Salvador

We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see so much of Brazil. We totally maximized our vacations here. Our last hurrah was an awesome one! We visited Salvador with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Craig.

Craig and Karen arrived at 9:00 am after an all night flight. They were in a great mood and excited to see the boys (and Scott and I). We were excited to see them, too! This is everybody at "our" breakfast table at the hotel. We stayed at a very nice hotel in Salvador.

We spent the first day swimming, relaxing and spending time together. It was wonderful family time, and the boys were in heaven being spoiled by Grandma. They were all smiles, and it really hit me how different Grandma and Grandpa love is than Mom and Dad love, and that the boys had really missed it. Grandma Karen definitely made up for lost time.

The second day we had a tour of Salvador. This was our first stop. The statues are of the African gods from the Candomble religion. Salvador was a major port for the importation of slaves, and much of its history relates to this. The slaves were forced to convert to Catholicism, and so they related each one of their gods to a saint. The statue in white represents Jesus. The blending of Catholicism and Candomble is very interesting. In the background you can see their new soccer stadium all ready for the World Cup.

Second stop, Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim. This is the most famous church in Salvador. It was beautiful. They sell little ribbons, and you are supposed to tie them on with three knots and make 3 wishes. Then you are not supposed to take them off, they have to fall off after your wishes come true. No one's ribbon has fallen off yet.

Lots of people tie their ribbons to the fence in order to avoid wearing them for years. It was very pretty with the colorful ribbons flying in the wind.

Here is a picture from our lunch spot. The beaches were beautiful. We had a fun lunch of traditional moqueca, seafood stew made with palm oil. We had many opportunities to experience this delicious dish.

Here we are in Pelurinho, the historic city center. It was so beautiful and interesting with its colorful buildings, narrow, winding streets, and rich history.

This is the church of gold. The walls on the inside are completely covered in gold.

Here is another shot of Pelurinho.

Michael Jackson shot a music video in Pelurinho called, They don't Really Care About Us. The blue building with his picture is where he started the video, then they danced where we were standing.

I just love Ethan's picture smile. Behind him some boys are getting ready to do some Capoeira dancing. It is a really cool dancing that looks like fighting. They do flips and kicks, but do not really hurt each other. The slaves used to practice it to keep in shape, and practice fighting without getting in trouble.

It was Palm Sunday when we were in Salvador, so we ended our tour at a mass. It was super traditional, hot and we did not understand much, but I always enjoy going to mass in other cities to see what it is like.

 

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