs. Time for room service and early morning tea in bed; now when we speak they just ask if it is green or camomile to go with the English breakfast; they know us and get it right every time.

We were enjoying our breakfast when David came along to see if we were going to join up and see the area together; naturally we said yes so hurried our breakfast and we were off the ship within 30 minutes; wow, indigestion to follow!!!!

Once we were out of the terminal, barged past all the locals

trying to sell us tours for this, that and the other, we opted for a taxi to take us the 7 Km’s to the historic centre of the town of “Olinda”, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1982. This town is on a steep hill so we got the driver to drop us at the top; we can always walk down!!!!

This area was founded in 1535 and was promoted to a town 1537 and in 1614 became the centre of the region. The area economy grew due to the sugar plantations around and it therefore was a centre for the slave trade until the abolishment in 1888. This area was also taken over by the Dutch for about 10 years as mentioned before but once the Portuguese were back in control the town grew on Sugarcane.

Firstly we visited the “obligatory” Cathedral, not too interesting other than it was built at the end of the 1500’s and is the oldest Franciscan Monastery in Brazil and bearing that in mind, it was in fairly good shape. It hadn’t been renovated to such an extent as to ruin its character.   What was good though, out the back of the church there was an

observation patio with a commanding view of Recife and the bay area, but, and there is always a but, a couple of shanty huts had spoilt the view a little.

It’s down hill all the way but as we left the church the heavens opened, a tropical downpour came along without warning

but fortunately we were amongst a number of market stalls so found shelter. 10 minutes later, as the pavements were steaming we were on our way again.

No wonder this is a UNESCO site, the narrow cobbled streets

with the brightly painted houses and nothing modern, makes it a place worth visiting. We popped into a few souvenir shops as we strolled and were quite taken back by some of the images we saw; of course we mustn’t mention the golliwogs that were for sale!!!!! But some of the sculptures were, err, shall we say, rather explicit! naturally we all had a good chuckle, not to mention a ‘photo opportunity.

Half way down we happened to come across a tourist information “shop’. They were very good, telling us all about their carnival and naturally it is better and lasts longer than the Rio Carnival. Whilst this was going on we had our second tropical burst of rain; shelter courtesy of the tourist information place.

After meandering around we arrived at the bottom and yes, there was another church.   Christine and I elected to sit in the park under the shade of a tree whilst David and Christina went

up a big flight of steps, well they are younger than us, anyway they climbed up and guess what, the church, as so many are, was closed: with age you get wiser!!!!!!!

Back onto the main road and we hailed a Taxi and went into the old town of Recife.

We had told the driver to take us to the cathedral in the old town but when we got into the area, the driver had to ask the locals where to go, at this point we got out!!!!   We walked

across the square to the promenade and decided it was beer time. This area we were sitting in was originally part of the dock complex but with bigger ships and fewer of them the area has been modernised with Cafes, restaurants and a museum.Recife was founded in 1537 during the Portuguese colonisation and of course the harbour was used for the export of sugar. Recife is now the fourth largest urban population in Brazil with circa 4 million inhabitants. Because Recife is built on a number of small islands it is also known as the Venice of Brazil.

Today Recife is an Education hub and a tourist destination with a large, modern “downtown” area.

After being suitably refreshed we wandered amongst the old buildings and avenues of this old part of Recife. It is very

interesting to observe that all these buildings are original; none have been scared and re-built because of the ravages of war etc., such as the European ones have.

Whilst wandering about, our navigator, “David” had noted there was one “must see” particular street of interest listed in our brochure from the ship. We went this way and that, we went up and down several streets, we asked a number of locals and was pointed in different directions but eventually we found it, wow, what a street; total crap, again, miss-information; time to head back to the ship; all aboard for 1530hrs.

A couple of days ago we enjoyed a special brunch and today the ship had a “Gala Afternoon Tea” though our cruise director insisted on calling it a “gay-la Afternoon Tea” well she is American, says it all really!!!!   Still

we have to say the Kitchen excelled themselves; it was a magnificent spread, not too many sandwiches, but boy sweet things. Hot Crepes in something sliming, waffles with syrup, naturally scones with jam and cream, cakes, tarts, cookies, and anything else you can think of; oh yes, pots of tea as well. When it was all over, the spread looked as it had when we entered the lounge, nothing had been taken!!!!!!!!!!! The crew was having an “official” party later that evening; no doubt they would enjoy the leftovers.

During this gala tea we were serenaded and thoroughly enjoyed the ship’s string quartet .

Showtime tonight was “Five O’clock Somewhere” The Irish duet and couple we had enjoyed a few evenings earlier. Again they were very good, they got the audience participating in the song “What shall we do with a drunken sailor” amongst other, mainly Irish, songs. They tried, and I think semi successfully, to get the atmosphere of an Irish pub, they were only let down by Guinness not being served.

The two Christina’s left for bed after Showtime and David and I put the world to right ‘till the bar closed!

Another sea day tomorrow before arriving at our penultimate port, Salvador.

We arrived in Fortaleza after two days, one clearing out of the Amazon and the other at sea during which time we caught up with chores and played numerous games of Crib with our “Canadian” friends, Alvin and Laura.

