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RECIFE, BRAZILFeb 10, 2009
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| Feb 10 DAY 11 Recife Gathered at 8:30 in an attempt to avoid the crowd. Caught a shuttle to the downtown then began the negotiations. After several attempts lucked out to find Carlos (had been an exchange student who lived in Detroit). Carlos' English was perfect; he also spoke 5 other languages and his knowledge of US history was better than ours. The negotiators worked a deal for about a third of what the Tour Company's charged. When he added more people they negotiated a lower price. We toured the city on our way to Olinda. The original capital of the area settled in the 1600s. This is also a very popular spot for Carnival which will occur in about 10 days. Olinda looks more carribean than the previous spot. Many brightly painted buildings and curvy little streets. And of course a touch of Carnival every where we went. One of the markets was in a building that had been a slave market in the past. So much history and beauty. Olinda means Beautiful view and that it was. On our return to Recife we stopped at a market that was a prison shaped like a cross. The four wings could be monitored from the center. Great use of a building. Our tour lasted 5 hours and dropped us back at the shuttles. LuAnn and Marcia wanted a little more touring so they hopped on the H. Stern shuttle to the jewelry shop. They were living high checking out the $10,000 jeweled pendants. Just not to their liking so the walked the beach then returned to the ship. Tonight's entertainment was more of a girl thing. Wonderful latin singer and dancer. We are now pushing for latin dance lessons. Will report later. |
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