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Africa Algeria Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024

Museums, Monuments, & Massacres: Day 2 in Algiers

My first day in Algiers had been sunny, but on my second day in Algiers, it was pouring rain. Not a little rainfall, but a heavy, relentless torrent. I was soaked through before I had an opportunity to buy an umbrella. I didn’t realize it until later, but the rain had ruined my passport, washing away the details and colours of my photo until I looked like an apparition. Fortunately, the rain was only a morning problem. By the afternoon, the sun was out, and we began to dry off.

I met my guide Rasha (from Fancy Yellow Algeria) at my hotel, and we embarked on a day tour of Algiers, which was about eight hours. This was the first time, I think, that I have ever had a female guide, which a nice change. We started by retracing my steps from the previous day, but this time, I got to see some extra, hidden places in the casbah. Mosques and dwellings were revealed to me behind closed doors. We went to a bombed-out building where the photos of Algerian heroes hung.

*Too many casbah photos? Well then they shouldn’t make it to photogenic.*

The French colonization of Algeria was a theme.

The French were there from about 1830 to July 1962. The French brought more than beautiful buildings and a European café scene; they brought death and destruction. The tales of horrors committed by the French against the Algerians were extreme: rape, torture, burying people alive, throwing them off cliffs, and worse. This was particularly bad when the Algerians fought for their independence and the French retaliated during the Algerian War (1954-1962). While travel tends to teach me that that people are basically kind, history teaches me that we have always done terrible things to each other and probably always will.

We climbed up to a rooftop and had coffee whilst overlooking the city and the sea.

After a very nice lunch, we took the subway to the botanical gardens. The subway is limited in terms of how much it covers, but is a proper, functioning metro.

We walked through the gardens, which were stunning. Interestingly, it formed the location setting for many of the shots from the 1932 movie “Tarzan the Ape Man”. Which was shot mostly in Algiers but many of the jungle scenes specifically in the botanical gardens. The tree and lagoon from the movie are still there.

From the top of the botanical gardens, we took a gondola up to the Museum of Fine Arts. It is one of the largest Fine Arts museums in Africa and has a good collection of European and Algerian art. The museum seemed to be almost empty at the time that we were there which made for a nice experience.

From the museum we walked over to the monument of Algerian independence, a huge and imposing structure with an eternal flame the countries independence and those who died in the struggle. There is also a small museum just underneath it which isn’t a great museum but it does provide a lot of information about the war and if you enjoy viewing awkward mannequins recreating historical torture, you might really dig it.

We took the subway back downtown and parted ways. It had been an excellent and educational tour. My time in Algiers did feel a little bit rushed, because it was a little bit rushed, but I was happy with what I had seen. I had the evening free to myself. I walked around at night, feeling even more comfortable today than I had the day before and took pictures of buildings and mosques as the call to prayer rang out.

I had done some research on where to smoke cigars. I saw almost no one in Algiers smoking shisha, which was a bit surprising to me, but it just doesn’t really have that scene. I also looked into where I could smoke cigars inside and there seemed to be no real answer. I found one blog for many years ago that referenced a restaurant where smoking was allowed but I couldn’t find it anymore. However, I did find a peculiar restaurant that had both smoking and non-smoking sections and I decided to go there. It was called the Brasserie des Facultés and was a watering hole/bistro across from the university. And they do in fact have a smoking section. I was delighted. The place felt wonderfully 1970s. I ordered some dinner and enjoyed a Romeo y Julieta along with it. How civilized.

Dinner, like my lunch in Algiers, was bland. Couscous or noodles with vegetables served in a tagine. Not offensive, just bland, I longed for spicy sauces.

But good food was just around the corner as I was about to leave for France. Algeria deserves more of my time, and I definitely plan to go back to visit the desert vistas of the South, but for now this is all I would see. The next morning, the third day after I arrived in Algiers, I was on the 6:15 AM flight to Nice.

Europe United Kingdom Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

London Layover: Notting Hill

At the end of my trip to Zimbabwe and Zambia, I flew home to Vancouver from Lusaka via London. I had about an 8-hour layover and, as is my preference, there was no way I was going to spend that time at the airport.

