A Tale of Two Citties, and Two More

A Tale of Two Cities, and two more February 17 and we dock in Ilheus. We go into the town on our own after cancelling the booked tour; it didn't sound interesting enough to justify the $70 per person cost. Two shuttle buses later, we arrive at the San Sebastián Cathedral on the town square. The temperature is in the 90s, but the church is surprisingly cool, with a breeze blowing in from the sandy beach. The doors are open on three sides, and the seats in the pews have large open ovals which allow the air to circulate. We rest in the church before walking through the city streets. The city has a population of around 255,000, and was once part of the thriving cocoa business on Brazil's north coast. There are many small restaurants and shops selling clothes and school supplies. Alice photographs a noodle cake, menus in walls, artwork of tapioca specialties, and assorted sweets. We visit famed author Jorge Amado's home, a small, three-story place half a block from the church. The author lived here when he wrote his first novel; now it's a museum, complete with his typewriter, displays of his books and artifacts from his life. After we return to the ship, we become aware that the shuttle bus had free wifi, a missed opportunity to connect with our world. We are disappointed at the loss of this rare opportunity, but we decide not to walk a quarter-mile back to the shuttle bus area in 95-degree heat. We've found that even when wifi is "available," it can take many minutes to connect, and connections are unstable even if they occur. The next day we are in Salvador, Brazil's first city, founded in 1549, and also its first capital. Hudson Bay in Canada is the largest bay in the world, but the bay outside Salvador is the world's second largest. Now a city of 3.5 million, Salvador is relatively prosperous. It has lovely clean beaches, high-rise condos, and modern buildings. After a scenic drive through the modern section overlooking the bay, during which we see the first fort built when the city was established--now with a lighthouse on top--we visit the well-preserved historic city center. It is elevated from the port area and very picturesque, with cobblestone streets, colorful buildings and baroque churches. It is quite warm, but there is a breeze and we are often able to find shade as we walk. We are told that the temperature in Salvador, being near the Equator, varies only about 4 degrees Celsius all year 'round. It has just two 'seasons': rain and no rain. The historic district is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Colonial buildings, churches, and squares date from the earliest period of slavery that supported the sugar, coffee, mining, and other labor-intensive industries during the centuries when Brazil was a Portuguese colony. A statue of a Black man in a city square recalls a slave who managed to escape into the jungle for 35 years, only to be captured, hung, and quartered. Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1880. We are told that 85 percent of the population of Salvador are of African descent. We walk to the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Man. Starting around 1700, this church was built by slaves over a period of 100 years. They could only work on the church at night, when they were free of their normal duties, and then only when the moon was full so they could see. They were forbidden to practice their religions brought from Africa, but this church, though Catholic, incorporates African gods. A Mass is underway when we arrive, including chanting and drums. The inside is embellished with gold sculptures and gilded woodwork, and there is an impressive oil-painted fresco on the ceiling. Among the colorful features of our visit is the presence of a number of hefty Afro-Brazilian women wearing traditional African dresses from 300 years ago--figure-concealing attire featuring very full skirts. Our guide says the slaves were forbidden to wear native dress, with one exception: slave women selected by masters's wives to work in their houses were allowed to wear their traditional garb because the masters then could not see their body contours and be tempted to stray. We move on to visit the Sao Francisco Church, with a sanctuary sumptuously decorated with an estimated one ton of 18 carat gold leaf on its baroque walls and ceiling. Wooden carvings of naked pregnant women among the balustrades are fertility statues that were added by the cathedral's enslaved builders. The blue and white Portuguese tiles lining the walls of the adjacent seminary courtyard are considered to be among the finest outside of Portugal. Finally we visit a restaurant with a "snack" of little fried muffins, shrimp, bean paste, and salsa, washed down by water, beer or the traditional lime-based sweet cocktail. There we are treated to a show of Capoeira, a very high-energy male-only improvisational acrobatic dance that looks like a martial arts contest on steroids, performed to the rhythms of drums and chanting. Next day we are in Maceio, a town known largely for its beaches. By now, Alice and Sumner are running down after many hours in the heat over several days. The temperature today is 98 degrees, and we, along with many fellow passengers, opted to stay on the ship. The next day is Recife--pronounced almost like "hissy fit," because the Portuguese pronounce R's at the beginning of a word like H's. We take a tour of the city (population 1.6 million) as well as the neighboring city of Olinda. The latter is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with grand homes, quaint churches, and handicrafts shops. The view from Olinda's heights overlooking the ocean are special indeed. Recife is the site of the first Jewish congregation in the Americas. The first congregation came here in the early 1600s to escape the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. That was when the Dutch were in control of the colony, and provided a few decades of religious freedom. The initial congregation at one time numbered about 1,200 people. The Portuguese took control again, and sent inquisitors to rid the colony of Jews. The Jewish population was given 3 months to convert to Catholicism or leave. (Some converted, perhaps trying to preserve their Jewish heritage in private, others moved to Brazil's interior and assimilated, others settled in Curaçao in the Caribbean, and still others went on to New Amsterdam--now New York City--where they founded the first synagogue there.) The tour is accompanied by the ship's rabbi, who provides details. Recently, the site of the original synagogue was discovered, and, with outside funding of about $500,000, it has been rebuilt as close to the original structure as possible. Since it is a Saturday, we can't visit the interior, but Rabbi Edward has pictures of the interior. (Sumner and Alice have attended and enjoyed two Jewish services on the ship, and have also appreciated the camaraderie, good discussions, challah bread, gefilte fish and rugelach!) After visiting all these cities, we have two welcome sea days as we make our way to Belem at the mouth of the Amazon--the start of our next series of adventures.