The cobblestone streets of Salvador, Brazil’s original capital, are reminiscent of Raymond Chandler’s description of a particularly dynamic woman: “There are blondes, and then there are blondes. Of course, there are dozens of cities throughout the Americas with picturesque colonial-era architecture. But some, such as Cartagena or Charleston, awaken in travelers such a thirst for the picturesque that the fetid origins of the cities’ wealth are easily forgotten.
In the old town, perched atop a cliff on a peninsula at the mouth of Brazil’s largest bay, there are fascinating blocks of pastel-hued buildings, in the unbridled Portuguese Baroque. Daily doses of sea air and centuries of oblivion carry a nostalgic and ruinous image. Feel it all.
When gold and diamonds were discovered in the interior of Brazil in the 18th century, the capital was moved to Rio and Salvador’s centrality diminished. Over time, the city was claimed by the descendants of millions of people brought here as slaves: the other people who built the city. Today, it is the epicenter of Afro-Brazilian culture: art, faith, and especially music. Samba was born here and in the surrounding state of Bahia, and from noon until late at night. , the people sing and dance.
Salvador is in northeastern Brazil, a two-hour flight from Rio or Sao Paulo. The extension of the city extends to the peninsula and encompasses more than four million inhabitants, so traffic from the airport has been slow.
On the way, we stop at the Casa di Vina, a hotel and restaurant built around the former home of the poet Vinícius de Moraes, who wrote the lyrics to “The Girl from Ipanema. “In the 1970s he lived here with his seventh wife, the actress Gessy Gesse, who was a quarter of a century his junior. The dining spot, which preserves a monument to Moraes, opens onto a pool surrounded by palm trees and the sea across the street. In this tranquil setting, it was a good time to immerse yourself in Bahian cuisine with moqueca, a fish stew with coconut milk, tomatoes and peppers. In Bahia, it’s made with palm oil, which makes it heavier than I expected. It was already a delicious dish, this edition seemed to me to be all the more so because it was also cooked with bananas.
The historic center of Salvador is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and at its heart, in the square in front of the sumptuous Secret Church of São Francisco, is the Hotel Villa Bahia, my home for my stay. It consists of two adjacent residences, has 17 rooms spread over a few floors. The décor is understated but with a bit of flair here and there, an ideal selection for travelers who like things to look old without being run-down. The public spaces are striking: a pool in a green-tiled area. Courtyard surrounded by vaulted white stucco walls and a green, naturally lit breakfast terrace with creaky wood furniture and a bubbling stone fountain on the wall.
It’s also reasonable: A suite in the middle of the tourist season costs $250 a night.
At the back of the hill from the hotel is one of Salvador’s most famous attractions: the Balé Folklorico da Bahia. Three nights a week, at the small Miguel Santana Theater, the dancers go on a 45-minute power excursion showcasing regional dances that fuse African dances. , indigenous and European influences. That first night was the first time I saw capoeira, a desirable combination of dance and martial arts, and discovered the global of Candomblé, a syncretic faith from Bahia that fused West African religions with Christianity. I found it difficult to sit down during the ceremonies, but I was so fascinated that suddenly it was all over and I was heading to a parking lot in the shadow of the palace built as a retreat house for the Franciscan friars.
My advisor for the evening, Conor O’Sullivan of Tatur Turismo, took us to Amado. Located on the waterfront on the edge of Salvador’s business district, Amado has been open for about two decades and still ranks among the best of Salvador’s most productive restaurants. After dining here, understand why: everything is fine, service is quick but tidy, and it’s on the water.
The island of Frades.
My expectations about food for Salvador were non-existent: I had no concept and therefore no preconceived notions. Overall, my 4 days there, I ate at fantastic places. For lunch on the second day, I had dinner at Mistura, a glass-walled spot on the most sensitive part of the escarpment overlooking the city’s marina. Husband and wife Paolo Alfonsi and Andrea Ribeiro started years ago in a tent on the beach, and over time, it has become one of the most elegant places in the city. (Tip: Their melon and persimmon drink is delicious and light. ) A real treat was sitting at sunset on the terrace of the Antique Bistro. Here, on the grounds of one of the houses that line the western cliff of the city, I gorged myself to the point of pain with smoked rib meatballs and cubes of tapioca while sipping a purplish caipirinha made from jabuticaba berries.