I’ve written a lot of posts about my layovers in London. I’ve even gone into the city with as little as a 5-hour layover and it’s always been worth my time. I’ll say what I’ve said before, which is to make the most of a layover in London a few things are really helpful: if you’re a carry-on luggage person like I am, quickly stash your bag at the left luggage office at the airport. I always take the Heathrow Express into London – with a short layover, there’s no time to be messing around with any other form of transportation. I pre-buy my tickets for the Heathrow Express so I don’t have to stop and buy them on arrival; I just have the ticket on my phone and scan it and get right onto the train.

I usually have some kind of an idea about what I want to do. Sometimes I just go and smoke cigars on Saint James Street, other times I’ll pick a specific museum, or an area that I want wander around in. This time, I decided to visit Notting Hill. Upon arrival at Paddington Station, I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate. (I could have walked, but I didn’t have an abundance of time.)

I don’t think I had been to Notting Hill since I lived in London many years ago (and well before that movie was out). It was a delightful place to spend some time walking around. I was there too early to enjoy the market, but I walked the streets and enjoyed the colourful buildings and stopped and had several coffees, which were necessary after my red eye flight from Lusaka. London is truly one of my favourite places in the world and I will never miss an opportunity to visit it. It was a perfect end to my trip.

Africa Zambia Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

The Road to Lusaka

I had done what I set out to do in Livingstone, including visiting the Devil’s Pool, and my trip was drawing to a close. I decided to fly home from Lusaka, rather than return to Harare. Why not see a new city, even if only for a day or so? I needed to figure out how to travel from Livingstone to Lusaka.

Lusaka is the capital of Zambia and is not too far away from Livingstone. You can fly, but most of the flights were routed through Johannesburg, making it a needlessly long journey. There is also the bus, which is cheap and seems to run on schedule from a big, new bus station in Livingstone and takes about seven hours. Or you can drive. I was set to take the bus, but I met this nice taxi driver in Livingstone – let’s call him Max (not his real name) and I liked him so much that I asked if he would drive me. He wanted to visit some of his kids in Lusaka, so we worked out a deal and he drove me the whole way. It was faster than the bus (giving me more time in Lusaka) and we got to make stops.

Changing Money & Getting a Snack (not very good, as it turned out)

The drive was pleasant. Max had a comfortable car, and I enjoyed chatting with him about his life and family. We drove though small towns or cities along the way (Zimba, Koloma, Choma, Batoka, Pembo, Chisekesi, Menze, and more), stopping for snacks and coffee. About halfway through the journey I finally asked Max about the music he was playing, as we had been listening to the same CD on repeat. (I didn’t know what it was, but I make a small video and ‘Shazaamed’ it later.) It was an Irish boy band called ‘Westlife’ that I had never heard of. It just seemed an odd choice for a Zambian man in his mid 40s. Monga said he didn’t know who the band was. He had just bought the car used and the CD was in the player and, as the car menus were all in Japanese, he hadn’t yet figured out how to change the music. So, Westlife was the soundtrack to the journey.

En route it was wonderful to see some of the landscapes as well as catching fleeting glimpses of daily life.

We arrived in Lusaka about midday. The traffic in the city was awful. We crawled along once we reached the city limits, but I go my first glimpses of Lusaka. A busy, not terribly attractive place.

I checked into my hostel, Lusaka Backpackers, which was a nice little place. I had a private cabin-type of room, which, unfortunately, I shared with many small cockroaches, so I slept with the lights on both nights, but it was well located and I could walk to the museum and other central locations, so it was ok.

Lusaka Backpackers Hostel

More about Lusaka in the next post as I explore Zambia’s capital.

