Our port of call for today was Recife, Brazil. It was a slow start to the day since the officials did not board the ship on time. While eating breakfast, there were several announcements for the folks to please not crowd the area where the gangway would be set up. We think it was closer to 9am before the ship ws cleared and the tour groups could go off. At 9:30am there was another crew drill, so we left before 10am. Even though it was not mentioned in the Daily newsletter, most of us knew not to wear flashy expensive jewelry or even carry backpacks and large purses.
It was a little more complicated as far as getting to town. The port officials did not allow pedestrian traffic, so it was necessary to take a free shuttle to the port entrance. This included the guests who were on HAL excursions also. We think the tour folks got on their buses outside the terminal. Once through the Cruise Terminal, we boarded another free shuttle to the Casa De Cultura in downtown Recife. On the way, we seemed to be caught up in traffic, giving us a chance to get some photos of the numerous government buildings, cathedrals, palaces, museums, parks, a fort, and empty warehouses near the pier. This did not look like a place you would want to be walking on your own. A group of locals were parading through this area carrying flags and banners with some kind of protest. The banners were written in Portuguese of course.
There were a few tours offered today. Three of them were 4 to 4 ½ hours for $110. They were Cultural Olinda and Recife, Recife Arts and Culture, and Recife and Historic Olinda. A catamaran ride in the "Venice " of Brazil was 3 hours for $120. Been there, done that with all of these excursions.
The ride in bus # 2 was interesting since we did get to see some of the historic buildings along the way. We were here in 2020 but did not remember much of the city. It took near ½ of an hour to reach the Cultura Center, which was an ancient prison/turned souvenir market. It was not too crowded yet, so we had a chance to check out the many "cells" where the vendors had set up small shops. Some of their items were crocheted tablecloths and even clothing. Not intending to buy anything, a couple of colorful half-crocheted and fabric tops caught our eye. The prices were very reasonable, so we purchased two of them. They did take US dollars but seemed to have a hard time doing the conversion from Brazil Reals to US dollars, maybe on purpose. The ship's map has not had the country's conversion on them, so we have to look it up before we go off of the ship. We used to have small convenient cards with samples of the prices in both currencies. HAL stopped doing that a few years ago. This center is not all that big, so we walked it twice, then went outside to wait for the bus. There must have been at least 100 people out there in line already. And there was very little shade to get out of the warm sun.
One of our buddies decided to search for a place to get some beers. We remember some of our friends had to take a taxi to find a decent place for lunch. So we assumed there was not anything that nice around here. They went off and we did not see them come back. Brave, they were. We waited for 20 or 30 minutes, then a couple of shuttles finally arrived. The rush to board the bus was not that friendly. Some people get pretty grumpy when they think they will miss lunch in the Lido.
There was less traffic on the way back to the cruise terminal, but we did see remnants of the protest demonstrators gathered at Ground Zero Plaza. The Brazilian dancers at the cruise terminal had left, and there was another tour group of "sticky" people waiting for their coach. Sticky meaning the colored stickers they wear that identifies them for a specific tour. We were back to our room before 1pm.
Busy with today's photos and research, we ended up with a room service lunch of salads and sandwiches, which arrived by 3pm. There was an ice cream social held in the Sea View pool area at 4pm, but we did not attend.
Captain Rens came on with his departing talk around 4:30pm. All aboard time was about then, but we knew there were late excursion groups not back yet. They would be delayed for an hour. The Captain mentioned that we had 1086 nautical miles to reach our next port of Rio de Janeiro on January 18th. We have two days at sea to get there at a speed of 17 knots. The current temperature was 81 degrees and we could expect a sea swell of 5 feet. Tomorrow's weather was about the same, but less wind at 5 knots. It will be sunny and partly cloudy with no mention of rain.
The Volendam finally left the dock after the last few buses returned around 5:30pm. We were glad to have taken sail-in photos since we did not see the city's skyline on the way out to sea. However, we did get some pretty clear shots of Olinda, 5.9 miles north of the dock in Recife. A UNESCO-listed city, their famous cathedral, Baroque churches, lighthouse, and colonial mansions stood out buried in the hilltops.
Dinnertime arrived and we ordered one potato and cheddar cheese soup, one cheese and artichoke dip with tortilla chips, and one shrimp summer roll (good). Mains were the roasted ribs with latke potatoes and spinach. Forgot to hold the spinach, but the serving was meager anyway. The pork ribs were tender and savory. Desserts were a fried banana and a plate of watermelon. Unfortunately, we did hear of some isolated incidents where some of the passengers had their things stolen. Sad, but these thing happen.
Some guests left the fixed seating dining room before 8:30pm, and we assumed they may be going to see the movie in the Wajang Theater. Tonight's film was Pele: Birth of a Legend. There was a vocalist, Isabel Commandeur in the World Stage with a magical night of Broadway and opera.
Once again, two days at sea will be most welcomed.
Bill & Mary Ann