The greatest dining experience, and one of the highlights of my entire stay in Brazil, took place at a small bungalow complex on the island of Frades. There are 91 islands in the bay, but the most popular is Frades, which has small towns and beaches and is reached via catamaran ferry. (If you can rent a boat for a day, do it. The catamarans are slow and the captain talks all the time, and one by one you will see the passengers in the captive market succumb and start buying drinks to get through Cape Town. Also , there are quiet, unspoilt beaches in other parts of the island that you want to access by boat). On the south side of the island, at Ponta de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, where the ferries drop off the crowds, you will find El Restaurante Preta. It is run by Angeluci Figueiredo, one of those restaurateurs that any city is lucky to have, who never stops moving and whose great ideas and hobbies can move a city and a network towards a better future. In the tropical confines of Preta, where some visitors stretched out in hammocks to sleep, the frenetic speed with which he traveled through the city nevertheless slowed.
Bahia Carnival House.
Eating and drinking well in good weather is fine and smart, but Salvador is also culturally rich. Two museums are worth visiting: the Cidade da Musica de Bahia, where you can explore the region’s deep and avant-garde musical culture, and the Casa do Carnaval da Bahia. The latter is in Portuguese and English, which is a plus because it’s a clever way to immerse yourself in what some consider the most extravagant urban party in the world: the Salvador Carnival. Rio is likely to attract more attention abroad, and in El Salvador millions of people party and dance in the streets for days. It’s a delight I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to enjoy given my aversion to crowds, but the videos, exhibits, and photographs are wonderful in showing how much more than just a party this occasion is: it’s a vital cultural occasion.
The amount of history and culture here can be intimidating for those of us who have no knowledge of Brazilian history. To get my bearings, one morning I went on a guided walking tour. We start by exploring the aforementioned Church of São Francisco, which even Alidea was secretly luxurious because although the exterior is understated, the interior is decorated with over a ton of gold, intricately carved jacaranda wood, and one of the largest tile collections in the world. Because the Portuguese were deeply religious, many of the stops are sacred in nature.
We take the Lacerda elevator, which goes up and down the cliff 72 meters. Even 150 years after it opened, it remains one of the busiest public elevators in the world. At its base is one of the most productive examples of Portuguese ornamentation at the height of its empire: Nossa Senhora Concepción. At the top, a plaza opens onto a once-grandiose side street that winds its way from the historic center through an advertising room and luxury add-on buildings built on top of what were once lavish mansions with views of the bay. The part of the side street closest to the historic center is in the midst of a renaissance thanks to the big hotel chains: Fasano’s hotel organization has repaired an old press office to turn it into one of its sumptuous outposts, and the Rosewood plans to repair it. and occupy the majestic Rio Branco Palace.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Homens Pretos.
Although it turns out that each and every church you see is “the first” of this or that in Brazil, two of the most prominent ones were closed when I went to see them. The first was the Igreja da Ordem Terceira do Carmo. I must have taken a few hundred pictures of him the first afternoon I arrived and wandered around the city. Its doors and windows are framed in intricately carved Lioz stone, a warm curtain used in Portugal’s royal buildings. Inside, however, lies one of the largest devotional statues in Brazil: a sculpture of Christ made by a self-taught black slave named Francisco Xavier das Chagas (the Carmelites owned slaves). The blood that flows on Christ’s face is not red paint. It was made by crushing over 2,000 rubies in whale oil!
The second church, Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, was the one that moved me the most. The history of this place of worship is strongly related to that of the city’s slaves: it was built for slaves and later became a congregation of former slaves and their descendants. Once a week, the public can attend a Catholic service here that incorporates the music of Candomblé.
Crossing off those elements would be the only explanation for why returning to this relaxing, desirable, and charming city. But there’s so much about Salvador that I couldn’t see. While out one night in San Antonio, a historic but less restored community in the city, now popular with young people at night, I couldn’t spend time at the popular Rio Vermelho. My layover was so crowded that I couldn’t enjoy the water here either, neither in the beach district of Barra nor in the strips of sand between the communities of Solar do Unhão and Gamboa de Cima e de Baixo that cling to the cliff under the road that borders the bay.
Too often, our way of traveling like sheep limits the maximum vacation in America to Brazil to Rio, São Paulo and Iguaçu, however, after this visit, I can’t believe returning to Brazil without taking another vacation in Salvador.
Former Travel Writer
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