Recife,
Unique for its waterways and reefs
Churches, public
squares, tree-lined streets and people always ready to help whenever
there's a need. Beautiful handicrafts and folklore. Upbeat, contagious
music. With just a little bit of luck, you can have it all at the same
time while enjoying a cachaça (cane liquor) or icy beer, accompanied by
a well-fried "agulha" fish, at one of the many little bars at
Patio de São Pedro. A city that synthesized the Northeast, Recife is
all the same the city of contrasts. Happiness and sadness meet your eyes
at the first contact. From the poor districts to the rich residential
areas. From the floods to the beautiful sunny days. From the stagnant
marshlands to the
beautiful, well-kept beaches. From the man in his clean Bermudas sipping
beer at a beachside bar to the man stuck in the mud looking for crabs.
From the modern to the historical, among rocks and cannons.
That's Recife, a city that received its name from the Portuguese word
meaning reef, of which there are many along its coast. Recife is one
Brazil's most important cities, where the new lives peacefully with the
old, represented by enormous patrimony of Baroque architecture and the
most modern bars, nightclubs, hotels clubs, shops and communications
systems.
The city was born out of a fishing village. Its life, for this reason,
continues to be connected with the sea and the many rivers and streams
that cross it, over which lie many bridges, earning Recife the nickname
"of "the Brazilian Venice".
Pernambuco offers
great beaches
In Recife as in the entire state of Pernambuco, the sun shines all year
round, and although summer only lasts from September to March, it never
gets too cold in this land of blue sky and green sea, never below some
68 Fahrenheit. There are beaches galore along the 180 km coastline of
the state, almost all of them linked to Recife by paved roads. There are
the urban beaches of Pina, Piedade, Candeias, Venda Grande, Rio Doce and
Casa Caiada. There's the island of Itamaraca. There are the beach towns
of Ponta das Pedras, Conceição, Maria Farinha, Baibu, Barra de
Sirinhaém, Tamandaré, São José da Cora Grande. And there are the
deserted beaches of Carne de Vaca, Tabatinga, Catuama, Paiva, Guadalupe,
Serrambi, Porto de Galinha, Calheta, Porto de Xareu, Cocaia and Ponta
dos Franceses. Something for everyone.
Connoisseurs say that Pernambuco'Carnival, particularly that of Recife,
is the purest in Brazil. For 10 days, people dance on the streets to the
rhythms of maracatus, caboclinhos and frevos, music different from that
from other states, specially Rio de Janeiro.
Olinda, a
historical site
Olinda is a kind of strongbox where the history of Brazil is kept under
lock and key. In the tropical landscape there are monuments, works of
art ruins from the 16th century on the wide terraces, church façades
and sloping hills that offer a panoramic view of the sea. Just a few
minutes north of Recife, Olinda is a busy city with 200,000 inhabitants
and numerous historical and artistic attractions.
Founded in 1535, Olinda was the most important trading post in
17th-century Brazil. It was also the capital of the province of
Pernambuco and of the Dutch colony that settled there in the 16th
century. It is today one of the Brazilian towns with the largest number
of officially protected areas and, since 1982, has been an important
part of UNESCO's World Heritage list.