Brazil pics - Part Two!

Okay, time for some more pics from my Xmas trip which now seems like yonks ago. Hope you all enjoy...

These are all from the market in Porto Seguro, and what a gorgeous place it is! The market opens in the evening rather than daytime and boasts 2km of stalls - loads to see then. It was lovely wandering around and sampling lots of sellers' wares and taking in the atmosphere ...

I love the brightly coloured buildings in the background. "Coco Gelado" is chilled coconut water, in case you didn't know, senors and senoras.

The atmosphere in the market was both relaxed and vibrant.

Some t-shirt shops ...

There were also lots of bars, cafes and restaurants where you could sit and people watch ... I didn't take my camera with me (damnit!) but one other evening we found this excellent upstairs bar called "Crystal Blue" - a high tec affair with white sofas and neon lighting but also with a lovely open air balcony where you could sit and look down on the market and also out to sea ... bliss. We walked in and they were playing The Gibson Brothers track "Cuba", followed by various other cheese classics. Naturally I was in heaven immediately.

Confession time, people. One of my dreams has actually been to own and run my own bar playing all my favourite music and having all my fave customers around ... Gustavo and I have actually discussed this before and this place was exactly what I would have chosen, given the opportunity! The only downside to "Crystal Blue" was the lack of clientele i.e. there were about 5 people in the whole joint and anyone who came in usually stayed for a drink then left rapidly after. One of the reasons I think is that Brazilians don't really go in for "cheese" and retro stuff - they're too far away from Europe to be influenced by all that and tend to go for more anthemic, crowd-pleasing, music ... so sadly the bar wasn't a success in that respect, only for old cheesers like me. We actually got talking to the managaress of the place, who was, erm, somewhat tartily dressed in a short skirt and high heels and was constantly up and dancing amongst the customers, in a bit of a desperate attempt to whip up a party atmosphere (I hope she doesn't ever read this, then again, I don't think she could speak much English). Her frenetic and funny gyrations didn't really produce the desired effect though and I felt sorry for her. She told us she was selling the place, ostensibly because she had to move further North in Brazil because of another job, and also asked if we were interested in purchasing it!! Well, we never got back to her ... Somehow I suspect the real reason for her selling up was the lack of business, which as I said was a shame, given that the place had so much potential. Oh well, maybe one day for me, eh?

Also in the market were loads of homemade cocktails stalls - using natual ingredients and fruit! There were some truly delicious drinkies to sample ... and cheap too.

Great display in the background eh? I'm drinking a caipirinha, one of Brazil's national cocktails - and it's bloody gorgeous!

Gustavo gets in in the cocktail action. Mmmm what a lot of fruits! Er, that's the ones in the BACKGROUND, not foreground, okaaaaaaaayy??!

Great display though, isn't it? So colourful, and boy, must take some setting up ...

Whilst perusing the stalls I couldn't resist trying on these "shades" ... there were lots of items to sample and see ...

... including food! These cakes were mouthwatering (not that I actually tried any - missed my chance there ... )

And clothes - lots of T-shirts - very popular, but then in a 35 degree climate, who needs to wear a jumper??

Cute, eh?

And art! I loved this painting of the ladies in hats.


This is a bit of a stunning one too. I quite would have liked to have taken one home with me, but sadly couldn't squeeze it into my suitcase ...

And there was streetdancing ...

At the end of our market excursion, we went for a meal to one of the restaurants and were serenaded by this amazingly eccentric guy! That's a drum round his neck, which looks like it was made out of a dustbin - well, perhaps it was! He proceeded to play in all manner of ways, creating loads of incredible rhythms and sounds. I was in awe, and it shows you can make music and beats with the most basic of materials ...

That's one of Gustavo's sisters in the foreground and her hubbie!