Port Information. Salvador is the third largest city in Brazil (3 million people) and has third largest bay in the world – I fact checked that and it turns out that the three big bays are: Bay of Bengal, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. There must be a difference is how people define a bay. This bay, “Bahia de todos os Santos”, (Bay of all Saints”) is the largest bay in Brazil and it is indeed large. Salvador was the first capitol of colonial Brazil and is one of oldest cities in the Americas (founded in 1549). It has a strong Afro-Brazilian culture. The city is built on two levels and the historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The city is known for its music and cuisine and also for having one of the largest Carnival celebrations and the "largest street party in the world". Iconic singer, Astrud Gilberto was born in Salvador.
It's a beautiful day in Salvador.
Breakfast on a day like this had to be out on the veranda at La Veranda. The breakfast continue to be great - pancakes and two fried eggs prepared perfectly, Ellen had her Room Service breakfast out on her own veranda. Almost (maybe, better).
We are on tour this morning - "Panoramic Salvador”. After breakfast, we met our group out on the pier. Emmanuel was our pleasant and mostly understandable guide.
The bus was very comfortable. The city of Salvador is built on two levels – the upper city and the lower city – there is an elevator that people use to go from one to the other. I think I spotted an old funicular that might have been used for the same purpose but didn’t see any cars on the track. We are going to see both parts of the city on this tour.
As I indicated earlier, Salvador Bahia is not the third largest bay in the world. It does have an impressive lighthouse, which is the oldest in Brazil (I won’t fact check that). The current lighthouse, Farol de Barra, was built in 1839, and today can be visited as a protected historical site, “Museu Nautico de Bahia – Farold De Barra”. Our bus stopped half way up the hill leading to the lighthouse, and that’s where the best views of the lighthouse and Salvador Bahia were. I took a panorama shot of the bay.
I asked a fellow passenger to take several pictures of us. He accidentally changed the setting to "portrait" so some of the pictures are fuzzy in the background.
While we were there, there were a group of young locals who had cleaned up the rocky beach and were posing for a picture with the garbage they had collected (I got one of them as well).
We stayed for about 15 minutes before heading to the center of town.
The bus proceeded to the upper level of the town. We again drove by the elevator
that locals use to get to the upper city - fortunately, the bus took us there.
The guide led us to an overlook where we got some nice views of the lower part of town including the Bay.
One unusual thing was the railing – this railing was covered with
wristbands of people who had been at events at the square.
There was a city sign in the square and not a lot of people around so I got a good shot of that.
There were some shops in the area but nothing of interest to us.
The footing was completely made of uneven stones – it took some concentration to navigate the streets. The main sites to see on this level were the Church and Convent of San Francisco –
we were able to take a break and find some
seats in the shade outside of a café. I
was tempted to buy a Coke but the line was too long. The shade and seats were enough.
We continued our walk to the Centro Histórico de Salvador da Bahia, which was down a hill (thank goodness) but still a tough walking surface.
Our destination was the The Church of the Third Order of our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People (Church of the Black People). The church took almost a 100 years to build and was opened in 1709. It is listed as part of the Historic Center World Heritage Site. We only went into the church for a few minutes. The stairs leading up to the entrance were not in good shape and people coming and going out of the small doorway posted another challenge.
We also saw the statue of Zumbi dos Palmares in the Historic Center. The statue commemorates the Afro-Brazilian rebel leader and resistance to slavery. Dos Palmares was a group of escaped slaves.
Our final site (not a stop) was the Dique de Toroto (Tororo Dam), a man-made lake in the heart of the city. We did not see the actual dam which was constructed in 1998 and converted the reservoir into a scenic lake. But the main attraction of the lake were the Orishas (Orixá in Portuguese) - divine beings from the Yoruba Religion of West Africa. They all looked like women in colorful dresses floating on the water (they are actually sculptures). The colors are significant according to our guide but he didn't give any further details.
On the way back to the pier, we passed by the Soccer Stadium - Fonte Nova Arena - the site of Brazil's 2013 World Cup Defeat. Apparently, Brazil is still in mourning.
Even though it was late when we got back, we managed to still get lunch at the Pool Grill. I tried the veggie hot dog (oy) and asked for a plain impossible burger than I would put together – the whole burger came (including the unknown white sauce) so I deconstructed it and reconstructed it using a smaller bun and my own fixings. The veggie hot dog was indescribably weird so I stuck with the Impossible Burger, which, in its new configuration, was very good.
We watched the sail away from our suite as we got ready for a late dinner.
Dinner tonight was in Compass Rose. Tonight, I opted for Pasta Pomodoro along with the San Marsano Tomato Soup and a salad with blue cheese dressing. I also had a side of Sauteed spinach. Ellen had the Dover Sole, which looked real good but, even though deboned, I will find a bone. The dinner and service (we have the same pair of servers and they are very good).
We passed on the show again and instead spent some quiet time in the Atrium.
A long but interesting day in Salvador.
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