On to the Next Stop

7/2/14

After a luxuriously empty flight, we landed in Salvador for a few days before Costa Rica’s quarterfinals match against Holland (Si se puede!). After about an hour of standing around wondering what on earth those people do behind the counter that could possibly take so long(!), we picked up yet another beater rental car. Fortunately, this one had a working USB port (woo hoo!). Unfortunately, there was no power steering and no A/C. Awesome. We arrived at our hotel too early to check in so we walked around for a bite to eat and, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a mall right behind the hotel with the BIGGEST food court I have ever seen. There had to be close to 50 restaurants to choose from – it was overwhelming. And little did we know at the time that we would be revisiting this mall almost every day in Salvador – I don’t go to the mall this often in the U.S., let alone when traveling, but somehow, in Brazil, we have been going to A LOT of malls.

We drove around town trying to get to the south side of the city, but even with the help of the GPS, the roads were nearly impossible to follow (traffic being a whole other issue!) and random road blocks led us to the northern part of the city. [Nick: I was the one driving, it was so stressful. The city has lots of junctions where the road splits in multiple directions so it was so hard to tell if you were supposed to take the right, the sharper right or the very sharp right among the other cars bobbing in and out of their lanes with the occasional one just parked in a blind curve in the middle of a busy road. Then several roads were closed due to World Cup Fan Fest and it was also a holiday so there were more roads blocked off for marches. Thank goodness for the GPS, but even Google was throwing up its arms in desperation.] Where, as luck would have it, we ended up underneath the Elevador Lacerda: an art deco transport elevator connecting the port (Cidade Baixa) with the settlement uphill on the cliff (Cidade Alta). Turns out, all those road blocks were in celebration of parades and demonstrations for the July 2^nd holiday, which is known as Bahia Independence Day. Bahia is a state in Brazil, of which Salvador is the capital, that was able to expel the Portuguese and gain independence on July 2, 1823 (which is odd, since the national Independence Day is September 7^th). Regardless of why, we ended up in the heart of the city on an incredibly festive day – there were banners and streamers decorating the streets, a giant food and dance festival in the middle of town and TONS of locals and tourists alike taking in the festivities.

Elevador Lacerda

Salvador (and the state of Bahia in general) is very proud of its African heritage. For over 300 years, Salvador was the first capital of the Brazilian colony and the main harbor for importing and exporting goods, slaves included. Nearly 4 million slaves (just under half of all slaves in the Americas) were brought into Bahia (37% of all slaves taken from Africa went to Brazil); these slaves made up roughly half the population until emancipation in 1888 (Brazil was the last western country to outlaw slavery). In such large numbers, African culture and religious practices remained strong (although only practiced underground), and many current Baianos are of some portion of African descent. So the July 2^nd celebration and the entire historic town of Cidade Alta were rich with African music, dance, clothing style, food, and symbolism. The main square itself was the site of the Pelourinho (whipping post) where slaves were auctioned off, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [Nick: The Pelourino was mind boggling; to think of the millions of people sold into slavery on that very spot where today so many were celebrating with a beer and watching the capoeira exhibitions. Most of them black themselves. Of course, the other crazy thing is that the spot where such a terrible thing would take place was flanked on both sides by very large churches. Terrible how the Catholic Church (and most other religions) not only condoned, but were active participants in the slave trade.] The celebration and festive atmosphere were really cool to see but we sure as hell stood out like sore (white tourist) thumbs. We finished the night with a giant serving of ice cream from what was reportedly the city’s best ice cream parlor (A Cubana); it was definitely worth the visit but a dinner of ice cream does not do a body good. [Nick: Hmm, I liked it. Nick likes chocolate shake dinners!]

Palácio Rio Branco

Praça Municipal

Pelourinho

Capoeira

Cidade Alta

Cidade Alta

Cidade Alta

Cidade Alta

Sunset from Cidade Alta

Elevador Lacerda at night