Here we are - our 2nd day at Carnival - and we are having a blast. The mornings of Carnival are spent at Olinda, a short 20 minute bus ride from the hotel. Its hot and crazy there. There are massive water gun fights in the streets. I'm usually in a group of 15-17 mostly Americans who mostly have really big super soaker guns....one even has a 2 gallon backpack attached to it!. We present a pretty nice target for the people in the streets....they attack us with their little pistols and then run laughing and screaming when they feel the brunt of 7-8 guns aiming for them - everybody is having a great time.
In the evenings, (after siesta), we go to Recife Antigua were our hosts (Doug and Luciana) have reserved a table for us. Having a table is fabulous. You really don't have to walk around very much since all the bands and dancers and people in costume are on an endless parade. There's tons to see and fabulous music to listen and move to.
The trip was mostly uneventful. I did have to remove my boots at the security check point in Austin, but of course, I didn't mind that at all. We flew from Austin to Dallas to Sao Paulo (that last leg was a nearly 10 hour, overnight trip). Since we had a 7 hour layover in Sao Paulo, we took a bus to the Ave Paulista and walked around. There was a beautiful, shaded park across the street from a museum where we ended up taking a nap until it was time to head back to the airport. We couldn't do much else since it was Sunday and during Carnival....apparently EVERYTHING closes down during Carnival (except the Internet Cafe - Thank God!). From Sao Paolo, our plane made 3 stops before getting to Recife....it's really screwed up my ears - one is clogged. Luckily, I'm already taking antibiotics for an absessed tooth my dentist discovered before leaving Austin.
Posted by jfer at February 12, 2002 11:44 AM