Monday, April 02, 2007
29 March, 2007
Salvador de Bahia is the darkest city in terms of skin color and the hottest in terms of culture. The descendants of African slaves have tried to preserve their culture and roots more than anywhere else in the New World and this is portrayed in their dance, festivities and martial arts traditions. We woke up at 5 am and we got a taxi to the airport. Check in went smoothly and before we knew it we were landing in Salvador. The flight was 2 hrs duration but we waited for the bus forever. We were not very fussy and it was so hot that we settled for the first pousada. It was a budget little guesthouse in an area called Barra (Baha). The location was very good because it was a few blocks from the beach. We walked around and were not very impressed and so we got a bus into town (15 Minutes) and got to the historic old town. It was so pretty and the buildings were so old. We walked down the cobbled streets and arrived at a brilliant restaurant recommended by our guide book. It was called Uaua and the setting was just perfect, the food even better. We spent the entire afternoon looking at pousadas (mansions converted into guesthouses) that were really overpriced and all in the historic part of the town; and some of them were decorated so beautifully. We walked towards the main part of the town as the sun was setting and the nightlife was beginning. We were just about to catch a bus back to Barra when a street parade passed by, drumming and dancing and the road was blocked for about 30 minutes. The people here continue to be friendly and helpful but they do not speak much English and so our Portuguese is improving every day. Spanish (the few words that we know) has helped us along. Rich is feeling much better and hopefully by tomorrow he will be fine.
Salvador de Bahia is the darkest city in terms of skin color and the hottest in terms of culture. The descendants of African slaves have tried to preserve their culture and roots more than anywhere else in the New World and this is portrayed in their dance, festivities and martial arts traditions. We woke up at 5 am and we got a taxi to the airport. Check in went smoothly and before we knew it we were landing in Salvador. The flight was 2 hrs duration but we waited for the bus forever. We were not very fussy and it was so hot that we settled for the first pousada. It was a budget little guesthouse in an area called Barra (Baha). The location was very good because it was a few blocks from the beach. We walked around and were not very impressed and so we got a bus into town (15 Minutes) and got to the historic old town. It was so pretty and the buildings were so old. We walked down the cobbled streets and arrived at a brilliant restaurant recommended by our guide book. It was called Uaua and the setting was just perfect, the food even better. We spent the entire afternoon looking at pousadas (mansions converted into guesthouses) that were really overpriced and all in the historic part of the town; and some of them were decorated so beautifully. We walked towards the main part of the town as the sun was setting and the nightlife was beginning. We were just about to catch a bus back to Barra when a street parade passed by, drumming and dancing and the road was blocked for about 30 minutes. The people here continue to be friendly and helpful but they do not speak much English and so our Portuguese is improving every day. Spanish (the few words that we know) has helped us along. Rich is feeling much better and hopefully by tomorrow he will be fine.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 5:42 PM 
