December 28, 2023–Recife and Olinda, Brazil

Another sunny, warm and humid day today as we visited our second port of call in Brazil, the city of Recife. It was an early start to the day, with breakfast at 6:30, because our tour group was meeting in the main theater at 7:15 to be taken off the ship as a group to meet the shuttle bus that would take us to the terminal to meet our guide and tour bus.

Did you get all of that? In a lot of the Caribbean ports there are cruise terminals right at the pier, and strolling off the ship to meet our guide and bus is relatively easy. However, when we dock at a big industrial port like Fortaleza or Recife it isn’t safe or even permitted to walk through the dockyards to reach the barebones terminals where the tour buses are waiting. Thus, when we disembark we immediately board a shuttle bus for a five minute ride through the dockyard to the terminal. Fortunately, Royal Caribbean has done an excellent job of arranging plenty of modern, comfortable shuttle buses that run constantly, and the inconvenience is very minimal.

Now about Recife, which reminded me in some ways of our earlier stop in Fortaleza. Like Fortaleza, Recife is known for its high rise lined urban beaches, and if Fortaleza is a large city with 2.7 million inhabitants, Recife is even larger, with over 4 million residents within its urban area. These are big cities.

Recife is also the capital of the state of Pernambuco, and our first stop was at one of the city beaches. An interesting fact about the Recife beaches is that swimming is only permitted at low tide. Shark attacks are a problem here, but at low tide the sharks can’t jump the reefs that protect the beach, making swimming safe. The tide was relatively low while we were there, but we didn’t have time for a dip. Still, I went down to put my hand in the Atlantic, and can report that the water was nice and warm.

Then it was back on the bus for a short ride to Praca de Republica, or Republic Square, in the heart of the old city center. The park-like square, which is the size of a city block, is ringed by beautiful old colonial buildings, including the Palace of Justice, Santa Isabel Theater, and most impressively, the Governor’s Palace. There was also a beautiful, 400 year old baobab tree in the Square itself, which I must admit distracted me from our guide’s talk for a few minutes. The buildings served as a clear reminder that the city was once controlled by the Portuguese and Dutch.

Next was the Casa da Cultura, an old prison in the shape of a cross, which has been repurposed into a cultural center, though I would describe it as more of a handicraft and souvenir shopping site. It is interesting, though, to wander through and see how the cells in the old prison have been transformed into tiny shops. Like most old prisons, it looked like it would have been a pretty grim place to be incarcerated.

Afterwards, we were bused to the nearby municipality of Olinda, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are many old, brightly painted houses in the city center, but the highlight, and the reason for the city’s celebrity, is its beautiful old churches. One, St. Benedict’s Monastery, once served as a law school, but the most significant is Catedral Alto da Se, located at the highest point in the city. The cathedral is modest in size, but is beautiful in its own way, and the view from the church yard is spectacular, especially looking south at the skyline and beaches of Recife.

Before heading back to Recife and the ship we made a brief stop at a cafe/souvenir shop, where we were treated to a traditional dance performance. Michele scored a fresh coconut at the cafe, where she watched them punch a hole in the coconut and insert the straw. I got a few sips, and it was absolutely delicious. By this time we were getting pretty hot and dehydrated, and the coconut water was a lifesaver. I may try to get one in Rio.

We got back to the ship around 1:00, and after getting lunch and rehydrating (the rehydrating part is becoming a recurring priority in these hot, near-equatorial climes), we spent some time curating our many photos and doing some research to make sure we got our facts right for our blog (me), and Facebook post (Michele).

We sailed out at sunset and were treated to a beautiful view of Recife’s skyline. Recife is just south of South America’s easternmost point, Ponta do Seixas, which we rounded shortly before arriving, so now we will be heading in a more southwesterly direction as we make for our next destination, Rio de Janeiro. Between now and then we have two sea days to recharge and prepare for New Year’s Eve in one of the world’s great cities.

There were shows in the ship’s main theater this evening and last night, but I may save the description and photos for a blog post on one of our upcoming sea days. Time to get this post out. Back soon.

Our first stop was at one of the downtown beaches. You’d never know there were highrises across the street.

Michele in Praca de Republica, with the Governor’s Palace in the background.

The offending baobab tree that caused me to wander off and miss part of our guide’s discussion of the Praca de Republica. I think it was worth it. It’s 400 years old, and a very cool tree.

Me in one of the former cell blocks of the prison that is now the Casa da Cultura, basically a souvenir mart.

An unrestored cell at the Casa da Cultura. Pretty grim, isn’t it?

This is what the former cells look like now. This was Cell 120.

The Olinda Cathedral.

Another of Olinda’s several churches from the commanding view of the Cathedral churchyard. That’s the Atlantic in the background.

Great view of Recife from the Cathedral churchyard. Recife is Brazil’s fourth largest city.

Those are mangos, growing in the Cathedral churchyard.

Michele scored this coconut for a dollar, and the water really perked us back up when we were getting hot and tired.

These Brazilian dancers performed for us during our stop at a small cafe/souvenir shop.