Friday 16th January, 27 degrees

To say we were up early this morning was definitely an understatement. These frequent clock changes are causing havoc with the body clocks!

When we woke up we could see land on the horizon but were still moving so we decided to get up and watch the docking process as we did our promenading. We got up at 5.45! Unheard of since I left work! Today’s walking ensemble for those vaguely interested was shorts and a t-shirt as I know I will have to shower and change again after breakfast.

We were on deck by 6.15 and we weren’t the first. It was a small but beautifully formed group initially, but the numbers swelled as time went on. It was a beautiful morning. The ship had more or less come to a stop and the tug boat Aquila was at the back (aft end) with a tow rope pulling the Aurora round prior to docking. It all looked a bit complicated, but it looked in capable hands. Having said this, the three chaps on board the tug in their orange dungarees looked a bit casual to me. I would have preferred a little bit more of attention….. What did look a little unlikely was the name of the tug company. It was Wilson and Sons. Not a very Brazilian name I didn’t think.

Anyway, leaving them, the local pilot and the crew to carry on with the parking, we completed our walking (by now it was 7.00) and we climbed up the steps to the Horizon Restaurant for breakfast – only to find it was heaving with people!! No longer a small and beautifully formed group of limited numbers- but a multitude. They certainly had not done the required walking to earn breakfast. Perhaps we are beginning to understand how the size issue comes about.

Post breakfast we had time to shower and prepare ourselves for Recife. I say prepare ourselves advisedly because the literature on Brazil from P and O is nothing short of frightening. From what we are being told the place is full of cutthroats and brigands and if we survive the experience we will be lucky. We had to remind ourselves that the majority of people will be ordinary PLU’s (people like us) and it will be fine. Time will tell.

Well I can tell you now that nothing much happened in the brigand department. There was quite a lot of hustling to sell us water and trinkets but not much else…

To get out of the dock, known as Porto do Pernambuco to the locals we have to get on a bus. This seemed a bit odd as we had booked onto a walking tour, but we soon realised why. The Recife dock is a vast area of dilapidated dirty concrete, single story buildings with not much to recommend them. Having got off the bus after about 10 minutes, we followed the crowd and found ourselves entering a very modern terminal building built on the lines or an aircraft hangar – not that I have been in many of them, Immediately the WiFi starved cruisers started catching up with messages, making phone calls and went no further. Thank goodness we invested in the WiFi package! The first thing to greet us as we neared the front of the building was the noise of a brass band playing loud music

It was all a bit overpowering to be honest, but definitely a rousing welcome, if a bit chaotic. As I said we had booked on a walking tour of the old town – as had a large number of others from the ship. Sorting us into groups we were eventually escorted out of the building and found ourselves trundling along a broken pathway heading to the old town.

Communication from our guides was a bit challenging. It became clear that one of the women was local and spoke the local dialect, the second guide then translated that into Portuguese and then into English for us. Add to this that it was a busy road with traffic streaming past and the fact that our guiding duo had not been given microphones and you will get the picture.

Information coming through was a bit limited but I will share what I learn. (E and OE – Errors and Omissions Excepted). It would appear that Pernambuco is one of the States of Brazil. Recife is its capital. Pernambuco was one of the first regions to be colonised by the Portuguese and for a few years was a country in its own right, following the equivalent of a peasants revolt as I understand it. It was also briefly controlled by the Dutch. The Portuguese then got it back. Then as now the area was heavily reliant on sugar production with its associated historic involvement in slavery. Its distinctive culture has as its background its African, indigenous and European heritage.

Recife has a big carnival in February and we were taken to the Praco de Marco Zero where a large metal stage was being erected. Apparently this is the heart of the carnival celebrations. Here large crowds will gather for dancing and free concerts Sounds a riot. Mental note: Remind me not to come to Recife in February. I would find it all very difficult.

We moved on from there to the street of the Jews where there is the first Jewish synagogue to be built in the Americas.

The Jews sadly had, in Recife, their usual chequered history. Under the Portuguese they could be shipped back to Portugal for trial. During the Dutch period, however, they flourished, but when the Portuguese got back in power they fled to the Caribbean, New York and back to Amsterdam.

By now it was 28 degrees and the upstairs of the synagogue provided a cool resting place for us intrepid tourists….

From the synagogue we went along to a road with some wonderful street art. We had noticed this a lot around Recife. Generally the buildings give the impression of very faded glory with many of the colonial buildings looking pretty derelict. There was a general indication that there was very little money to maintain things. I get the distinct impression that there is no National Trust! The street art therefore gave some vibrant relief to the general down at heel look of the place.

We were nearly at the end of our tour, which was a bit of a relief as it was not only hot but very humid’. However, I could not end today’s missive without photos of perhaps the most odd art we saw. The meaning? Don’t ask. I listened carefully but I still could not tell you what it was about! They were sort of Trompe-L’oeil but three dimensional.

We then returned to the ship, feeling that we had not seen the best of Recife.… particularly when we heard others describe it as ‘a beautiful city’. (A very lovely beach area apparently. We never got to see it. Ed)

Lunch over we had a bit of free time before I took to the upper deck and my crossword. By this time it was circa 29 degrees. (And Keith keeping out of the sun trying out his new Bridge app. Ed0 They had taken the precaution of rolling back the roof of the indoor swimming pool, a good job because the with the glass roof on on the coolest of days there is a steamy chlorine smelling fug, but in today’s temperature they could have wiped out a few dedicated pool worshippers with the heat and vapours!

Back to the room after that for my second shower and fourth outfit of the day. On the way to dinner we met up with two of our favourite fellow diners, Gareth and Sian, who were out to watch the tug pulling the Aurora off her mooring. This evening view of Recife as we left it was courtesy of young Gareth.

We took the unusual decision to go and watch P and O’s resident dance team perform in the theatre – and very colourful it was too. I think Keith was less than impressed but I enjoyed it. (It was nice. Ed)

Then an early night as we were up before the sparrows this morning and we need to be on parade early tomorrow too. We are doing the Behind the Scenes Tour of the Aurora starting at 8.45. Mysteriously no ‘phones or photographs are allowed. Very odd. No doubt another tale to tell tomorrow!