SAMBA!

FIRST TIME IN BRAZIL - JULY 1993

In 1993 we initiated a series of trips to Brazil, which unfortunately have been interrupted in the more recent years. During this first visit, we flew to Rio, Salvador, Brasília, Belo Horizonte (Congonhas and Ouro Preto), Iguaçu, and back to Rio, from where we returned home! The photos once again are very poor, and this time cannot even be considered a complement to the video recordings!

SALVADOR

The city of Sao Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, a beautiful and warm - both for the clima and for the people - place to go to, was founded in 1549, and became the first capital of Brazil until 1763, when the colonial administration was moved to Rio de Janeiro. It is a must-see in Brazil!





"PELOURINHO - The Historical Center, especially the Pelourinho neighborhood, with its constructions from the XVIII and XIX centuries, whose renovation had started in those times, is the heart of Sao Salvador da Baía. Bring some books from Jorge Amado, and the stay will be perfect. For our guidance in the area, we found Aloísio, a guy with the same name of the central back of F.C.Porto by that time: a perfect passport for a nice welcome"


"SAO FRANCISCO - St. Francis - is probably one of the most magnificent churches (it is said that there are 365, one for each day of the year in Salvador) in Brazil, and elsewhere. One of the greatest expressions of baroque, the retables covered with gold leaves (talha dourada) and the azulejos are wonderful!"


"ACARAJE - The cuisine is one of the reasons why you should pay a visit (or many) to Salvador, as it is an example of the preservation of the African cultural roots in Bahia. Acarajé (a cake of cooked beans fried in dendê-palm oil, with shrimps and pimenta - hot chili sauce) can be bought in the streets from the "baianas", and is worth trying, provided you have a stomach prepared for the experience. Other specialities include bobó de camarão (shrimp stew), vatapá (seasoned cassava meal mixed with fish or meat), and sarapatel (pig’s or sheep’s viscera and blood), but the «piece de resistance» is the Moqueca (fish or shrimp stew with spicy seasonings) the driving force of the local cuisine. And the best Moqueca de camarão of the world (I tell you) can be found at the Iemanjá restaurant, after the Rio Vermelho, on the way to Itapoã and the airport. Don't miss!"


"BAY OF ALL SAINTS. The Bay is immense, but the picture does not honour the view"


"CAPOEIRA - At the top of Elevador Lacerda, we were presented with an amateur capoeira demonstration. Beware of pickpockets..."



"OTHON PALACE HOTEL - Waiting for an excursion to Frades and Itaparica Islands"