Blogs from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, South America - page 27

Salvador on a normal day....... not that there were many of them.... read more

It is our last day in Salvador, and it is a day of errands. I have a to-do list: havaianas, postcards and stamps, airport transfer in Buenos Aires, and acarajé. Leroy has but one mission - to find CDs of the Carnaval songs imprinted on our brains. The prophecy of that lone bootleg CD seller has come true. When we refused to buy his ripped music for R$5 a CD, he yelled “Vai se acabar!” (They’ll run out!) as his fist came down to underscore the point. And now, we are half a day away from leaving empty handed. We figure the mall must have some music stores, and we are willing to pay regular prices for a real CD, one guaranteed to work (Jak’s friends bought some on the beach and they didn’t work once ... read more

Written 02/21/07 10:30am by Meli Relaxing Post-Carnaval Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnaval. Jak’s crew was going to Bloco Skol d+ that night to see Fatboy Slim. Our crew opted out of it as we knew it would be mostly tourists and not Brazilian music. I’m sure it would have been fun, but we were all bloco-ed out after Coruja. The day was spent mostly just hanging out. Leroy’s stomach was acting up… the product of eating all that random food at Camarote Oceania, plus drinking some beer with Jak’s crew at their afterparty, plus whatever other combination of street food and poor diet could have brought him to this point. Leroy doesn’t drink usually drink beer, and it doesn’t sit well with him. He didn’t eat much all day—just salt and sour imitation Pringles, ... read more

After a week seriously battering my liver I was sick as a dog today. Not because of the alcohol consumed but because of the traditional Bahian food I had eaten which was sold by women in traditional dress. As I am somebody who is quite willing to sample the local delicacies I thought nothing of ordering this food that I had seen all week, being so hungry I sank my teeth into it.......I had to run behind a drinks stall and puke it all out. It just smelt of rotten sweaty fish but I should have known as I had already removed the shrimps from the top that still had their shell on, legs and all!!! Tonight was the only night I could not consume a drink and for weeks after I would continue to ... read more

Written 02/20/07 by Leroy, 02/21/07 by Meli The Party Routes There are three Carnival Circuits: Campo Grande-Praça Castro Alves, also called Avenidas or the “Osmar” route; Barra-Ondina, or “Dodo”; and Pelourinho or “Batatinha.” Avenidas is the original Salvador Carnival circuit—more traditional, more of a cultural orientation, streets lined with stores and apartment buildings on both sides, a more intimate feel to it in terms of partying with the locals. It’s where the blocos are judged and where political big shots sit on the first day of Carnaval, when the mayor hands over the keys to the city to the Carnaval king. Barra was added in the 80s and follows a path along the ocean. There is a tendency for bigger names to play this circuit and it is more popular, though popularity varies year to year. ... read more