RECIFE ( Trip part 3 )

The Taxi arrived back at Recife. Recife is the Capital of this region of Brazil which is Pernambuco. Recife is a group of islands that became Recife when they connected the islands with bridges. The three islands are Santo Antonio, Boa Vista and Recife antigo. We were staying by the main beaches of Boa Viagem. Toni's friend Romulado owns an apartment that his family useses as a vacation place. His relative, Mirian was going to meet us and show us around. The Taxi left us up at a gas station and she quickly came and picked us up. She took us to the apartment and we took showers and changed clothes. She had a car so she drove us up the beach and we stopped for agua de coco ( Coconut milk served in the coconut with a straw ...very popular here ). The beach is lined with new modern apartment building. The beach is set back and is lined with palm trees and a path for running or bicycling. We then went to her apartment for coffee and snacks. We met her two daughters, Sabrina and Kelly. Sabrina is in her early twenties and is studying medicine. Kelly is in her late teens and enjoys reading and her computer. We ( with Kelly included now ) got back in the car and went to a local park that was packed with people enjoying the weekend. We then went along the coast and went to the neighboring town of Olinda. Olinda is similar to historic Salvador. It had old churches and cobblestone streets. Brightly colored colonial homes line the streets. We stopped at a museum with Carnival figures. We went to a few stores and then stopped for another snack in a plaza. I had Churrasco ( chicken on a stick ) and a Tapioca with quejo ( which is a sanwhich with cheese) We then went to Historic Recife to Marco cero. This is a plaza that is the official starting point of the city.

The next day we slept in and then took a walk on the beach. Miriam picked us up in the afternoon and took us to Parque das Esculturas. This is part of the Francisco Brennand institute. This is a large park with two museums and a library. The first museum is full of brazilian art and art from Holland . The second is a castle, Sao Joao, filled with midevil arms. The gardens are filled with Brazilian flora e fauna as well as sculptures.

After the museum we drove around and saw more of the city. We then had dinner at a restaurant with a buffet of typical Brazilian northeastern food.

The next day me and Toni took a taxi to Sao Joa Artisan market where we loaded up on handcrafted items. We got a wooden totem for our living room. A few gifts for Toni's friends in Rio. A painting for our bedroom. That day we went to the beach. The water here is very warm compared to Rio. The bad part is there are also sharks so you can only go into the water to about waist level. The water also had a lot of seaweed.

That night we had all you can eat Sushi in the Galleria by our apartment. My wound was better but I usually needed it cleaned out and a new bandage put on it every four hours. That night we went to the airport but unfortunately did not leave. Toni had misread the time of the departure as being tonight at midnight but our plane actually left at midnight last night. After arguing with the people at Gol! for two hours we called Mirian to come and get us. Gol! had wanted us to not only pay $90 reais for each ticket as a penalty but another penalty for $1000 reais which does not make sense since the tickets cost $400 reais total. We got half of the money refunded as a credit and left.

The next day We woke up late and found a cyber cafe. All the flights in the Brazilian webcites were around $1000 reais for the two of us. I finally found a great flight on Tam from Orbitz for $275 us dollars ( about $500 reais. ) The flight was for the next morning. We went to a restaurant Pitu for lunch. We had steak with rice and beans. That night we walked to the beach and ate at a restaurant that faced the beach. We had chicken in a yellow sauce with fries and rice with Broccoli. Toni had really take to Recife and thinks that maybe we should live there. I have to think about this a lot more.

The next morning we cleaned my wound, Packet everything up again, and waited for Mirian to come pick us up. We got to the airport alright and had no further drama with the plane. In 2 1/2 hours we were back in Rio. Our vacations to the northeast were over. It was great to be home again but I would miss the Northeast.