However, this particular blog has always been about another kind of travel. One that fits the cliché about the journey meaning more than the destination. And I have been craving that kind of travel since the moment I got back from South America in 2013. It took two years, but here I am again!
Before I begin this post in earnest, I'd like to make mention of two intrepid travellers who were almost certainly the most avid readers of this blog - my paternal grandparents. The praise I received from them, and encouragement to keep writing was wonderful, and they are part of the reason I enjoyed it so much last time. Although sadly they have both passed away in the two short years since my last post, I often think of them when I write, and I hope they would be proud that I am still following my travel dreams, and documenting it too. Thank you both for reading, listening and for sharing your travel stories with me too.
But now, back to the subject of this post. The opportunity for this trip arose when Anna, my best friend from childhood, announced that she was going to be spending her medical elective in Recife, in the northeast of Brazil and asked if I would like to join her for some travelling directly afterwards. We recruited Hannah too, one of my best friends from university and, after a long few months after booking the flights, my "out of office" was finally on and Hannah and I were boarding a flight to meet Anna at the tail end of her time in hospital here.
Anna had been staying with a Brazilian family, the family of some friends of hers who live in Belgium too (where Anna's parents, sister, brother in law and nephew live). We had heard from her before we arrived to join her about how welcoming, enthusiastic and joyful the family were but we had perhaps not expected the most incredible welcome we received. We were met at the airport by the daughter, Monika, a friend and a very Brazilian-afied (dress, heels, makeup) Anna. We were most grateful for this as the last part of the journey was less than smooth (our last flight allegedly didn't exist and it was touch and go at one point that we were going to make it that day). We went straight to the family's house in Santo Amaro, a district in Recife. There ensued a lot of greetings, food, questions, laughter, beer and a couple of large shots of cachaça. We didn't leave until gone midnight when we finally checked into our hotel in Boa Viagem and crashed out.
The next few days were filled with spending time with the family, and exploring the city. We spent the first morning soaking up the sun on the local beach and was lovely to spend just a short amount of time relaxing after the flight. Everything is set up for pure convenience: you hire a chair from a vendor, who brings you coconuts. You can buy anything and everything from wandering sellers - the usual sunglasses and towels, but also fresh fish, oysters, whole plates of food, soup, drinks and, my favourite, grilled cheese. The sea itself however is not safe - the way the port was built in the city has attracted sharks and, despite all the signs to warn against swimming, there are still fatalities every year.
Another very Brazilian experience followed that afternoon when we went to Spettus for lunch with Celina (the mother), Monika, her son and cousin. Spettus is an all you can eat restaurant where waiters swarm down on you with great big skewers of meat, fish and cheese, and there's a buffet with everything imaginable from salad, cassava, cold cuts, more cheese and sushi. Thank you so much to Anna's parents for this excellent meal!
I then had my first driving experience in Brazil as Monika was kind enough to let me have a go in her car so that she could show me around. The Brazilian's live up to their reputation as erratic drivers, and more! But I'll write more on that another time.
That night, we taken out by Monika and some other friends to a club, ironically called the UK Pub and entirely decorated with "British" or, more accurately, London themes. Highlights were Freddie Mercury hovering above the Gherkin, Harry Potter and a strangely jolly looking Beefeater. We had a great night, and certainly made the most of the excellent caipirinhas and local beers!
Despite the late night, we were up early to pick up our hire car. With wheels of our own we headed out to a neighbouring town to join the family for another celebration - this time the birthday of one of the nieces. There followed more feeding and Hannah and I were almost force fed chicken, meat, rice, beans, pasta, ice cream, brigadeiro (chocolate and toffee bonbons) and brownies. It was even too much food for such a greedy person as myself!
The Brazilians are very outgoing, loud, expressive and, it seems, very emotional! There is never a dull, or quiet moment, and even if one of them is talking, another will simply talk louder as if it's the most normal thing in the world. Anna did a wonderful job of acting interpretor, while I simply sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere. I understand a lot of the conversation but frustratingly have no way of responding!
The hustle and bustle, and the concentration needed to try and understand an unfamiliar language can however become very tiring and we left the party in the late afternoon to go and find some tranquility and to explore Olinda, a gorgeous town next to Recife. The name literally translates to "oh" ("o") "beautiful" ("linda") and really is charming. The historic centre is full of cobbled streets, pretty colonial houses and impressive churches. There is a lift you can take to take in spectacular views across Olinda and Recife (a very lazy, dare I say, Brazilian, "mirador"). We were even able to see a collection of the impressive large puppets used for Carnival, some of which are modelled on famous people. For a mere 3000 to 5000 reais you can even have one made to your own likeness!
We went out for dinner that evening to sample even more local delicacies, this time with Anna's professor, her husband and one of the nurses from the hospital she'd been working in. They were kind, engaging and welcoming, and we enjoyed an excellent evening conversing and feasting on crab, carne do sol (salt dried meat rehydrated in milk), and escondidinho (almost like Cottage Pie).
The following day was jam packed with "touristing"! We had to whole old town or Recife yet to explore and many sights to see. There are several excellent churchess which we were shown around by some very in helpful and enthusiastic guides, and Anna once again spent most of the day explaining the many stories to us. We also took a trip up the observatory, and visited the "First Synagogue of the Americas". We fuelled our walking with a delicious tapioca pancake from a street vendor, filled with cheese and coconut.
That evening one of Anna's friends organised a great surprise for us by getting us into a "quadrilha" rehearsal in a Frevo (a type of dancing) school. The troop were practicing for the festival of São João - described as the worlds largest barn dance! It's celebrated in June across the northeast of Brazil and the traditional dress involves checked shirts, and even "Pippi Longstocking" pigtails and freckles. The dancing was excellent, and varied from slower religious chanting to super fast paced, and lively numbers. The troupe leader asked for the dancers to show us the energy of Brazil - and they did not disappoint!
We might have rounded off such an action packed day with some down time. There was no time for that however, as the local running club which Anna has been going out with asked us to join them for a run. Even though we opted for a shorter 5.5km route and we set out at around 21h00, the heat was certainly a notch up from anything I am used to in the UK at around 28 degrees. We were rewarded for our efforts though with an excellent spread of fruits and fruit juices - including Anna's favourite, passion fruit, and several new fruits for me (acerolas, cashew fruit) back at the family home.
The evening ended the only way it could in Brazil - full of the Brazilan emotion! Anna could not have asked for a more inclusive and kind family, and they certainly made a huge, positive difference to her time here. I too feel privileged to have been able to spend some time with them and catch a glimpse of their lives. We could not have been made to feel more welcome and I cannot thank them enough for that.
We went to bed tired that night, but ready to begin the 650km drive down the coast to Salvador, with various planned stops, beaches, towns and cities to explore!
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