We're Missing the Chile #16: Brasil Edition

Saludos from Brasil to all the "Chicken!" readers out there!

So this will be the first "Missing the Chile" post written by little CP herself! I am constantly reminded by big CP that the fans need their Chile, and all the spicy details (ha ha ha...chili joke... moving on). So, I am sorry for the lack of Chile postings... but i am here for the Brasil edition.

My latest adventure has been to Salvador de Bahia also known as the Capital of happiness! Salvador is the Capital of the Northeast state of Bahia. Also, an interesting little tidbit, Salvador is the third most populated Brasilian city (after Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro).

Salvador is very mountainous and whatever is not mountain is deep blue coastline. So beautiful! I loved it so much! One of my favorite things about the city was how it was built; how the houses and buildings were built in the mountains. It is an interesting mix of old and new, and when we drove down some of the narrow streets I could imagine the history and the start of this beautiful city.

The architecture is so beautiful! There are many sculptures, statues, and the really big elevator ! The fountain statue in the picture to the right is the "Fonte da Rampa do Mercado" ("Fountain of the Market Ramp"), which occupies the site of the old Mercado Modelo. The elevator in the left picture below is called Elevador Lacerda. It is like an elevator for a mountain that overlooked the ocean. It was huge and so interesting and it just goes top to bottom, it does not stop in the middle (and where would you go if it did?). The elevator is the first to ever be installed in Brazil (in 1873). It links the upper (Cidade Alta) and the lower (Cidade Baixa) parts of the city, which are divided by a huge escarpment some 85m high (with the cathedral and most of the buildings on the high ground and the Northwest region of the city on the lower ground near the shore). It was really, really huge!


That's all for now. Thank you Chicken! readers.

-Little CP

p.s. Archaeology nerd note (by big CP):

The Historic Centre of Salvador da Bahia was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. It was the city's centre during the Portuguese Colonial Period, and was named for the pillory (Pelourinho) that stood in the marketplace for almost 30 years in the early 1800s. According to UNESCO: "As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549 to 1763, Salvador de Bahia witnessed the blending of European, African and Amerindian cultures. It was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations. The city has managed to preserve many outstanding Renaissance buildings. A special feature of the old town are the brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work" (as shown in little CP's picture).