I am up early and head up the street about 100 feet to the main part of the pousada (I’m in the newer annex) for breakfast. Thankfully it is better than at the last place. Brazilians love to have a little cold cut (ham, bologna, slices of cheese – and dang it, no mustard Tay) sandwich for breakfast and I’ve def had enough of that. This one is a little better, still the incredible array of fruit. I run into the couple I met at Fernando. I head out into the crowds to start to get the feel of the town and the party. Narrow cobblestone streets (now there’s something different) bordered by brightly colored pousadas, restaurants and artist shops where a little gallery fronts living quarters. Streamers are hanging everywhere in celebration of the festivities. While things are quiet, I walk down and around the corner, up the hill, and am greeted with a panoramic view over Olinda and across to the booming metropolis of Recife:
I visit some nice crafts stores, but am not moved to purchase anything. I continue walking and come upon a square that is decorated with unusual, large carvings:
I don’t know if those were up just for the festival, but it didn’t look like it. Kept walking to another square, where I ran smack dab into the party. The reason I chose Olinda for Carnaval is that unlike Rio, where it’s mostly a spectator sport (buying a ticket to sit in some area of the stands in the Sambadrome while incredibly detailed, themed floats and dancers parade through, going through routines they’ve been practicing for most of the year), in this smaller town of 369,000, it’s like a neighborhood party in the streets. There are 3 main areas that the musicians/dancers leave from and then parade throughout the town. Dancers, drummers, bands with tubas and horns come through on a fairly regular basis. Occasionally you get the giant speakers mounted on a truck with a DJ yakking and the tunes pounding out. Anyway, when the bands go through, they usually play a selection from a short list of popular tunes, so people fall in line behind them and sing along and the street gets so jammed you have no choice but to go along. Once the band is past, things clear up until the next comes along. So here are two of the first routines I watched. As I came into the square and stood to watch the first group going by, and people were yelling and throwing confetti, my eyes welled up with tears. This was it; I wanted to go to Carnavale and be in the biggest party in the world, and here I was, realizing that dream. Pretty heady stuff and great to be present and realize how that came to be, and once again appreciate what a lucky woman I am.
I have movies, but am still working on how to upload to the blog, so visit again later if you’re interested in seeing the performance live:
One group I saw had the little girls, ages 6 – 9ish, performing the routine in front, then came the 10 – 13 year-olds, then the 15 – 20 year-olds. Cute. Drumming was very serious, and I could hear late in the night from my room.
Indeed it was warm and sunny everyday…90ish degrees with equal humidity. Needless to say, the perspiration was streaming down my entire body all day! Great for the skin.
Every so often I would head up to the balcony on the second floor of the hotel, where I could slam a cold beer (yes, I actually did and man, was it good. totally tipsy for a while) and watch the merriment from on high. Here’s our balcony:
Oops, time to don my swimsuit and take a dip in the little pool out back:
Then behind the gauzy curtain for a free 30-minute massage. Nap time! Eat lunch at the pousada – some kind of big old fish stew, beans, etc. Then hit the streets again.
As you can imagine, there are a couple of open areas that are lined with food stalls. No indian fry bread here, let me tell you! And most all streets are dotted with little entrepreneurs who line up in the morning at the liquor store to buy cases of beer (and it seems like 70% of the beer consumed is Skol, brotha), chill down in a large styrofoam cooler, prop up on a little stand like one you use for your suitcase, and sell water, soda (guarana) and beer to passers-by. Otherwise, you can step right up to a streetside bar and place your order:
As it becomes dark, the temperature becomes lovely, and easier to enjoy the sights. I am awoken only once this night by the thumping of bands going by….one at 4 am!