Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Exploring Daytime Bahia

While the old centro of Bahia at night is crowded and intense, during the day it's a tourist mecca. There's a huge crafts market (Mercado Modelo)that's windswept by the fresh salty air of the harbor. Getting there involves taking a 7-cent elevator ride down to the edge of the harbor. Tour busses abounded as did mother-hen guides and their bewildered charges. Needless to say, I sorted it out on my own. The necklaces were wild and fun...and I bought and bought:)

After awhile I found my way onto the cobblestone paths of the old city and just took it all in. While I had a list of museums I hoped to see, mostly I just wandered into galleries and photographed the delicious old architecture and playful harbor. Every so often I'd wander off into the local peoples shops where the hot sale items were things like bikini underwear...

As night fell, I queried (in very broken Portuguese) where I might catch a bus over to Aeroclub. Eventually, someone walked me over to a spot and I waited. It's such a very strange sensation to be on a dizzying ride all over a largely unknown city just trusting that at some later moment the bus will stop at this little outpost where I know the pathway up to one particular house. It's certainly an exercise of immense surrender and trust...

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