Africa Zimbabwe Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

Victoria Falls, the Town

I flew from Harare, Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls (the town), Zimbabwe. The reason for my trip to Zimbabwe was to visit Victoria Falls, the falls. Not surprisingly Victoria Falls the falls is in Victoria Falls the town. I didn’t have much in the way of expectations about the town, but I did want to leave myself a little bit of time to explore it, so I had set aside enough time to visit the falls, explore the town, and do a day trip into Botswana to go on a safari drive. All of this was accomplished, and two of the three things were wonderful. Victoria falls the town… It was OK.

There are a lot of land transportation options between Harare and Victoria Falls, and if I had a little bit more time, I would have done that, but I was on a ten day holiday from work, so I took a flight a direct flight to Victoria Falls the town on an airline called Fast Jet, which lived up to its name. Upon arrival at the airport, I took a taxi to my accommodations the Victoria Falls Backpacker Lodge.

The accommodations were fine. This place had dorms, private cabins, spaces where you could park your van if you were doing a road trip, it had an outdoor kitchen under a little hut, and a small swimming pool, and areas for hanging out. It was actually quite pleasant to look at.

Most of the accommodations in Victoria Falls are set quite far from the town. This was no exception. This turned out to be one of the things they didn’t like about Victoria Falls – the lack of walk-ability. Every time I wanted to go to or from my accommodations and the town, I either had to walk or arrange a driver. I don’t like arranging a driver because it’s expensive (not really expensive; it’s just that I’m cheap) and I had to wait around for one to show up. The walk wasn’t really that far (about 40 minutes), but in the daytime it was blisteringly hot and at night it was pitch black and wasn’t particularly safe due to…animals. I’ll come back to that.

I stayed in one of the little huts at the lodge; a self-contained unit with a thatched roof and two beds with mosquito nets. No AC, no fan, shared bathroom, very dark. It was OK. A fan would have been great, as it was so hot and mosquito-y. I didn’t love my accommodations also because there often was no one at the front desk so if I did want things like, say, a fan or a bottle of water or a driver into the city, there was just no one to ask. And although there were people staying there, I didn’t see any of them, so there was no fun backpacker vibe. I probably wouldn’t stay there again, but if you’re a little more self-sufficient and driving I think it would be a decent spot. Or if you are willing to spend more money, there are really nice-looking lodges a little farther away on the river where hippos will practically serve you dinner.

Shortly after my arrival, I did go into the city and had the driver deliver me to the entrance to Victoria Falls. (I will write about that in another post.) After the falls, I browsed around various craft markets. There’s one right at the entrance to the falls and there’s another one called the Elephant’s Walk. This one I enjoyed quite a lot, as there are lots of crafts, little shops, and a café. It’s a nice place to take a rest. Other than that, there’s really nothing in Victoria Falls. It’s not an attractive town, it doesn’t have much in the way of interesting areas to look at, and it is entirely built for tourists.

At Elephant’s Walk

It just doesn’t feel like a real place it just feels like a bunch of tourist amenities. Most of the restaurants are very much geared towards tourists: brew pubs and pizza restaurants and that sort of thing. Also, and this is kind of a niche complaint, there is absolutely no place that I could find to buy matches or a lighter. They took my lighter away from me at the airport in Harare, so I needed to buy some way to light my cigars. I asked everyone I could find and no one had any idea. I went to a supermarket, a gas station, a convenience store, a liquor store, and a hardware-type store, and none of them had matches or lighters. Not even the places that were selling barbecues and firewood. I eventually was gifted a box of matches from waiter at a restaurant. That half full box of matches became precious.

On my last night I went to a restaurant called Mama Africa’s, which I really enjoyed and would recommend. I met a nice couple there from South Africa, who were planning to drive the length of the continent. They were nice and we had a good chat. This restaurant and its atmosphere, felt more authentic, but the rest of it wasn’t for me.

dinner at Mama Africa

I had another nice evening though where I met up for dinner at a restaurant called the 3 Monkeys with an American fellow that I knew of through Instagram and Twitter, who happened to be there at the same time as me. Another crazy world traveler person. That was fun. It’s always interesting to meet up with real life people that you met on social media. That night, after dinner, I caught a ride with his driver who agreed to drop me off at my accommodations. As we were driving, on the side of the road in the darkness, were two elephants. It was incredible. I could barely even see them. I could just make out their black silhouettes against the black sky with just a hint of moonlight, and I could certainly hear them stomping and crunching through the brush period. My first wildlife sighting on this trip. Being just a few meters away from elephants out having a nighttime walk was amazing. No pictures. Too rapt in awe.

