Fortaleza – Windswept beaches and strange art collections!

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It had taken us 18 hours on the bus to get from Belem to Fortaleza. Fortunately it was the best bus we have been on so far, but we are still yet to travel on one that can compete with our Argentine experiences! From the bus station we had about half an hour on a local bus into town, assisted by a very friendly and helpful conductor.

After viewing the “Backpacker Hostel” we decided to find a cheap Pousada as it wasn’t really what we wanted. We found the Pousada Veleiro near the centre (despite warnings of robbers and thieves!) to be comfortable, friendly and very cheap.

Fortaleza is a bit like Blackpool or Benidorm on a bad day! It actually wasn’t that bad though, but when it wasn’t cloudy it was very windy and sitting on the beach took a lot of determination!! The caiprinhas were nice though!!!

Very close to our hostel was the Dragao do Mar cultural centre. This was a fabulous example of urban regeneration. We ate in the restaurants there, drank in the bars, saw free open air theatre (not that we understood a word of it!) and browsed the rather strange art collections. One of the exhibits was called “Moscas” (flies) and contained a lot of very weird artwork. Another comprised of aeroplanes, trucks and fairground rides made from tin. Well, it was free!

The city centre itself isn’t much to write home about. The Cathedral is a bit drab. The theatre was predictably closed on Monday, which is a shame as its wrought iron interior design is supposed to be well worth seeing; we did get a brief glimpse behind the security guard. The Mercado Central is worth a visit though. It comprises 5 or 6 levels of stalls selling clothes, souvenirs and food, and all the stallholders were very friendly as they tried to persuade us to buy their wares. It worked - Trish bought a new skirt!!

I can’t blog and not mention the food, can I? We had some great fish and even enjoyed some fast food at Habibs where you can fulfil your craving for Lebanese snacks and dips. Oh, and did I mention how good the caiprinhas were in the beachfront barracas?!!!

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Photos

One for the boys!
Let's face it, this is why we go to the beach, isn't it?!!

Caiprinhas on the beach at sunset
Have we mentioned how good they were yet?!!

Surfers
I guess they don't mind the wind!

Soap!
We got to see a scene from "Mulheres Perdidas" being flmed

On the bridge
At the end of the bridge in the Cultural Centre is a painting making the bridge seem enormous.

Comments

[Jess B]

que saudades!
Sinto saudades! I hope you are going to some of the smaller beach towns around Fortaleza! Jericoacoara is definitely a highlight and Canoa Quebrada is also beautiful. I'm sure it's good to be out of the Amazon, though. That can be a pretty rough one. Hope you're having loads of fun!