Day 47
Today I'm in: Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
The title of the post is the proper pronunciation of Recife, my current location and the second-largest city in northeast Brazil (after Salvador, which I left this morning.) The view as we came into land was of an endless wall of skyscrapers fronting the beach - Brazilians love to build up as well as out. Even smallish cities have a dense knot of high-rise apartment towers, and the large cities have skylines that - in terms of sheer quantity - put American cities to shame. Most of the towers are of an uninspiring plaster-and-concrete style that doesn't weather very well (so we win on quality!) but it's impressive regardless.
Recife means 'reef' in Portuguese, and from what I've seen in my brief time here this city lives for its beaches. Even the phone booths are shaped like coconuts. I'm staying in the beachside suburb of Boa Viagem, which fronts an expanse of sand several miles long. It's incredibly pleasant - there's a mosaic-tile promenade between the beach and the street, bicycle paths, food and drink kiosks, ornate flower gardens and what felt like an army of city workers keeping everything clean. I'm looking forward to going for a run tomorrow - the wall of apartment towers literally goes to the horizon in both directions, though, so I'll have to keep track of where I am.
The only thing Recife's beach isn't good for, apparently, is swimming. Sharks love to come inside Recife's reef to feed, and occasionally a human looks good to them. There are small sections of the beach that are netted off to give people a place to swim, but most of the water is open and so there are threatening signs everywhere urging you to stay out of the waves.
It's not all bad though - like Salvador, there are plenty of friendly chair vendors and fresh green coconuts to be had. Today was a bit cloudy, and the sun had already gone behind the high-rise towers when I got to the beach, so it was no good for sunbathing, but there was a steady breeze off the water and people were getting out of work early (it's Friday!) and heading for the sand. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
While on the beach I met another American from Chicago, Tim, and his Brazilian girlfriend Isabela. He's a teacher at the American high school in Rio (he spotted my Michigan bag and came over to say hello) and as luck would have it, they're staying at the same hotel as me. Tomorrow we're going to visit Olinda, a historic town just north of central Recife. First, though, I have to find a laundry - I'm almost out of clean clothes and the hotel doesn't provide laundry service on weekends.
Today I'm in: Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
The title of the post is the proper pronunciation of Recife, my current location and the second-largest city in northeast Brazil (after Salvador, which I left this morning.) The view as we came into land was of an endless wall of skyscrapers fronting the beach - Brazilians love to build up as well as out. Even smallish cities have a dense knot of high-rise apartment towers, and the large cities have skylines that - in terms of sheer quantity - put American cities to shame. Most of the towers are of an uninspiring plaster-and-concrete style that doesn't weather very well (so we win on quality!) but it's impressive regardless. 
Recife means 'reef' in Portuguese, and from what I've seen in my brief time here this city lives for its beaches. Even the phone booths are shaped like coconuts. I'm staying in the beachside suburb of Boa Viagem, which fronts an expanse of sand several miles long. It's incredibly pleasant - there's a mosaic-tile promenade between the beach and the street, bicycle paths, food and drink kiosks, ornate flower gardens and what felt like an army of city workers keeping everything clean. I'm looking forward to going for a run tomorrow - the wall of apartment towers literally goes to the horizon in both directions, though, so I'll have to keep track of where I am.
The only thing Recife's beach isn't good for, apparently, is swimming. Sharks love to come inside Recife's reef to feed, and occasionally a human looks good to them. There are small sections of the beach that are netted off to give people a place to swim, but most of the water is open and so there are threatening signs everywhere urging you to stay out of the waves. 
It's not all bad though - like Salvador, there are plenty of friendly chair vendors and fresh green coconuts to be had. Today was a bit cloudy, and the sun had already gone behind the high-rise towers when I got to the beach, so it was no good for sunbathing, but there was a steady breeze off the water and people were getting out of work early (it's Friday!) and heading for the sand. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
While on the beach I met another American from Chicago, Tim, and his Brazilian girlfriend Isabela. He's a teacher at the American high school in Rio (he spotted my Michigan bag and came over to say hello) and as luck would have it, they're staying at the same hotel as me. Tomorrow we're going to visit Olinda, a historic town just north of central Recife. First, though, I have to find a laundry - I'm almost out of clean clothes and the hotel doesn't provide laundry service on weekends. 
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like any negotiation classes from your MBA came in handy. It's great that you got something back when he really didn't have to do anythin. I have really enjoyed reading your blog.
Thanks,
Dan