I did see other animals while I was in Victoria Falls. Walking between my accommodations on the town I saw big warthogs, which was pretty neat. I found out from locals that not only are there elephants and warthogs at night, but also potentially hippos, which are the most dangerous animal in the world. So that is why it’s not safe to walk around late at night in Victoria Falls.

My visit to the falls was excellent, my day trip into Botswana was very good, and I had a couple of decent meals out, but otherwise I did not like Victoria Falls the city and I was content to leave. It’s not a place you visit for the city; it’s just a base from which to do excursions and activities, like visiting Chobe National Park or Victoria Falls, the falls, both of which were great.

Onward to Zambia.

Balkans Trip 2023 Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe Montenegro

Bus from Sarjevo to Podgorica

I decided to take the bus from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Podgorica, Montenegro. I was flying home from Podgorica, Montenegro so I needed to get there, and the bus was the cheapest and best option. I might have flown, but none of the flights were direct or cheap. I am happy I took the bus. It was easy, cheap, and very fast. Train was not an option.

I bought my bus ticket from the bus station on the morning I was leaving. It cost about $30 CDN. It was supposed to be about a seven-hour journey, but it ended up taking less than six. The bus was a basic minibus. Comfortable, but totally full, so I was glad I arrived early enough to get a ticket. Not everyone was so lucky.

The journey was pleasant. We made two to three short stops (in Foča and Nikšić); enough to use the washroom and buy water.

The scenery was stunning. Mountain villages to bright blue lakes to steep mountain passages. I listened to music and enjoyed the journey.

At the border, we crossed at the Hum border crossing, they took our passports and stamped them. No questions. And we were in Montenegro. A new country to explore.

Sooner than expected we arrived in Podgorica, at a small, brutalist, concrete bus station. I walked to my hotel, ready to see what the capital of Montenegro had to offer.

Balkans Trip 2023 Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe

Day Trip to Mostar

Following my busy first day in Sarajevo, on my next day in Bosnia and Herzegovina I went to Mostar. I wanted to see a little bit of the countryside and also, I wasn’t going to leave the country without seeing the famous bridge. Mostar is a small city about 130 kilometres away from Sarajevo and is famous for having a beautiful Ottoman era bridge: Stari Most, which, not so creatively, means “old bridge”. This also gave me a great opportunity to take the train.

Train from Sarajevo to Mostar

To get to Mostar is easy; you can drive, take the train, or take the bus. There are lots of train and bus schedules per day and they take roughly the same amount of time. But I wanted to take the train. The first train in the morning was 7:15am so I left my hostel early and walked to the train station in Sarajevo. (I probably should have just taken a tram to the station, which would have been faster as there is a stop right there, but it was a pleasant time for a walk.) The 1949 train station is this interesting communist era functionalist structure, concrete with high ceilings and Olympic murals. And best of all, people were smoking inside. I went to the ticket office and queued up in front of a man who sold tickets and stamped papers with a demeanour that I would also describe as communist era and functionalist. It really felt like I was transported to another time.

The ticket was 22 Bosnian Marks round-trip. That’s about $16.00 Canadian.

The trip takes just under 2 hours and it is utterly delightful. The most gorgeous scenery passes: small villages, green hills, and lakes and rivers. And the seats are quite comfortable. I visited the gleaming dining car and got coffee, which was fine. (Don’t count on much in the way of snacks.)

We arrived at the train station in Mostar. From the train station, it is a short walk to the historic part of the city and the bridge. The newer part of the city is perfectly fine but not completely charming. The best thing that I saw on the way to the historic centre was a building of indeterminate former use that had fallen into disrepair and covered in graffiti.

