Recife, Brazil

A colorful building in Olinda.

26 February 2014

Nice weather has returned just in time for our land visits. The tour we chose for Recife included visiting Olinda, the original capital of Brazil, Casa de Cultura which is a converted prison and a drive through Recife proper.

The ship arrived as scheduled and we were soon on our way. Recife is a huge city, I think it is the fifth largest in Brazil, with modern buildings, but those buildings are poorly constructed and are decaying. We saw lots of high rises with crumbling concrete exposing steel bars. The population appears to be very poor also.

Olinda is designated a UNESCO world heritage site and has many Baroque buildings including over 20 churches. We had to transfer from the large coach busses to smaller 15 passenger busses in order to drive into the city because of the narrow cobblestone roads. We got off the busses at a church and quickly toured it. It was the main church in the ancient town and so it is on the highest spot and all the other churches were built to face it. There were beautiful views from the plaza surrounding the church.  Little shops were along the road and, of course, offered lots of tourist souvenirs. Lots of the original homes still exist and people still live in them.  These homes are very, very old; it would have been nice to see the inside of one.

We walked for a little bit along the roads and took a short rest at a plaza surrounded by gardens, a bar and shops. It was quite peaceful. On our drive out of Olinda, we encountered a small Carnival parade. The tourist guide told us that the city is preparing for the world’s largest Carnival party in downtown Recife on Saturday (we will be in Rio enjoying the Sambadrome on that day). They are expecting over a million partyers! I had a hard time imagining how that many people will get into the area and get out again.  Glad we won’t be there.

In Recife, there are some nice 16^th century colonial buildings, but almost all of them need restoration. I had a hard time hearing the tourist guide and don’t know what the plans are for them. He did show a couple that had just finished restoration.  I like their selection of colors – bright and cheerful.

The modern buildings look like they were built in the 1960s and newer but they were not well constructed.  Lots of deterioration was evident. And the road conditions were poor. I don’t really understand because Brazil is a rich country with lots of natural resources.  I suspect the volatility and graft of the governments over the years has taken its toll.

We did a short stop at the Golden Chapel which was beautiful inside with lots of gold leaf.  Outside, there was homeless sleeping on the street on mattresses.

The final place we stopped at was Casa de Cultura which is a converted prison. It was a prison for, I think, over a hundred years, with the final prisoners housed there in 1972. Built in a wagon wheel style, each of the four spokes is uniquely decorated.  Each of the cells is now a shop or bar/restaurant.  While we were there, a band was playing carnival music. We asked the tour guide how many prisoners each of the cells housed and he thought for the standard size cells, probably 10 to 12.  That would have been very tight quarters.

Back on the ship, we enjoyed what is becoming our routine – dinner either in the dining room or at the buffet court, a walk around the promenade and perhaps a show.  Now we head for Rio. Recife was a great way to start our South America portion of our trip.

 

Some of the artwork on display on the way to Olinda. The guide told us that these are on display only during Carnival.

Inside Olinda's main 16^th century church.



A model of Christ the Redeemer which we will see in Rio.

Close-up of some 16th century tilework inside the church.



The front of the main church.  It was blocked off as if work was going on, but we didn’t see any activity, perhaps because of Carnival week.

Modern Recife in the background with Olinda and its red tile roofs in the foreground.



Our ship seems to dominate the local scene when it is in port.

One of the other Olinda churches looking up to the main church.

 

The plazas had many carts with local fruit and goods for sale, in addition to typical tourist stuff.

 



I thought it was some sort of large bush, but the guide said it was a palm tree.

The plaza where we took a break.

I think this is a frangipani. There are a lot of them in this area.

Someone told me this was a type of hibiscus.  It was a beautiful pink color.

Russ enjoying a rest.

I noticed that many of the partyers carried these tiny little parasols – think it is a signature style for Recife Carnival.

We ran into this little Carnival party as we were leaving Olinda.



There is a major river running through Recife. It was low tide and these fishing boats were beached temporarily.

Several iron bridges cross the river.  These are the locations for the big party coming up on Saturday.

Some of the colonial buildings along the river.

 

The restoration of this building just completed this week.

The river is lined with mangroves which form an important ecosystem for the river; providing habitats for shrimp, birds and other creatures as well as filtering the water.

Inside the Golden Chapel

Casa de Cultura.

There are actually two floors, but we only had time to explore a couple of the building’s spokes on the first floor.

One of the typical shops selling local goods.

Even though Brazil is rich in oil and gas, their people have to pay quite a bit for petrol.

This is a closeup of the fishing boats we have been seeing out at sea.

I don’t know if these guys were really fishing or just demonstrating how they do fishing out at sea. The harbor water didn’t look that clean to me, so I wouldn’t be keen on the fish caught there.

This is another cruise ship leaving the dock before us. It is a Seabourn which is a very posh cruise line.

What do you think? Is Russ ready to dance in the Carnival?