A Day in Salvador

Breakfast

a buffet to the side with tables and chairs inside and open doors to an outside balcony

On the second floor of our hotel (Bahiacafe) we have a full buffet breakfast with views of the cobblestone streets below. At 9am, it is already hot; 28 degrees Celsius.

Guruwalk Tour

a blue harbour with lots of boats

We head to Castro Alves Square to meet our Guruwalk tour. In the English speaking tour there is just us and Sarah from France. Our guide Roberto is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
a green colonial building with two ladies in big skirts sitting with their backs to us
The architecture and brightly painted buildings are so charming. There is also a lot of restoration in progress. The area keeps getting better and better.

Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner

A statue of a cardinals head on a big cement pedistal

There are many statues around. There is a statue of a cardinal from the 1556. He had gone to a colony of natives to bless them. His heart was in the right place but he hadn’t done his research. He stayed for supper and became the main course. They were cannibals.

Checking out the Squares

looking down on a town with to funiculars going up and down a vegetated hillside
with a large church in the background, palm trees and a fountain We check out the funicular beside the Carnival Museum.

In the Largo Terreiro de Jesus, a beautiful square with a large fountain, we watch the capoeira dancers. Capoeria is a karate-like dance synchronized to live drummers.

We walk to the sloped Pelourinho Main Square.

a man walking down the middle of a road in a very large square with brightly coloured colonial buildings on each side

the exterior of an ornate blue painted colonial church

Michael Jackson and Paul Simon Were Here

a blue building with three Michael Jackson pictures on it

I ask about the building that has three big pictures of Michael Jackson on it. Over twenty years ago, he shot the video in this square for “They Don’t Care About Us”. Click here for the link to the video.

Paul Simon also shot a video in this spot. Click here for the link.

Roberto shows us a street stand for a Bahia pescatarian snack. I am determined to go back for lunch.

Back to the San Franciscan Church and Monastery

a large church with lots of ornate, gold decor an ornate carved part of a catholic church behind gates

Our tour ends at the San Franciscan church and monastery. After looking at a very intricate architectural part, we go in again to look closer at all the gold leaf decoration.

More Local Snacks

Now that the tour is over, we head back down to the Michael Jackson square for lunch at that stand. Its a snack made from mashed beans in a ball that is fried. Then it is cut open, and filled like a sandwich with smoky tasting shrimp, okra, some shaved yucca, a bit of hot chilli sauce and salad. It was quite good.

The Carnivale Museum

three large statues of heads in Carnivale Masks with John standing between them

It is really hot out so we head back to our hotel for a quick break before heading out again to the Carnival Museum which is free on Wednesday. Yeah!

Although most of the museum is in Portuguese, it is still interesting. Besides displays, there are a few dance rooms where you dress in Carnival gear and dance with the dancers on a wall sized video screen. Personally, I found that my body cannot move any more like the young dancers on the screens. We check out the rooftop of the museum which has views of the lower town and All Saints Bay.

Laceirda Elevator to the Lower Town

An outreaching arm of a building that houses a tall elevator
looking down on the lower town
Next we make our way to the Laceirda Elevator but first stop at this recommended ice cream store. I had Nutella and a scoop of cheesecake. Awesome!

The elevator connects the lower town to the much higher looking up at the domed palace from below Pelourinho district. The ride down or up costs 15 Brazilian cents or about 4 cents Canadian. It takes about a minute to get down.

Once in the lower town, we check out the Mercado Modelo or market and get a coconut sliced open as a drink. Then we go to the Bahia Music Museum housed in beautiful blue colonial buildings.

Salvador is a big place for music. It’s in the culture here. Unfortunately, most of the museum is in Portuguese so we miss the information, but enjoy the tunes.

Sunset

sunset over a calm bay with boats in it
We head back up the elevator and back to the Carnival Museum where we thought the rooftop bar would be perfect for sunset. Unfortunately the museum and cafe were closed so John grabbed a pop and I a bag of popcorn and we headed to another viewpoint for sunset. ..which is beautiful.

Religious Procession

Silhouettes of Priests holding up a cross with a sunset in the background
Clergy in front of a catholic church
As the sun sets, a large number of priests, clergy, nuns and people (well over 100) gather outside a church and after a ceremony parade to another church, have another ceremony and keep moving to other churches. This goes on for a long time because there are a lot of churches in the area.
A large lit up church with bell tower in the background and a greenlit fountain in the foreground
We head back to the hotel to change then go out for supper and walk around the square enjoying the warm night air.

the bottom with carved naked female statues of a fountain at nighttime