March 1, 2019

Recife, Brazil

Everyone I spoke with agreed that Recife is not their favorite port.  There were some old buildings that could have been beautiful but were not kept up.  Most of the newer buildings were ugly and run down looking.  There was a lot of trash on the streets and in the harbor.

Because Recife is a busy cargo port we had to take a shuttle to the terminal.  It has a relatively new cruise terminal with virtually nothing in it.  You had to go upstairs, walk around and then walk back down to get out. 

Pat and I took the shuttle bus to the Casa da Cultura.  The is an old prison that has been turned into a market with the old cells now souvenir shops.  We looked around for about two hours and picked up a few things.  While we were inside the rain started.  It was only drizzling when we were walking to the shuttle bus but there were some major downpours on the way back to the ship.  We saw a number of venues preparing for the Carnival festivities which will be on through Tuesday.

We were back onboard by 1:45.  Sherita, Pat, Patty, Tom, and I had lunch together by the Lido pool (the rain had stopped by then).  Pat and I did some knitting in the Crow’s Nest before afternoon trivia.  We had 17 out of 21 and tied with one other team for the win.

1) In which present-day country is Timbuktu?

2) If you had an Eames original, what is it most likely to be?

3) In Happy Days, what was the Fonz’s secret fear?

4) The tourist and health resort called Spa is in what country?

5) What bird is associated with Lundy Island?

Bonus: Name the five largest Spanish speaking countries (by population).

We only had 14 out of 21 for evening trivia.  The winners had 17.

1) How is Force 12 on the Beaufort Scale described?

2) What budding track star passed up the 1956 Olympics to launch his singing career?

3) What popular sweet stuff has a name derived from the Aztec words for “bitter water”?

4) In what country was the metric system invented?  For a bonus point, in what year?

5) Which US state consumes the most SPAM?

Only four of us for dinner.  I had a spring roll, a salad, fish and chips (the fish was rather fishy tasting), and a caramel sundae for dessert.

I skipped the show again.

From my deck

In the terminal

Street scenes

Casa da Cultura

Afternoon trivia

1) Mali

2) Chair

3) Liver

4) Belgium

5) Puffin

Bonus: Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela

Evening trivia

1) Hurricane strength

2) Johnny Mathis

3) Chocolate

4) France, 1790 (if you were within 10 years you got the point)

5) Hawaii

Smooth sailing until next time!