Salvador and a sea day Feb 8- 9 2013

SALVADOR BRAZIL FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2013 and Sea Day Thursday February 9, 2013

This is the second of my Brazilian ports and here I chose a ship's excursions – we arrive on time and unlike Fortaleza the port is close to the city – while still in an industrial area you can come and go as you please.

The weather remains warm and muggy – the City itself is bracing for the start of Carnaval activities later in the day.

My planned tour included a brief city drive and then parking and walking with our tour guide through the old Centro area of the city or to Pelourinho as it is officially known and the site of the Carnaval activities.

I board our tour bus and once again Princess has it well organized – bus waiting right outside the port.

The first part of the tour consists of a drive pass Tororo Lake and the sculptures of Orixas – which are sculptures of African deities floating in the calm water of the lake. If I had a criticism it would have been nice to have been able to get off the bus and take a few photos rather than the bus just stopping and having to take pictures through the window.

Adjacent to this area is the new soccer stadium – actually it is replacing the old one in the same place part of which collapsed a few years ago – nearing completion in time for next year's World Cup of Soccer – while Rio is the host city other cities will get games.

We continue to the Pelourinho where we get off the bus and will start the walking portion of the tour. The area is already teeming with people and signs of the Carnaval are everywhere – our guide is a wealth of information and he makes sure we keep in sight – we climb up to the main plaza area – it is an impressive sign – there are churches everywhere – there are more than 165 in Salvador – many are almost next door to each other – one reason for this – other than the fact that Brazil is heavily Catholic - is that in the early days each of the Religious orders were competing against each other for souls to be saved and for money to flow to their coffers.

We are taken to a viewpoint that overlooks the City and where one of the elevators taking people from the lower town to the uptown is located – we get a clear view of the ship and can see the Mercado Modelo down below – which is the central market place and which I will visit and comment on later in this post.

I am taking lots of pictures and it is when we are about to enter the Sao Francisco church – the gem of the churches in the central plaza area – that I had a mini panic attack – I have exhausted my battery to the main camera – no problem Dennis – I was expecting this and brought along the extra battery – except when I went to get it from my bag I realized that I brought along my adaptor for my mini-SD card – BUT all is not lost – I had also brought along my point and shoot camera primarily to use in areas that I might be exploring myself.

So I dig it out but it presented another problem - we are not allowed to use flash inside the church – something about the flash effecting the gold finish predominant throughout this church. My point and shoot isn't that great inside without the flash so while I took any pictures they were either deleted as blurred or don't really show the true atmosphere of this symbol of Catholism wealth.

Returning outside we are given fifteen minutes to be on our own – all around the area are signs of the Carnaval – the crowds have been growing and the stages set up for performances are starting to show signs of life – we are given access to the H Stern store which is basically next door to the church – here we can use the washrooms and are offered a drink of nice cold water which I accept – then I go outside and find a vendor who sold me a Coke for $2.00 US.

We regroup and slowly walk back to the bus where we are given the option of being dropped off either at the port or at the Mercado – I opt to return to the ship where I quickly grab a couple of slices of Pizza before leaving the ship and heading for the area around the Mercado – it is a short 10 minute walk – it is busy with people and lots of street vendors selling there wares.

The Mercado itself is a lot smaller but offered a much better selection of merchandise than the much larger one in Fortaleza – I don't buy anything except some beer and pop from a vendor on the way back to the ship.

There area around the Mercado offered some good photo opportunities and you are right at one of the elevators leading to the upper town – found out later than in honor of Carnaval it was free.

I am tired and weather weary so after dinner I turn in early – it was while I was getting into bed that an announcement came over the in room intercom that there was a medical emergency and that blood donors of type O and A were needed and please go to the medical centre on Deck 4 with your donor card.

While I am type O - I haven't given in many years and didn't bring my donor card with me as I cleared a lot of things out of my wallet before embarking on the trip.

Saturday Feb 9 – a sea day and I will be brief.

Didn't do much all day!.

1. Finished off another novel.
2. Got a medical update from a CC'er on the previous night's appeal – apparently a very elderly gentlemen was in some stress and apparently in need of a transfusion – he was also apparently looked at in a hospital in Rio but was on the ship when we sailed from there.
3. Apparently two or three people had security issues – one gentlemen had a camera smashed – another person had their I Pad taken and a female cruises had a cross taken – apparently she decided at the last minute to wear it despite knowing about the risks involved – interestingly all of these incidents happen in the Carnaval zone where there are military police on just about every corner.
4. Over morning brekkie I am sitting with one of the CC tour organizers – Redhead Anne and in the course of our conversation she advised me that solo cruisers get some extra Captain Circle's points – that's Princess' frequent cruising reward program – for travelling alone – NCL ARE YOU LISTENING – a little later I check with the Captain's Circle person on board and Anne is correct – Princess awards is based on either number of cruises taken or days at sea or any combination. I am Gold based on my previous Princess cruises and won't get to Platinum until either 6 cruises or 50 days. However Princess awards an extra cruise credit for solo travellers so my previous two have become four and since they are treating this cruise as three – I have been awarded an additional credit and now stand at 6 – making me Platinum – the prime advantage is some FREE internet minutes.

I should know the night before Buenos Aires if this is correct as that is when I get my next cruise card for the second leg of the journey.

Next up – TWO DAYS IN RIO AND CARNAVAL.