Salvador de Bahia, Brazil (Day 1)

New-to-us Port #16.

Today we joined Sonia & Boris for a private tour they organized of the highlights of Salvador de Bahia … the first capital of Brazil. Also on the tour with us were Pat & Norm and Bruce & Karen.

The tour was actually going to be tomorrow, when we would have called on this port if the itinerary had not been changed. Sonia moved it to day 1 of our visit with the idea that we would get our bearings today and freestyle it tomorrow … or maybe go to a beach. We got our bearings alright, but we won’t be doing anything tomorrow. No sightseeing. No beaching. It’s not because there is nothing to see and do. Rather, we’re simply too drained. The official high of 86F — with a feels like temp of 93F — did us in.

We disembarked the ship as soon as it was cleared and walked the short distance to the terminal where two women in traditional Baiana costumes greeted us and gave us each a ribbon, tying them around our wrists. Vagner, our guide, later explained that the ribbons are “wish ribbons.” Tradition has it that you tie them on when you make a wish and they disintegrate over a period of time and your wish comes true. By the time we learned this however, we had already tied our ribbons on one of the fences where thousands of them were fluttering in the wind.

As it was already hot and humid, we quickly piled into the van where the A/C would cool us off. Except that there wasn’t much cool air coming out of the vents. Ugh! Vagner made arrangements for a replacement van, which turned our itinerary on its head, but the replacement wasn’t much better. Really, the issue was not the A/C so much as the fact that the van could never get up to speed to give enough juice to the A/C system. The lack of a cool haven between sightseeing stops is probably one of the reasons we were all so drained and why we plan to remain on the ship tomorrow instead of going out and exploring further.

Turning the itinerary on its head by moving the Old Town/Upper Town stroll to the morning and the Lower Town drive-by exploring to the afternoon was a smarter move anyway. But first, we made a couple of stops in the Barra neighborhood, described as one of the most traditional in the city. Vagner explained that it is in this neighborhood that the largest street carnival anywhere in the world is held annually.

We made two stops in Barra. One was at an overlook where there is a column commemorating the foundation of the city. Also here is a mural made with the beautiful blue and white azulejo tiles of Portugal. The mural depicts the arrival of Governor Sousa, to Porto de Barra in 1549, the year in which the city was founded.

Our next stop was a short drive away. Farol da Barra is the lighthouse at Fort Santo Antônio … at the point by the same name. While the fort was built to defend the city, the lighthouse serves to safely guide seafarers entering Baía de Todos os Santos (the Bay of All Saints). The lighthouse that is standing now dates back to 1839 and is the second one built on the site.

Next we headed to the Upper Town to walk around what was the city center during the Portuguese colonial period. Also known as Pelourinho, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The van dropped us off at Praça Tomé de Sousa near the Câmara of Salvador. The ubiquitous big letters were here for a photo op.

Elevador Lacerda, which connects the Lower Town and the Upper Town, is in this plaza as well. This urban elevator was built between 1869-1873. The original hydraulic elevator has since been replaced with an electric one, and the building has been renovated in the Art Deco style. There are two towers, but one of them is built into the slope of the cliff and is not very visible. The ride, we were told, takes 30 seconds.

Nearby we saw the Fallen Cross Monument, which is dedicated to the Sé … aka the Bahia Cathedral (1552). It was demolished in 1933 to make space for the streetcar. Vagner showed us what little remains visible of the foundations of the church.

It would have been interesting to visit the Memorial das Baianas, a small museum, but it is closed for restoration. Baianas are the descendants of slave women who made and sold acarajés (stuffed fritters) in order to buy their freedom. We understood from Vagner, who took us to one of the stands where this street food is still made and sold, that the women who continue the practice do so wearing the traditional costume of their ancestors.

A short walk from this plaza took us to another one, bounded by a number of churches. We visited first the Catedral Basílica do Santíssimo Salvador. The church, which was built by the Jesuits, was consecrated in 1654. After the demolition of the Sé in 1933, this one was elevated to the status of a basilica. While the exterior is in the Mannerism style, a form of Renaissance architecture, the interior has elaborate baroque-style side altars. It was quite impressive, but we would find out shortly that it paled in comparison to the next church on our itinerary.

