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Text & photos by Jim Soliski If you don't feel like partying, avoid Brazil, especially in January, February and March. Last year I went on the hunt for the poorly concealed Carnaval, which began the first of March and went on for four skyrocketing days...
I started my Carnaval exploration in Olinda, a splendid little city that clings to the far eastern tip of South America. This World Heritage Site was South America's first capital city, and it has one of Brazil's best collections of colonial buildings. Churches, monasteries, and seminaries from as far back as the 16th century impose themselves on the hills of Olinda.
Alto da Se (Cathedral Heights) guards Olinda's apex. It is a great spot to enjoy views of the Atlantic, buy clever wooden sculptures from local artisans, munch food from a long line of vendors' carts, and listen to jam sessions by musicians, typically a group of friends or faux performers creating songs, as it were, "on spec." Backdropping the scene is Olinda's oldest building, the Igreja de Se (1537)
During
the Carnaval season on the coast of Brazil, hotspot #2 is Salvador,
another relic city about 14 hours south of Olinda by bus. Salvador
is the capital of Bahia, Brazil's most African state. Fifty-two
Sundays and Tuesdays per year, Carnaval notwithstanding, the city
goes into party overdrive. During the day, the main square in the
Old City bristles with preparations for the evening. Surrounding
the Terriera de Jesus are churches and government buildings, some
approaching a half a millennium old. Pallets of beer sit stacked,
and beside the pallets myriad vendors prepare their tents with food.
If Olinda can shake it on weekends, Salvador is Olinda on chili peppers. Heavy African drum rhythms thunder through the evening air. Dancers jam the scaffolded stage doing the Dark Continent Swing. Their feet remain mostly stationary, or stomp lightly, but their jointless hips move contralaterally with their shoulders. Hands dangle from rubbery elbows, as rivers of people march in waves like an army of soldier ants over the cobblestones and through the narrow streets. To keep the chaos within tolerable limits, some order must be enforced, and police in kevlar jackets sport one sidearm on their hip and another strapped to their chest. The law is everywhere even outside of Carnaval...Rudy would be proud.
One
can quickly change the channel of Rio's real life TV drama by taking
the huge city's modern subway. Descend from the blech, and you ascend
into Copacabana. The astonishing Copacabana and Ipanema beaches
are jaw-dropping for the first time viewer. Each subsequent visit
still left me catching flies. Copacabana is Brazil's playground
for the rich and famous. It’s also the beach for "Old Money"
in Brazil. Later-in-years, fortrel-clad ladies in plate-glass window
eyeglasses smoke at their apartment windows during the day and walk
their poodles at dusk. January is summer holiday, so the young and
aroused strut their muscles and dental floss bikinis. Nothing looks
rusty Rio offers more than fine sand and spectacular views from Corcovado, the landmark site of Christ's mammoth statue overlooking the stunning harbour so familiar from post cards. Central Rio has tree-lined boulevards and squares caressed by musicians busking at lunch and dinner. The Municipal Theatre, Las Museu des Belas Artes, and the public library form a triangle of Old World Architecture. A walkabout I took uncovered bakeries, wine shops (prices are very low, and Brazilian plonks are practically giveaways), music shops, cathedrals, and bookstores. Even without Carnaval, Rio is endlessly charming. But Carnaval magnifies Rio's attractions.
Carnaval is the symbolic end of the summer season when a year's worth of steam blows off every resident, young and old. This explosion is not without casualties. Across the country, people, places, and prices go nuts for the four official days, then heavens, the pagans turn pious out of respect for Easter. Each city, town, and village has its own method of celebration. Olinda's party has been known to go for 11 days, Salvador's for over a week. Smaller places may host one ball on one evening then relax so that the vacationers may recuperate, or else head for the remainder in Olinda. Rio, without question, is the summit beyond which others struggle. Throughout January and February, Rio contains special parties and musical events. Local papers are the resource for discovering what is current that day.
But don't come to Brazil only for the frolic. My trip down the Brazilian coast revealed artists and actors, delicious tortes, ice creams, and pastries, the juiciest, sweetest fruits, cheap prices, little English, decent coffee (the best gets exported), stunning wealth, brutal poverty, Coke drank by the tankerfull, 500 years of frank history, mosquitoes, and lots, lots more. If I could do it again, I'd dally longer in Olinda and especially Salvador. Who wouldn't?
