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Published: February 20th 2016
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Tuesday 9th February, 2016. Carnival, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Rio Grande do Sul is situated in a state of Brazil with the same name, located in the south of the country. It is the 9th largest state by areea and is the 5th most populous in Brazil. The Capital of Rio Grande do Sul is Porto Alegre and this is also the largest city. The Rio Grande Region is borded by Santa Catarina in the north, Uruguay to the South and Argentina to the west.
The city lies in the southern temperate zone and is sub-tropical and humid. It has 4 seasons and rainfall is distributed throughout the year. The winter months are from June to September and they are characterised by heavy rains and a cold south-westerly wind - lucky we are here in summer! The culture here is influenced by the old Gaúchos which is a term that is used to describe anyone that is born in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (it is also used to describe the 19th century cowboys from the region).
The land here was originally occupied by semi-nomadic tribes. When the Europeans
arrived this changed. During the 19th century the city experienced some major changes in its economy and also its resources and infrastructure which resulted in a population explosion between 1872 and 1890 when immigrants flooded the area looking for work. In the mid 19th century, the state was repeatedly involved in war between Brazil and its neighbours. This lead to Paraguayan intervention and then the Paraguayan War.
After breakfast we disembarked Stewart called and we agreed to meet in 5 minutes at the queue for the shuttle buses into the city which were due to start running in 25 minutes time. Once on the quay we were directed to the first shuttle which was already waiting. M boarded the bus while D stayed to look out for Pam and Stewart. After 10 minutes our bus was full and there was still no sign of them. They arrived and Stewart signalled they would get on the second shuttle which was also already waiting. The bus dropped us outside the Fish Market which was closed. We waited for the second shuttle to arrive and were joined by Pam and Stewart. Today is the last day of Carnival which is
a major festival and public holiday in Latin America. We walked to the end of the fish market building to the old port where there were several stalls selling freshly caught fish. Lined up on top of these stalls was a row of Egrets waiting patiently for any scraps of fish.
We crossed the road to Praca Xavier Ferreira where there was a monument to some guy called Brigadier Jose da Silva Paes. We have no idea who he was - in fact we had no idea about anything at all - no map - nothing. We strolled down what looked like the main street where Stewart could see a tall spire and had concluded that it must be the cathedral. It seemed like as good an idea as any other so we set off in that direction. We paused at a junction where there was a lucky passenger who had managed to scrounge a map of the shuttle bus driver. While D and Stewart poured over it M looked behind and saw a small square with a bit brown sign saying São Pedro Cathedral. So the spire that Stewart had spotted was not the cathedral at
all! The São Pedro Cathedral is the oldest in the State, constructed in th Baroque style. It was erected in 1775.
In the absense of anything else to do we continued in the direction of the unknown spire. We passed several chemists shops which were all open - but every other shop was shut. We concluded that as Carnival was already on its 4th day they were providing a hangover cure service to the local revellers. We eventually came to a small kiosk - which was open. The guy in there spoke Spanish so we managed to secure a city map for 3.5 Reals (about 60p). He was also able to tell us that the Carnival celebrations would not start until tonight - no good to us as we were leaving at 5.00 pm.
Over the road from the kiosk was Tamandaré Square. This is the State's biggest city square. There was plenty of shade and lots of bamboo plants. We strolled through the shady avenues until we came to the square's centrepiece which is a massive monumental tomb of the Civil War Hero Bento Gonçalves. This huge strcuture has a sculpture of one
lion claiming victory over another and atop was a statue of the hero himself. We continued walking past the square which had large cages containing different types of foul. The next enclosure contained hundreds of rabbits. It was a bit like pets corner at the zoo but we have no idea why they are there in the city square. Once outside the other side of the square we came to the mysterious spire. This turned out to be the modern Anglican Church. We walked on to the bus station which was a hive of activity compared to the deserted streets of the city. Walking through the city was a bit like walking through the City of London on Christmas Day! We could just stroll along the middle of the roads - there was hardly any traffic. The funniest thing about the whole experience was that every time you rounded a corner you bumped in to a bemused passenger from the ship. We seemed to be the only people in the city. No body had a map and nothing was open. It was a surreal experience.
After sitting at the bus station for a few minutes the 4 of us decided to give the Oceanographic Museum a try. We didn't hold out much hope of if being open but it was in the general direction of the fish market and the shuttle bus. When we arrived there was a coach parked outside with a board in the window stating "Rio Grande City Highlights". This was a tour from the ship and - result - the museum had opened for a hour just for the passengers on this trip. We just walked in along with a few locals who were also opportunistic. An hour later it would have been closed, any earlier and it wouldn't have opened yet. So lady luck smiled on us and we arrived at exactly the right time. We enjoyed strolling around the museum exhibits. Even though M doesn't speak Portuguese, her Spanish allowed her to read many of the signs on the exhibits. Outside in the grounds, there were terrapins, and an injured penguin and a sea lion who had been released 4 times but keeps coming back!
We walked back to the shuttle bus and returned to the ship in time for lunch. We sat on deck for the sailaway out of the lagoon. On the way we sailed past Praia do Cassino which is widely regarded as the longest beach in the world. It was absolutely packed! - that explains where everyone from Rio Grande had gone. At approximately 160 miles (257 km) long, the Praia do Cassino is a vast stretch of Atlantic coastline with glorious white sand as far as the eye can see. We chatted to a couple called Jane and James who M had spoken to several times before. On the way out to the ocean we saw a pod of Atlantic Bottle Nose Dolphins porpoising far off the starboard side.
In the evening all the staff were wearing Carnival Masks. After dinner we went to the "Carnival on the Deck" Party which was good fun.
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