Pretty in pink - green, blue and yellow

Movie shoot amongst the cloisters

The first capital of Brazil - Salvador de Bahia - is one of the oldest and best preserved colonial cities in the Americas.  

Since its establishment 500 years ago, a modern day city has grown around the old historical centre and now Salvador ranks as Brazil’s third biggest city after Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

This is the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture, with the bulk of Salvador’s population having descended from enslaved West Africans.  

The charm of old-town Salvador

The old city or Pelourinho, has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is rich in Portuguese architecture and spectacularly adorned churches dating back to the 17^th century.  

The upper and lower towns are linked by (apparently non-functioning) funiculars and the impressive 19^th century Elevador Lacerda.  

Just between friends

Time to go ladies

Turbaned women in voluminous lace-trimmed dresses posed for photos (which can end up being quite expensive) but it was all very good humoured.  

The “traditionally built” ladies sashayed in groups along the cobbled streets and added their own share of atmosphere to the old town. 

After a break for a deliciously cold Brazilian beer in a sidewalk café, we branched away from the main square’s impressive collection of churches, convents and monasteries.

Colourful buildings lined the narrow street constructed of particularly uneven cobbles, winding its way down a steep incline. The view ahead was a complex collection of colour and history - a veritable 1000 piece jigsaw in the making. 

Uneven cobbles made it hard to
look up and down at the same time

We reached the end of the cobbled hillside and were brought back down to earth with a bump.The old colonial past stood behind us and we were now in the midst of the population going about the hustle and bustle of their day in the commercial centre of town.