Kathleen
Brazil – Salvador
May 15, 2014
Salvador has the most flavor and color of the Brazilian cities we have seen. It was at one time a big slave port, and the African culture has been maintained here potentially as well if not better than anywhere in the Americas. Salvador is famously dangerous, however, the wold heritage area which is the old colonial town is bristling day and night with tourists and locals alike and feels very safe. After dark, there is free live music in numerous local squares, surrounded by open air bars and restaurants, and you can mosey in and out of the square looking for the band of your choice. The crowd is as varied as they come, but locals easily outnumber tourists in this scene. We walked the colorful streets, took the elevator (yes, another street elevator) down to the market to wander the stalls, toured quite a few very interesting churches in various stages of renovation, and specifically enjoyed our lovely hotel. We splurged a bit in Salvador and were not sorry. Our room was amazing! We had a bed that can only be described as King & Queen (I swear this bed was as big as the two combined), a balcony, a bar on the roof, and the ability to order breakfast in bed every day, which we took full advantage of. When we were told we could order breakfast in bed if we desired, we decided to give it a try on the first day. We received a lovely selection of fresh papaya, mango and pineapple along with yogurt, bread, pastry, eggs, a huge glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and another huge glass of some other type of yummy juice (to save for later). It was so perfect that we took advantage of it for our entire stay (3 lovely mornings). Salvador was colorful, interesting, and very alive. We absolutely loved our stay!
