Pronounced ‘he-see-fee’ is a large city in NE Brazil, capital of the State of Pernambuco. It is where Lenine, pronounced ‘layneenay’ one of my favorite Brazilian music artists comes from.
Named after the surrounding coastal recifes (reefs), this busy sea port is known as the ‘Venice of Brazil’. It stradles 5 islands all connected by dozens of bridges and waterways. Unlike Venice it is a huge metropolice of over 3.5 million people.
We arrived at 8h00 and went to the cruise terminal for some free wifi. We met Marie’s spinning (peddling bike) friend Hilda and shared a cab to Olinda, a small colonial town perched on a hill overlooking Recife.
We walked around the cobble stone streets and did some shopping. Marie got some nice leather shoes and I found a ball cap made of canvas. It was so darned hot (32 deg C+). We ventured into one of the many churches and then sat in the shade to eat our lunch.
While it was not very exciting, it was great to be back in Brazil seeing the happy people and smelling the smells of food stalls everywhere. Every Brazilian we met was relaxed, kind and happy to see us despite the language barrier.
We got back to the ship and hopped in the pool which was like a hot tub. The sail away at 17h00 was great. Had some Brazilian fejoida (fayjuwada) black bean casulet for dinner along with lobsters tail, prawns, Bali lamb etc.
We are enjoying our cruise experience. There is plenty of time to reflect about deeper questions such as Faith and purpose. We are half way thru our trip and not quite half thru our cruise. Salvador do Bahia lurks ahead in the humidity
Ate logo.
mattersofthemoment 