Alto da Balanca

New-to-us Port: #19 … I am not counting yesterday in Natal, since we did little more than visit a handicraft market.

We still had about two hours to go before arriving in Fortaleza this morning. I was sitting on the veranda … reading, relaxing. Suddenly, it started to pour. What little could be seen of the skyline was suddenly hidden by sheets of rain. Uh oh! A day forecasted to have a high of 86F was now going to be quite a bit more humid thanks to the rain.

The good news is that the rain stopped as we were on approach to our berth. The brief shower that followed was over by the time the ship was cleared and we were ready to go ashore for today’s Do Brazil Right tour.

As was the case in Recife, there were two small groups in two separate vans … with two separate guides (ours was Roberto) … joining together for any walks and sightseeing stops.

Poor Roberto and Reynoldo. They tried so hard to give us a good tour. Unfortunately, their efforts were hampered by the fact that it was Sunday and many of the places on the planned itinerary were closed.

Downtown, as we drove around the deserted streets, felt like it was completely abandoned. The only place we saw any action was at a deli/café, where customers were sitting under the trees, sipping beer and eating cheese. Apparently the owner, who came out to talk to us (through Roberto’s translation) and share samples, has a dairy operation where he makes some 500 pounds of cheese daily.

Regardless of the city pretty much being shut down for Sunday — except for the beaches where the locals had congregated — there were plenty of highlights.

The first one was at Meireles Beach, where we met a triathlete, Armando. He had just placed 28 amongst the hundreds of people competing today … 1 km swim; 28 km run; 40 km bike ride … and this after hurting his ribs and having to undergo jaw surgery following a fall two weeks ago. He asked if he could have a photo taken with our group … we happily obliged.

Next came the Sé — aka the Metropolitan Cathedral of Fortaleza. Roberto said that the style of the Gothic church was inspired by the cathedral in Cologne, Germany. With a capacity for 5,000 worshippers, the concrete church was built over a period of 40 years (1938-1978). Inside, it was bright and airy. None of the glitz of the churches we’ve seen in some of the other cities, but beautiful stained glass windows … brought from Germany but painted in São Paolo, Brazil. Sunday mass was in progress, so we discreetly wandered the side aisles, staying near the back so as not to disrupt the service.

After a brief stop at the packed central market and a quiet park, we went to the Teatro José de Alencar, named for a favorite son of Fortaleza who was a novelist and poet. Opened in 1910, the art nouveau style theater seats 120. The complex includes a number of other facilities, including a Center for the Arts and an outdoor stage where 600 people can be seated. A young man gave us a brief tour, explaining that the building through which we entered had been built to protect the actual theater. He also told us that the beautiful cast iron railings and staircases were imported from Glasgow, Scotland … and the original stained glass windows from England … replaced with replicas after they were broken.

The Dragão do Mar (Dragon of the Sea) Cultural Center was our next stop. This is a government-funded center where there are facilities for exhibitions, a movie theater, a library, a planetarium, and more. It is named in honor of Francisco José do Nascimento, a hero of the State of Ceará’s abolitionist movement. He was given the nickname of Dragon of the Sea for refusing to transport slaves to be sold in Southern Brazil.

Following a quick stop at the fish market in Beira Mar — a beach neighborhood — we continued onto Croco Beach. Our guides treated us to crispy calamari and potato/bacalhau (cod) croquettes. We also had a chance to walk the beach, which was hopping with locals enjoying the sand and surf … and the very loud music. We would have walked further on the beach than we did — it was low tide and the sand was hard-packed — but a couple of people ran up to us and stopped us from going beyond the beer pump disguised as an old gas station pump. While the area around the beach club was safe, the further reaches on the long beach were not. Typical, it seems, of much of Brazil.

We returned to the port just after 4:00p. All aboard was at 4:30p, so we made our way directly to the ship. R&R on the veranda — with wine/rakı and snacks as we bid farewell to Brazil. Then, dinner in the GDR … with Pat & Norm and Sonia & Boris.

Afterwards, we went to check out tonight’s event in the Insignia Lounge — live broadcast of the red carpet pre-show (actually champagne carpet this year) from the Oscars … followed by a performances by some of the singers of the production cast and guest entertainer, E Sarah (the Irish fiddler) … followed by the live broadcast of the 95th Oscars. Mui stayed for a while. The introvert in me needed peace and quite, so I opted to return to the cabin to read on the veranda instead.Read more