Crossing Terreiro de Jesus, the main plaza of the historic center, we walked past bars, restaurants, and shops to enter Convento e Igreja de São Francisco. The current church, the construction of which started in 1686, sits on the site of the original convent and church. I was delighted to see all the azulejo murals surrounding the cloister … some 55,000 tiles, apparently … the largest number in Latin America. I could have spent all day there just studying them. That wasn’t possible, of course.

Then, we went inside the church. Our jaws dropped upon seeing just how ornate it was. Even knowing in advance that nearly 1,800 pounds of gold was used in the gilded woodwork in the baroque style, the interior was just something else. No words can describe it adequately.

From the plaza, Vagner walked us over to Largo do Pelourinho — the location for a Michael Jackson video. I could have cared less about that. It was all the color around us that I found fascinating. The place is actually a roughly triangular, cobblestone plaza, sloping down towards colorful buildings … many from the colonial period. During the days of slavery, this was the site of the pelourinho, which translates as the “whipping post.” It was here that slaves were punished. After 1835, when slavery was abolished, the area fell into disrepair, but it underwent a transformation in the 1990s. Regardless of its dark history, the area is now a vibrant part of the historic center and I would like to have spent more time there.

Salvador has a very large population of people who are of African descent due to its slave history. The influence of their Afro-Brazilian culture is evident in everything from music, to religion, to cuisine, to all forms of art. To honor this culture, a series of statues were installed in 1998 in the Lower Town’s Tororó neighborhood … they are seemingly dancing on Dique de Tororó … which some refer to as the Portuguese Lake.

The statues, standing in a position known as Xirê, or the Circle of Orishas, are representations of African deities (orishas). Vagner gave us the name of each and told us a bit about them. But I have to admit I don’t remember the details.

Following the coastline, we next made our way to the area known as Ribeira. Our destination here was Sorveteria da Ribeira … an ice cream shop that has been in operation since 1931. I got the African chocolate flavor; Mui got the crocante flavor. Both were very good.

From here, we continued on to the Basílica Santuário Senhor do Bonfim. This 18th century church is a site of pilgrimage and is, as the sign said, “… dearly beloved by the Baiana people.” Tradition has it that the church has curative properties. Those seeking divine intervention leave replicas or photos of body parts for which they are seeking a cure. The room in which they leave these things is known as the “Miracle Room.” The church is surrounded by a fence that is now covered with what has to be hundreds of thousands of the ribbons we were given when we walked off the ship this morning.

The interior of the church is not nearly as elaborately decorated as the two we saw in the historic center. But like the Franciscan church, it has a beautiful wood ceiling … this one featuring a scene painted by a Bahian artist named Franco Velasco. The painting depicts seamen thanking Senhor do Bonfim for surviving a shipwreck. The story goes that the captain of the ship clutched an image (statue) of Christ during the storm and this is why they survived. That image is on display in the altar.

From here we went to Forte de Monte Serrat to see the views of the Bay of All Saints. The fort, which used to be known as the Fort of Saint Phillip from its construction until the 19th century, was built between 1591-1602. It is the only one of the many forts in Salvador that still retains its original appearance. A lovely breeze had a reviving effect on Mui and me … I think we were the only ones who got out of the van here,

An arts and crafts market — not far from the cruise terminal — was to be the last stop. However, when we stopped at the terminal to let Boris off, Mui and I also got off. As did a few others. Not only did we not plan to buy anything, but we didn’t feel like walking back to the ship no matter how close the market was.

We were in the cabin by 4:00p … ready to do nothing but relax. The veranda was in the shade and there was a light breeze … comfortable enough to sit out and read. Which is what I did until it was time to get dressed and go to the GDR for dinner. Any other night, I would have skipped dinner but we had a date with Carol & Gary, segmenters who boarded in Rio, and with whom we will be doing a couple of tours. Carol invited Sonia & Boris to join us, so we were at a 6-top and had a nice meal together.

Tonight was the deck party. We had perfect weather for it as the humidity from the daytime had disappeared, and the temp had cooled off. But we were too tired to participate.

I am of two minds about staying on the ship tomorrow. One part of me wants to return to the historic center — particularly to Largo do Pelourinho. Another part of me sees the value in resting up for our upcoming ports in Brazil. We’ve at least seen Salvador … we haven’t seen the others, and it makes sense to conserve our energy.

P.S. Yes, this footprint is nowhere near short on words … which was my stated intention for this blog. But as long as I can maintain my private journal, where I put all the details I want to remember, I can easily copy & paste the words here. S, the long stories continue for the moment.Read more