Into the heart of Mostar

The historic centre of Mostar is what I was there to see (along with everyone else). Cobble-stoned alleys and shops, pretty buildings, restaurants, a bridge, and a river (Neretva River). The streets with shops are extremely touristy but very nice to walk. The closer you get to the bridge, the thicker the tourists get, crowding around to take perfect shots of themselves standing in front of the bridge. I can’t really blame them; it is gorgeous, and if I had been traveling with someone who wanted to take my picture maybe I would have done that too.

But before I was ready to delve into the throngs around the bridge, I wanted coffee. There are several cute little cafes perched on the cliffs high above the river that offer excellent views. I picked what appeared to be the cutest of them. It was set back just behind a little market where local vendors were selling liqueurs and honey. I went to the cafe and sat facing the bridge smoking a cigarillo, drinking Bosnian coffee and eating a Hurmašice, a Bosnian cake soaked in spice syrup.

I finished my snack and walked closer to the bridge. It was built by the Ottomans in about the 15th century, but then was destroyed during the Bosnian War in the 1990s it was finally rebuilt in the early 2000s. It’s become incredibly famous and is one of those sites that people share and pin and dream about visiting. And it is beautiful. It is a very attractive bridge in a very attractive setting. What I didn’t realize until I went there was how stunning the surroundings are. It is not really just the bridge, it’s the river and the surrounding green hills dotted by mosque minarets and charming little streets. It is absolutely lovely.

I crossed the bridge and wandered around the other side and continued poking around, but at that point I was kind of done. I came to see the bridge and to wander around and I did that. I had no desire to spend more time. It was just so busy with tourists, and I can’t blame them (I am also a tourist), but I also didn’t want to be stuck in their crowds any longer. My train to return to Sarajevo was supposed to leave at about 3:00pm, but I didn’t feel like staying that long, so I stopped and had a final lunch overlooking the bridge, where I watched people preparing to dive off it into the river below, and then I found a bus station.

*Lunch with a view. There was nothing vegetarian on the menu, so they made me a plate of delicious roasted veggies.*

Busing back to Sarajevo

There are numerous buses a day that go in between Mostar in Sarajevo I picked one that was leaving at about 1:00pm and bought a ticket. I don’t remember how much it was, but it was cheap. The views were just as lovely as the train trip had been. And I was back in Sarajevo by about 3:00pm, which gave me the opportunity to spend the rest of the day enjoying more of that city. I’ve written about that in the previous post here. Was Mostar worth visiting? Absolutely. Not just for the destination but also for the wonderful train ride to get there, but I didn’t need to spend more than a few hours there. I’d rather spend my time in Sarajevo than gazing at bridges and fighting crowds. Plus, this was my final full day in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The next day I was going to bus to Montenegro.

Balkans Trip 2023 Croatia Europe Slovenia

Ljubljana to Zagreb by Train

I took the train from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Zagreb, Croatia. It is a relatively short and easy trip that requires little planning and can be made by bus or train. There is only one correct choice in my opinion. I walked to the train station the day before my trip and bought a ticket. One way, about €25 euros. It was supposed to be about 2.5 hours but was about an hour longer.

The morning that I left my hostel, I got to the station a bit early and had an espresso before going to the platform to wait. It is not an attractive station, but it is functional, fairly small, and easy to access.

Ljubljana Train Station

*a building near the station I thought was interesting*

On the platform was a man I had seen, but not spoken to, at my hostel in Ljubljana. He was tall and sturdy looking, but what caused me to notice him in the first place was that he was old. That sounds awful, but if you are staying in a hostel and traveling with only a backpack and you are of a certain age, you are going to be noticeably old. (I am probably old to many of the hostel residents. It is all relative.). This man was probably mid-seventies to early-eighties and he told me that he was from Vancouver, a retired longshoreman, and was now traveling as much as he can – but doing it on a budget, staying in hostel dorms, taking public transport. He proudly told me he had never taken a taxi. He said all the walking isn’t as easy for him as it used to be, but that he believed it was good for him to stay active. A nice guy and something of an inspiration. I hope I too can still maneuver into a top bunk at that age.