If You Go.... Changing traveller's checks in Brazil is an exercise in frustration. Once you've finally found a branch that will do the transaction, there's a 15% commission. ATM's are everywhere, and easily dispense cash. VISA PLUS is the best card to carry, and Banco do Brasil has many outlets. Not every machine will work with your international card...be sure to look for a machine with VISA and PLUS stickers attached. There's an American Express office in Copacabana. Money in Brazil is the reals. Reals is pronounced HAY-ice for one, HAY-ow for plural. On the street, change can be scarce. Break down any 50 reals notes wherever possible. Many street vendors will sell you two of their 50 centavo products rather that one item plus change. Americans and Canadians need visas and yellow fever shots to enter the country. Olinda's airport is in the city of Recife, less than ½ an hour away. The Lonely Planet guidebook is very good except their prices are outdated. Costs are now much lower. Nearly all hotels’ prices include breakfast. In Olinda, two of the better places to stay are: Pousada Dos Quatro Cantos: www.pousada4cantos.com.br, hotel@pousada4cantos.com.br A pool will be finished mid-2002. Bubbly manager Romulo speaks excellent English and he is most helpful. Prices range from 40-150 reals/night/double occupancy. Airport transfer costs 35 reals. More up-market is Hotel 7 Colinas www.hotelcolinasolinda.com.br Non-Carnaval rates 155 to 260 reals/night/d.o. Carnaval rates 2750 for six nights mandatory stay/d.o. The Lonely Planet does a nice job for Olinda. In
Salvador, the best hotel in the Old City is the Palace Hotel. The best budget option in the Lonely Planet for Salvador is Chile Hotel. It's even better than the dorm at the hostels, which are quite fine. Rio's hotel choices are infinite. The best budget choices in the Lonely Planet are Monterrey Hotel and Hotel Rio Lisboa in the Catete neighborhood. The Rio Internacional Hotel overlooking Copacabana Beach is first-rate but rather toffee-nosed. www.riointernacional.com.br Ever-helpful Riotur's websites: www.riodejaniero-turismo.com.br e-mail:
riotur.riotur@pcrj.rj.gov.br Text & photos by Jim Soliski
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Carnaval
is a pre-Lenten celebration like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and
originates from pre-Christian festivities held by the ancient Greeks
and Romans. Around the sixth century B.C., the Greeks held spring
festivals in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Merrymakers would
parade down the streets of their towns, sometimes with floats. The
Romans continued with the tradition, except slaves and masters would
exchange clothes…and each other.
Olinda's
other attraction is her artistry: you'll find stone edifices that
are museums and galleries. The Museu do Mamulenco houses antique
puppets, including the giant Olinda, The Dona (Lady) of Olinda.
The Museu de Arte Contemporanea displays permanent and temporary
exhibitions of contemporary paintings and sculptures in a building
that was an 18th century jail originally used by the Catholic church
during the Inquisition.
But
back to the party. Preparations and anticipation throughout the
country begin as soon as Christmas can be put back on the shelf.
Soon, red and green sheets of plastic strung from housetop to housetop
smothered the route through the streets designated for the Carnaval
parade. Along here, tightly packed blocks, or blocos, of bands,
costumed revellers, and partiers in the tens of thousands will dance,
drink, shout, fall down, laugh, and break a bone or two in total
happiness or partial amnesia.
Popular
noshes in Salvador include salgados, a tear-drop shaped African
snack consisting of a deep-fried batter holding shredded chicken,
beef, or cheese inside. The slightly terse/sweet aroma of a thousand
salgados permeates the air. The other ubiquitous munchies are meats
skewered over charcoal. Choices include beef, chicken (the best
of the appetizers), chicken hearts (hardly awful offal), pork, and
square dowels of cheese.
The
other five nights of the week, Salvador jekylls into a sensuous
kitten, an Eartha Kitt of the southern hemispere. Gaggles of local
artists paint outside their studios, rather than within them. Light
samba or bossa nova musical rhythms waft gently from homes or beyond
the tables of outdoor cafes. The finishing touch of aesthetic music
and clusters of painters, Salvador is a city of couples; hands are
held, waists are stroked: a kiss is requested, lips form and the
embrace is consummated in public, only to dissipate into the cooling
Easterlies blowing from the Atlantic. From windows and doorways,
bands are seen and heard practicing their performances, and dance
groups perform, drilling their steps.
Rusted
cargo ships and heavy equipment pierce the water's wavy edge. For
long stretches, the smell of Rio seems unbearable. A kilometres-long
causeway conducts the weary traveller into the city, where the pressure
of approaching urban blight ratchets up.
on
this beach, and everything smells of suntan oil and expensive perfume.
Your head spins.
