Saudade is the untranslatable Portuguese word for longing deeply for something, someone or somewhere, missing it with all your being. This is what I'm feeling today for Brazil. It is a country that gets under your skin, the people, the music, the food all conspire to draw you in to the magic.
And so the sharing of our adventures begins.We commenced our holiday in Salvador, our arrival met by a tropical rain storm with the forecast predicting more rain for the week we were to spend there. This didn't dampen our spirits as it was hot and steamy with big waves of excitement flowing over us. We took a taxi into the Pelourinho district, the oldest most picturesque part of town and also a UNESCO world heritage site. As soon as we began to reach the cobbled streets lined with the brightest buildings in pretty sugary colours I knew I'd finally arrived in the city that had been so extolled by an old friend who I met whilst living in Paris over 20 years before. Her name was Nelida Moutalabian, an Argentian Spanish teacher who had fled Argentina due to her political views. She was a great inspiration to me, we spent many an evening listening to Samba and Tango, discussing literature, art and politics over endless glasses of Vin Rouge whilst smoking Gauloises, in her small Parisian flat near La Republique. She'd travelled the world but the place that was most in her heart was Salvador de Bahia. I remember her telling me that if there was one place that I should go to in my lifetime, it had to be Salvador to see the Bahia De Todos Os Santos. I had to take a deep breath when I glimpsed the impressive, majestic Bay for the first time from the hotel Terrace. Nelida, wherever you are now I've finally been to Salvador and I too fell in love with its intoxicating charm...
And so the sharing of our adventures begins.We commenced our holiday in Salvador, our arrival met by a tropical rain storm with the forecast predicting more rain for the week we were to spend there. This didn't dampen our spirits as it was hot and steamy with big waves of excitement flowing over us. We took a taxi into the Pelourinho district, the oldest most picturesque part of town and also a UNESCO world heritage site. As soon as we began to reach the cobbled streets lined with the brightest buildings in pretty sugary colours I knew I'd finally arrived in the city that had been so extolled by an old friend who I met whilst living in Paris over 20 years before. Her name was Nelida Moutalabian, an Argentian Spanish teacher who had fled Argentina due to her political views. She was a great inspiration to me, we spent many an evening listening to Samba and Tango, discussing literature, art and politics over endless glasses of Vin Rouge whilst smoking Gauloises, in her small Parisian flat near La Republique. She'd travelled the world but the place that was most in her heart was Salvador de Bahia. I remember her telling me that if there was one place that I should go to in my lifetime, it had to be Salvador to see the Bahia De Todos Os Santos. I had to take a deep breath when I glimpsed the impressive, majestic Bay for the first time from the hotel Terrace. Nelida, wherever you are now I've finally been to Salvador and I too fell in love with its intoxicating charm...
Baia De Todos Os Santos
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