Blogs from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, South America - page 31

New Year Party South America » Brazil » Bahia » Salvador By JonteDecember 31st 2006Jonathan OlssonStill in Salvador, we're invited to a fancy party at an hotel complex. See the pictures! Brought our luggage to the hotel. Enjoyed the dinner, survived this year too! and the huge party after it. Our flight left Salvador sometime during the night, don't remember what time, but we got a taxi from the hotel there, took some work getting a driver to do that drive, that night... I'm getting used to these idiotic flights now. Arrived safely back in São Paulo, spent two more days there and then ... read more

So here we are - and what an amazing place this is... Salvador - it is truely the heart of Brazil. It is everything I intially thought Brazil would be - a party at every corner - a man in every corner with a guitar and food and dancing on every street you can turn into Today we spent the whole day at a percussion class. Moo and I were convinced that he would throw me out as I am totally tone deaf and he spent a couple of hourrs just rectifing my mistakes. Then managed to get free tickets to one of the best brrazillian cultural shows... and looking forward to samba classes tmrw. Everyone who had kept up to date with the blog and left a message - you put a smile on my ... read more

While I could write a book on Salvador, I think I'll leave this entry short and come back to it later. Sorry to dissapoint, but so much happened here that writing an entry in an internet cafe just doesnt seem to suffice. Anyway... The city of Salvador sits along the eastern coast of Brazil. It is something of a cultural mecca in Brazil, a place where Brazilian expression comes alive in Samba infused dances and Capoierra demonstrations. It has a long history, and the sites and scenery in the city date back to colonial times in some places. Pelhourino, the citiy's historical center, is a UN protected site with some amazing churches and all sorts of cultural activity. Tuesday nights in Pelhourino particularly explode with activity, including an impressive concert by a percussion band called Olodun(Im ... read more

Salvador first freaked me out but turned out to be fantastic. Once you get used to being the object of the occasional hissing and being accosted by people selling everything under the sun, then its really nice. There is a prominent African influence here which is evident in the features of the people and the handicrafts ie. wood carvings, musical instruments and artwork. The pelourinho (old town), is packed full of historic and cultural buildings and churches. Its also very touristy with loads of souvenir shops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants. There are ladies dressed in traditional bahia costume wanting payment to take a pictures of them. Also pretty cool and the little "coco" vans where the little man sells you a coconut with which you drink through a small hole with a straw. Then you ... read more

No er vi endelig kommet oss litt nordover i landet, paa oestkysten i staten Bahia. Byen heter Salvador og er en eksplosjon av lukter, lyder og mennesker i alle farger og former!! Vi digger stedet allede! Haavard har jo vaert her foer, han var her i 5 uker for ti aar siden, paa spraakkurs. Vi faar ogsaa se de triste sidene av Brasil, masse gatebarn som proever aa selge smykker, armbaand og tyggis og sigaretter. De er jo saa soete, men vi er ikke saa interessert i hverken smykker eller sigaretter saa vi maa bare avvise de. Heldigvis saa gir de seg, enkeltvis er de ikke saerlig masete av seg, men de er jo saa utrolig mange av de saa totalt saa kan det bli litt slitsomt. Det er ogsaa endel ekle bleike menn(sikkert med tykke ... read more