Salvador, Brasil

We got to Salvador, Brazil this morning at 7am and got off the ship about 11am. As we were walking out of the port, it started to sprinkle, and as we got about 300 yards away from the port, it started downpouring. We found some shelter under a tree, but we were getting pretty drenched, and there was a line of taxis right next to us.

So I went and asked a taxi driver if he accepted credit cards, and he said no. But the guy right behind him did accept credit cards. So we hopped into his car to get out of the rain, and then in Portuguese, because he didn't speak any English, we negotiated a tour right then and there.

We ended up having a big change of plans from what we thought we were going to do today to getting driven around in a taxi by Junior. It ended up being a wonderful day and really fun, and we saw a lot of cool things.

We passed a lot of favelas (slums). This is a city of 3 million people and there is a lot of poverty. I felt sad seeing that. I used to go into favelas as a 19/20 year old missionary and not think anything of it. I realize now that was actually very dangerous.

Junior took us to a church Basílica do Senhor do Bonfim. We could see the Portuguese influence in the design. He took us right up to the front for pictures.

Then he took us into a side room where a priest was giving people blessings and sprinkling water on them. Junior wanted this for us. Mitzi was a good sport and even though he was speaking Portuguese, she accepted the blessing and the water with a smile on her face.

I told Junior I wanted to purchase a Coxinha so if he saw a stand. He did see a stand, stopped the car, told us to wait, he hopped out and a minute later he was back. Best Coxinha ever! Mitzi and I devoured it. We hadn't eaten all day and it tasted so great. I love these things. I'm really happy that Mitzi enjoys them too! Imagine Mitzi eating Brazilian street food 😃

Then we went to lunch at Lua Cheia. A very nice restaurant by Brasilian standards. A beautiful, peaceful view. We at seafood stew and enjoyed it very much.

We asked Junior to join us and he was very happy to do that. Him and I spoke a lot of Portuguese today. It was fun to do it, I haven't spoken that much for 40 years! I was able to interpret for Mitzi too which was fun.

We got back to our ship, the Vista. And as we pulled away from the port in the evening I got some pictures of the ships and Salvador through the binoculars.

It was a super fun day.