Gary in Thailand (and elsewhere)
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Salvador do Bahia, Part 2
Let's see...where was I? Oh yes. At the end of my last posting about Brazil (Sept 18) I started, but didn't finish, talking about the look of the city of Salvador.
The central square, or "Largo:" of Salvador's Pelourinho entertainment district
Salvador has a very striking urban landscape that's seems to me to be made up of four very different kinds of buildings.
1) Old and large (churches, government, commercial, and military buildings from the colonial and post-colonial period.
2) Old and small (residential and shophouse neighborghoods)
3) Ultra-modern highrises (commercial and residential)
4) Ramshackle brick shanties of the very poor
Interior detail in one of Salvadors numerous "Ingrejas" (churches)
Of the first type, there are something like 245 old churches in the city, many with wonderously ornate interiors. The city's Centro Historico (historical core) has quite a number of old government and military establishments, as well as commercial centres. For visitors, the heart of the historical district is Pelourinho, or "Pelo", several square blocks of colonial-era city that until pretty recently was abandoned and dangerous. City and state got serious about redevelopment and over a period of years turned the district into a car-free pedestrian zone and entertainment mecca that's heavily policed and very safe. The actual Largo Pelourinho (Pelourinho Square) is pictured at the top of this post, but the actual area of Pelo is much larger. Although over-commericialization is an issue, Pelo is a ton of fun for the visitor, with lots of cool stuff to eat, drink, buy, and listen to.
Homes and small shops in the neighborhood of Santo Antonio
Besides the imposing ancient structures, there are large sectors of older townhomes and shop houses, with a multitude of such structures scattered also in most areas. Although many of these buildings are worn and modest, there is an infinite variety of styles and sizes (right down to really small). These are now the homes of ordinary folk, though not, generally speaking, the poorest of the poor.
photo courtesy of Matthias Grob
Adding a complete contrast to all of this wonderful, but very aged, architecture, there are dozens and dozens of super-modern highrise buildings, both residential and commercial. These seem to appear everywhere, towering over historical neighborhoods and tenements, and it creates quite an effect. Quite a few of the cities residents live in residential towers, and many more live in smaller blocks.l
Luckily for me, my buddy Matthias has recently created a photographic study of the city's modern buildings. You can have a look at http://matthias.grob.org/pArqui/salvadorarqui.html
A pocket of Salvador shantytown
Along with all of this relatively upscale architecture, the city includes big areas occupied by the very poor with pockets scattered everywhere. The homes in these sections are made with brick and some concrete. Generally, the brick is not plastered over, creating a distinctive "brick shithouse" look. You see large neighborhoods of this style all over Salvador. I understand that most visitors (and many residents) never see the biggest of these urban village slums because they sprawl through valleys cut off from view from other areas.
Traveling around in town, I'm treated daily to an ever-changing panorama of buildings of all ages, sizes, styles, and costs per square foot. The effect is unlike that of any other city I've visited, and continues to fascinate me.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Here's What I'm Missing
I'm in Brazil for two more weeks, and I promise to get more information about Salvador and Bahia up here soon. It's a blast.
But meanwhile, I'm missing the annual Elephant Polo tournament in Hua Hin.
(photo courtesy of International Living)
You can read all about it at http://www.internationalliving.com/
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Brazil!
I've been in the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia in Brazil's Northeast for almost two weeks now. I've been waiting for a good story, or an overall narrative, to emerge to make a posting but it doesn't seem to be happening that way. I've had lots of interesting experiences, but no one single item that seems worth a whole post. So I'm going to make one long, maybe rambling, post.
You may wonder how I ended up in Brazil, and in this particular city. The answer is that I'm lucky enough to have a very good friend, Matthias, who lives here.
Matthias is a musician, engineer, and philosopher from Switzerland who located here 11 years ago. I met Matthias years ago through my work with musical electronics. Matthias does many interesting things, and maintains an extensive web site at http://matthias.grob.org/. You can get samples of his music here, which I highly recommend, buy his CDs, and read about his fascinating musical inventions and musings on life, the universe, and everything.
Matthias has a lovely apartment near the center of Salvador, and was kind enough to invite me to stay here for the month. His home is in a very lovely complex of houses and small apartment buildings that all face onto a lovely private park. It's serene and very secure, and I have my own bedroom. It really feels like living here, if only for a month. Matthias also has a lot of musical instruments and full shop for any projects I feel like getting into. It's a great setup for me.
Salvador turns out to be a wonderful city, one of my favorite places in the world. If I hadn't settled in Thailand, I might well be here. It's similar to where I live in some ways, and in other ways very different
Salvador is the third-largest city in Brazil (after Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), with about 3 million inhabitants. It's a good size for a city, I think, big enough to have lots of activity and variety, but not so big that it's ovewhelming. It's also a very lovely city, the oldest in Brazil, built on beautiful bay of Todos os Santos, which is larger than San Francisco Bay and very nearly as gorgeous. Like SF, Salvador is a city of hills and valleys, so that there as you travel about, you frequently encounter beautiful views of the ocean, bay, and other parts of the city.
Unlike SF, Salvador is ringed by wonderful swimming beaches with white sand and warm water. Parts of the city face onto the open ocean, and the surf can be substantial. Other parts face onto the bay, so that the beaches are calm and protected. By selecting the beach you go to, you can have a wide range of experiences, all nice. And you can be sure that people do take advantage of the situation. On any given day, you'll find dozens to hundreds of people at any beach you choose to go to. And has been famously noted, Brazilian women can look very good in their bathing suits! (Pictured are two new friends, Leda and Isabelle).
The buildings and architecture of Salvador are also fascinating and attractive, with a unique combination of ultra-modern high-rises and nearly ancient colonial-era buildings. Salvador was the original capitol of the colony of Brazil, and there are numerous examples (whole sectors, actually) of governmental, residential, and commercial buildings from this era, starting from the early 1500s, as well as older buildings post-independence (Brazil became its own country in 1822).
