Around South America in 80 Days

March 3, 2019

Fortaleza, Brazil

I signed up for a “Do Brazil Right” tour of the city. We docked at 8:00 and I was off by 8:15. We were scheduled to meet at 8:30 and I was one of the last ones there!

Our first stop was at the Iracema Beach Statue. Iracema is a character in a sad Brazilian story by Jose de Alancar. Her name is an anagram of America.

Next, we went to the theater that memorializes the author of Iracema. It’s a beautiful theatre but the seats don’t look comfortable.

The Metropolitan Cathedral was our next stop. Although it looks very old but was only finished about 40 years ago. Our guide, Raphael, mentioned that unlike many cathedrals with numerous depictions of various saints, this one only has Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Beautiful stained glass windows adorn this otherwise fairly plain church. It holds 5,000 people and is the third largest in Brazil.

Just around the corner from the cathedral is the Mercado Central. It is a multi-story center for all kinds of products including some locally made products. We had an hour to walk around but my only purchase was a magnet. I did find an ATM that accepted my card and gave me money!

The final stop was at the beach. It seems like everyone in Fortaleza was there. I had an ice cream bar that was crème brulee flavored.

We were back a little after 1 pm since we had a 2 pm departure. Before departure we had our last muster drill. This was another inside one only this was because of the heat (our last was because of the cold).

Sherita, Pat, and I went to the Crow’s Nest to knit before afternoon trivia. We had 12 out of 20 correct but two teams tied with 15.

1) In what year did Diana and Prince Charles divorce?

2) In 1294, Pope Celestine V was the first pope to do what?

3) What famous actor played Phillip Chandler in St. Elsewhere?

4) How many white keys on a standard piano?

5) Name the code names for the five invasion beaches of D-Day.

In evening trivia we did even worse with only 9 out of 19 (winners had 12).

1) How many freckles did Howdy Doody have?

2) Only two states have official beverages. One is Florida with orange juice. Another has tomato juice as their official beverage. What state is it?

3) How many bills does a player receive at the start of a game of Monopoly?

4) How many of the trophies for the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments are gold and how many silver?

5) How many exposures were on the film that came with Kodak’s first box camera in 1888?

All present for dinner. I had French onion soup, fruit, Carne Asada, and a butterscotch sundae for dessert.

I skipped the magician.

From my deck