Recife, Brazil – December 25

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Se Cathedral

Weather…28 degrees, one very brief
shower, moist

MERRY CHRISTMAS and FELIZ NATALl!!!!!!!!

This is the first time in my entire life that I haven’t been home for Christmas. It’s a bit weird, not bad, just a bit weird. Of course, I’m missing all the mayhem, and
the asspick, but I’m also missing winter …Christmas in flip flops isn’t too bad!

Se Cathedral

We choose a full day tour today including lunch, but not surprisingly some things aren’t happening as it’s Christmas, so the tour is a bit abbreviated. I’m surprised at how much is actually going on.

dancers

We are docked at Recife, but start the morning at Olinda, a historical 16th-century colonial neighboring town with a population of 400 000. Getting into the narrow, winding, historical part of Olinda requires getting off of the coach bus and on to a small minivan that will fit.

baobab

We walked around the old town with a really good
guide, stopping first at the old town’s cathedral. The cathedral is perched in the city square at the top of a steep hill which makes for some awesome views.

golden chapel

Next, we followed the guide to a handicraft market where we each had a freshly drilled

coconut to sip, a ‘comfort stop’ and watched a Brazilian dancing demo. The guide then led us through food stalls setting up for the afternoon where he showed us some Brazilian specialties.

giant rock star heads

After a bit more wandering, we were back on the minivan and then onto our bus to start the tour of Recife. We walked to a couple of government

giant doll museum

buildings, saw an enormous baobabs tree, and found ourselves at Recife’s 16th century Golden
Chapel. The name of this place says it all. There was just as much gold adorning this place as there was at churches in Salvador. The church was set within a
beautiful, serene cloister.

Another Brazilian meat-fest followed. This
Churrasco – the traditional Brazilian meat mix grill was very similar to the one we had in Rio. Had we not had that one, this one would have been great,
but in comparison, this one was good, not great. All washed down by another caipirinha – not as good as yesterday’s on the catamaran, but very tasty.

cloister

department of justice

We finished off the day’s outing with a bit more walking through Recife. This time we headed for the giant doll museum. This is a place like no other I’ve been to. It is a gallery of about 50 giant doll heads and torsos used during Carnaval. The dolls represent famous people from Brazil and around the world, including some fictional characters.

about to set sail

We heard a bit more about Brazil’s slave trade today. It wasn’t raining today as

church ceiling

we passed by the market where slaves were bought and sold. I
would still have liked to hear more about this. The guide did a pretty job conveying the horror of this spot but didn’t dwell.

Last night and tonight I was able to Facetime with my parents! It’s amazing to me that from the middle of the ocean I can see and talk to them!