We docked around midday but before that; today was the “Grand Brunch” day in the Grand Dining room and what a

spread it was; everything you could possibly want, and a lot more. Naturally everybody wanted a piece of this action and fortunately we had arrived about an hour after it opened, at 1000am, so didn’t have to wait to get in. Late arrivals unfortunately were queuing, but not for long I must say, as the early “brunchers” left, the staff re-set the tables very quickly.

Having had our gastronomic fill!!!!! We left and joined up with our “English” friends David and Christina, and headed

out to town. There was a free shuttle bus, but as the buses only went every ½ hour, we calculated we were at least two busses down the queue, so jumped into a taxi instead, and headed for the Municipal market building. Across the street where from we were dropped, we spotted the neo-Gothic Cathedral Metropolitana, so headed in that direction.

It was certainly a very large building, in fact it is the third largest in the country, but the interior was rather basic and austere, not a Cathedral one would expect to find in a mainly Roman Catholic country; still we had a look round as one does though not much else to report about here!!! The next place on our itinerary was the old theatre, so out came the ‘phone, and Google maps took us there, winding through narrow streets teaming with people and full of small shops and stalls selling most things imaginable. I was seduced and bought a rather splendid leather hat for peanuts,

unfortunately the two Christina’s like it as well, so I will have to keep an eye on it!!!!

We arrived at this large central bustling square with even more people and again numerous markets stalls. With so many stalls selling much the same items, we wondered how any of them managed to make a living though 1.3 million inhabitants living in this city must help I suppose.

We went into the theatre building but then out again and through a courtyard, we then arrived at the actual theatre; strange or what. We were expecting an old Victorian auditorium, similar to what we visited in Manus, but no, this theatre was built in 1910, which rather surprised us. Still it was worth the effort to get here and we had an opportunity to sit and rest. Whilst resting we noted a couple of tour parties from our ship come and go, they were also in the Cathedral when we were there. We felt a little (not too much though!) sorry for them: they had paid in excess of $100 for a tour of the city visiting the three places we visited and a lace factory $$$$$$$ and in the process of a sanitized coach drive, missed out on what this vibrant city is all about: still, each to his/her own.

Whilst sitting and resting in the theatre we were entertained by a dance troop warming up we presume, for a rehearsal

We now headed for the fort, “Fortaleza da Nossa Senhora de Assunção” (Fort of Our Lady of the Assumption); thank you Google maps, but when we got there it was a military base and not open to the public; another piece of miss-information!

This area of Brazil has an interesting past. The Spaniards originally discovered this area in 1500, but it was not inhabited until 1603 when the Portuguese colonised and built the first fort.

In 1630 the Dutch decided they wanted a piece of this action and invaded the area and eventually took over the fort in 1637 but there wasn’t a lot left so the Dutch West Indies Company built a new fort. It was completed it in 1649, but In 1654 the Portuguese re-captured the area.   They re-named the fort Fortaleza da Nossa Senhora de Assunção, from which the town gets its name.

After the fort we went back to the Municipal Market which isn’t a market as we may know it; it is a rather large building housing about 1,000 very small shops selling anything from

clothes to food, touristy items to drinks but unfortunately by the time we arrived, most were either closed or closing. OK: after the obligatory rest, (it is very hot here), we’ll get the 4 o’clock shuttle bus back——- but oh dear, we’ve missed the last shuttle; we had no idea of the time!!!!!!

The idea was to get back to the ship, have a snack and go out

to the beach where the nightlife comes alive, meander around the stalls have a beer or two and get back on board for 2100hrs for the show. That was plan “A”; so we moved seamlessly into plan “B”. We got a taxi straight to the beach; we were a little early as the stalls were just opening up and the place wasn’t yet fully alive so sat and had a beer. It wasn’t too long before things were “hoting up” and after browsing the stalls selling the same sort of things, we ended up in a beach restaurant/bar where we had; we “know not what” to snack on but it was rather nice. This was washed down with several of the locals’ cocktails and copious amounts of local beer.

One of the many local artistic souvenirs are bottles, both

large and small, containing coloured sand. Now we all know one can get coloured sand at Shanklin, (Isle of White) and many other places but here they fill the bottles with colours in such a way that they show as a picture: in fact if you have sufficient time they will copy any picture you want!!!!!

We eventually headed for the last shuttle back to the ship but suddenly realised we didn’t actually know where to pick it up, so had another taxi. I must say the taxis here are modern and very reasonable so using them was no hardship.

We were back on board just in time to watch tonight’s show; an American version of “Call my bluff”. For our younger readers who most probably don’t know about “Call my Bluff” it was a TV show, way back in time, when 2 teams of three challenged each other with the definition of obscure words only found in very, very, thick dictionaries. Tonight show was different we had 4 panelists, two Comedians, the Ships Hotel Manager and a British singer. One person giving the correct definition; the other 3 giving false ones. The audience had to decide who was telling the truth. Well it was so funny; we were falling about in the aisles with the definitions, everybody had a good time, the shame was it ended, and unfortunately there isn’t another night like this before we get off in Rio.

After the show we went up to Horizon’s as it was a request night for 50’s and 60’s music. We were gob smacked, none of the singers or orchestra knew who Cliff Richard was, we tried in vain to explain but as he hadn’t made it in the US they weren’t interested. Oh well we had a good night and we were the last to leave getting to our cabin around 1.15am!!!

Tomorrow is another sea day.