Salvador--Old Town

On Friday, our last full day in Brazil, we hired a tour guide to take us into Old Town Salvador.  We drove all through the city and parked very close to the Old Town Center of Salvador.  We walked all around and learned some of the local history.  At the edge of the Upper City at a bluff that overlooks the harbor (and right next to the square with government administrative buildings) is the Elevador Lacerda, which is a huge elevator that connects the Upper Town to the Lower Town, and was the first elevator installed in Brazil.  In the Lower Town, we hit the local handicraft market to pick up a few small gifts for the kids and Grammy Joan.  Just outside the market, there was a fruit stand selling mangoes, grapes, cherries and guava.  The smell was A.Mazing!  Our tour guide bought some mangoes to take home to his family and for he rest of the day, we got to smell fresh mango.

One of the best parts about Old Town was the colorful buildings.  Each individual building section had its own color scheme and it made for a delightful view down the city side streets.  I took this picture at an intersection looking down towards the edge of the Upper Town.

The last stop of the day was the highlight...a visit to Sao Francisco Church and Convent.  (This picture was taken inside the courtyard looking at the backside of the facade of the cathedral.)  Despite the rather austere exterior, the inside was extremely Baroque.  The walls were covered in blue tile images depicting says of the Roman poet Horace and the interior was entirely decorated in gold leaf.  Beautiful!

The day was so much fun...I loved Salvador!