We were in this very pleasant city in 2009 and not much has changed. It is about a five to six block walk from the ship to the elevators that take you up to the old city. There is a large waterfront market where you can stop on the way or coming back.

                                           Elevator to the Old City

      The Office Building Across from the Terminal Reflecting the Ship. 

We tried to stand on our balcony to see if we could see ourselves in the reflection.  We could not.  Our balcony is too far down where the reflection gets less clear.

The church is quite lovely to see as we remember.  There is a lot of gold leaf on the outside as you can tell from the picture above.

The people in the colorful costumes want a dollar to take their picture which is a bargain.  You may see dancers doing what they call a “kick dance”.

On Sundays (today is Friday) you may go to the “hippie craft fair”.  The goods that are sold are of quality.  The name comes from the year this craft fair was started.  We understand it was some time in the sixties.  One of the purchases a passenger made last year was some type of zippered purse that zips to be very small and can unzip to be really big.  The passenger said it sold for 3 for $10.  We have not seen this item yet. 

This morning in our cabin mail slot was a letter from Holland telling us about Rio de Janeiro where we stop in a few days.  The letter states all sorts of precautions which should be taken ashore including NOT going to the slum areas (wherever they are).  The military have been called in to aid the police in those areas.  We were planning to take a helicopter ride to see the Christ The Redeemer statue from the air.  We are still discussing whether or not we will be doing this trip.

Last night was a formal night.  It was pitiful that the daily planner had to remind the passengers how to dress and that they had a choice to go to the Lido if they decided not to dress for dinner.  Times are sure different than they were.