Salvador Bahia Brazil
Anybody visiting Salvador winds up spending at least
some time in Pelourinho. Pelourinho is the Old City, the old heart of
Salvador, with colonial-era buildings and winding cobblestone streets.
Lots of good stuff -- music and capoeira -- is there. The place is full
of bars and restaurants and small shops.
Pelourinho is also quite self-consciously touristy. The area was
rebuilt starting in 1994 and boutiques sprouted like dandelions.
Nowadays elderly tourists can be seen being led en masse from
historical site to historical site, hounded by vendors with cheap
trinkets. The area was more "authentic" before, but the tradeoff was
that one was also far more likely to be robbed. The possibility of that
happening now is extremely remote due to the vigilance of the police.
Tuesday night is Pelourinho's biggest party night. It's called
benção (or "blessing"), from an origin in the Igreja do
Santo Antônio's custom of giving away bread to the poor on
Tuesday evenings. Bahia has a way of turning religious events into
parties, and that's exactly what happens here; lots of people, lots of
music, and lots of dancing. Benção is even bigger during
the summer months (December, January, February), and the biggest
parties during any given month are the first and last of that month
(that's when people get paid!)
If you are in Pelourinho and looking for information, a good source is
Bahiatursa. The organization has an information center (with maps and
other resources, and attendants speaking a number of languages) at Rua
das Laranjeiras, No. 12. Any policeman or shopkeeper can tell you where
it is, or point you in the right direction.
The Balé Folclórico da Bahia (this is a nice site, very
well done) presents a wonderful show of dance and capoeira in the
Teatro Miguel Santana in Pelourinho, at Rua Gregôrio de Mattos,
49. Shows are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.
They are forty minutes in duration and tickets are R$6.00. Advance
purchases of tickets can be made at the theater on show days, beginning
at 1 p.m. during the week and 4:30 p.m on Saturdays.
Interested in cachaça? Cachaça is to Brazil what rum is
to the Caribbean, it's the national distilled spirit (okay, I know the
Caribbean isn't a "nation"!). Pelourinho has an interesting place
called "O Cravinho" (literally: "The Little Clove") where the approach
to cachaça is something akin to that of a Frenchman to his wine,
or a German to his beer, or a Scotsman to his whiskey.
O Cravinho is owned and run by Julival Santos Reis, a gentle man with
the manner and appearance of a field biologist. Sr. Reis will gladly
and knowledgeably discuss (in Portuguese) distilling methods and the
various types of woods utilized in barrels used to age cachaça,
pointing out which of the barrels lining the walls in his establishment
are constructed from which type of tree (massaranduba is a common one).
Sr. Reis' establishment consists of a bar/restaurant in ambient
amber-colored wood and a small annex to the right of the restaurant
entrance where bottled cachaça may be purchased. The restaurant
is a popular place where entering often means squeezing past patrons
gathered at the very popular bar towards the front. (Curious about what
those people are drinking out of those little cups? There's something
on that here.) Further back, behind the restaurant section, is a
courtyard (shared by various other establishments) with live music on
Tuesday nights and weekends. O Cravinho's address is Praça 15 de
Novembro (Terreiro de Jesus), No. 3 . The phone number is 322-6759
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