Fortaleza, Brazil
This is day 13 of the cruise already.
Just to show you how time flies.
During the last few days we attended
destination presentations given on board to be better prepared when we do get
off the ship for a visit. Not only did the lecturer talk about Fortaleza but
also about the marine life around us. From whales to penguins to birds, to
mammals, the Southern Hemisphere has its’ own wild inhabitants.
Carol has already booked a penguin
tour in the Falklands; I passed on that tour.
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| Skyscrapers of Fortaleza In the Rain |
So we are off the ship to explore the city of Fortaleza. It is my first visit to a city in all of Brazil. What will it be like? How will the people be different from the rest of the world?
Time to find out!
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| Cathedral |
To start with, it rained. We needed to take a shuttle to the port terminal and then another shuttle to the city proper, dropping us off near the Cathedral. Well, not close to the Cathedral but a few blocks away.
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| Many Stunning Stained Glass Windows |
The Church itself was typical, lots of stained glass windows, very Catholic, very ordinary in many ways but yes, it was a big Church, a Cathedral. Carol liked it, she likes to visit churches, as for me? Meh!
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| Graffiti Everywhere |
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| Now Which Is My Electricity Wire? |
The city of Fortaleza has many ‘skyscraper’-like buildings built close together in what seemed to be a random pattern. Graffiti was on almost every surface that could be reached. Wires to carry electricity, cable TV, or what not, were strung between poles. All the wires were bunched together, to me it looked like being in India when it came to the wiring. My impression was a slovenly looking town.
A few blocks away from the cathedral is
the ‘famous’ Old Mercado. A large city
block filled with small shops full of schlock. We bought nothing. The Mercado
is a tourist attraction (old jail?) but the sellers of the articles, the small
shop owners, have really no clue as to what tourists are looking for. Totally
out of sync with what the demand of a New Yorker or worldly person could be,
they offered items Made in China for sale. Sorry it was really bad.
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| Multi-Level New Mercado |
The same happened at the General
Mercado, a more modern building near the Cathedral. I tried to buy a short
sleeved shirt and walked up and down all the floors of this market. It’s
impossible to find good merchandise, no matter how much I tried. They just
don’t have it. All the clothing I looked at was cheap looking, baggy and
totally unattractive. It is amazing to me to see so much stuff spread over at
least 6 floors of 3 football-sized floors without finding at least ‘something’
useful, something attractive.
Sorry Brazil, my first impression was
not a good one. I hope it gets better after Fortaleza. I so hoped to find a
nice town, especially since the presenter of the destination presentation
showed us the potential of the area. I guess since the presenter was Brazilian
he wore rose colored glasses.
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| Quite a Bit of Trash Around But Not Seen Here |
I sat for a while just outside the
store, waiting for the rain to subside. People, lots of people were milling
about and I felt a certain ‘resignation’ in their faces, in their body
language, in their way of living.
They are resigned to living like this.
They looked to me like they were ‘washed out’.
No fight left in them.
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| Locals - Mid-Day |
We were told there is Wi-Fi at the bus terminal but when they asked for my passport number and my email address, I passed on using their ‘service’. I don’t need Wi-Fi that badly.
Back on board we had time galore, we
even had time to do the laundry. The machines are just down the hall from our
cabin.
I was a bit bummed out for the rest of
the day after finding this graffiti-laced town, full of barred windows and
doors, narrow roads and decrepit looking buildings.
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| Tons of Trash |
Why Brazil? Why live like that?
We tried the early theater show and watched a magician, Michael Barron, who was very good. I could not
figure out how he did any of his tricks.
VERY well done, Michael, bravo!
Then we went for a later dinner but it did not work for
us. The lineup to the Bordeaux dining room was way too long. Almost like on the first day of the
cruise. What gives, what is going on? So we went to the buffet upstairs instead.
Back in our cabin, we watched a movie on TV about a woman
in the early days of NASA, a mathematician, who experienced the discrimination
going on at that time. I believe it’s called “Hidden Figures”. A GREAT movie.