We chatted on the train and walked the scenery pass. We shared out car with two Slovenian or Croatian ladies, probably around 70 years old themselves. I notice them because they seemed so happy; they were smiling and talking ceaselessly for the whole journey and laughing a lot. That’s a thing that I noticed about a lot of the senior aged women in Slovenia and Croatia: they seemed to be smiling and happy a lot of the time, which isn’t necessarily a thing that I have noticed at home.

We arrived at the train station in Zagreb and took the tram to our hostel – yes “our” hostel. We had coincidentally booked into the same one. The Swanky Mint Hostel. We checked in and went our separate ways. And I was on to my new destination: Zagreb.

Balkans Trip 2023 Europe Slovenia

Lake Bled Day Trip

There was no question as to whether or not I would visit Lake Bled on my trip to Ljubljana. I had seen pictures of it in books years ago and of course with Instagram, seeing pictures of it are ubiquitous if you search for anything related to Slovenia and travel. It is a picturesque, small lake surrounded by trees and mountains. In the centre of that lake is a small island. On that small island is a small church. It sounds and looks like something out of a fairy tale. It makes a perfect day trip from Ljubljana.

Getting There

You can go by train or car, but I decided to go by bus. As much as I like trains, the bus was just more efficient and cheaper. There are multiple buses per day, however in the busy season it can get quite booked up, so I think it’s a good idea to book ahead of time. I went to the bus station in Ljubljana the day before my trip to Lake Bled. The bus station is directly in front of the train station. It’s a tiny building, easy to miss except for the fact that there are numerous buses parked outside. Inside, you can buy tickets with cards or cash and the schedule is well posted. It’s best to buy a round-trip journey and then when you are finished your exploration of Lake Bled you can just hop on another bus heading back to Ljubljana. They leave about every hour or so.

The journey is beautiful. I wasn’t able to get many good photos outside of the windows, but it was lovely to see the scenery going by. It became increasingly green and there were cows, villages, and mountains.

Once you get to the bus station in Lake Bled (another small unremarkable building) you really can’t go wrong; you just follow the hill down and eventually you will see the lake I don’t know how one could get lost.

And that’s what I did. I walked to the lake and turned right and walked around the lake in the direction of the castle island. It was just a lovely walk.

The Lake

On the way there are different spots where you can access boats to go to the island. You can get you can self-hire boats from one stop that I found for, I think, it was €20 and you can row yourself to the island and back, but I continued walking until I found someone who would row me across in one of the traditional boats called a pletna, used in Lake Bled for hundreds of years. I kept walking and came to the part of the lake where there was a boatman with pletna that went across at appointed times. I paid for a ticket. It wasn’t cheap, I believe it was €20 (cash only). While I waited for the next crossing, I went over to a cafe.

The Cake

Aside from the beautiful church on the little island in the middle of the beautiful lake, Lake Bled is famous for a particular dessert: a cream cake called kremna rezina or kremšnita. It doesn’t seem like something that I would ever order in my real life but it is a famous cake from a famous town in the middle of a charming country and I had time to kill of course I was going to have it. The cake has been designated by the Slovenian government as a protected dessert 0whatever that means) and there is a festival dedicated to it. So I ordered this cream cake. It was the size of my fist. It was good, but not really my cup of tea; I was happy to have tried it though. (I did not eat the whole thing.) I went back to the boatman, and we went across to the island.

Getting to the Island

Crossing Lake Bled to go to Bled Island was my favourite part about my visit. It was just so beautiful and I could really appreciate the water and the views. It really did seem magical. On the way, I chatted with a friendly couple from Belgium who were traveling around Europe with their dog. And with the boatman who was a fit and handsome maybe 65 year old. He stood on the end of the boat, rowing it with two oars as we crossed the lake.

The island itself is… fine. All there is on the island is a café, a souvenir shop, a small museum and a small church. The cafe in the souvenir shop I skipped, but I did buy a ticket for the small church. If you are reading this and you are planning on going, let me save you €8 now: the church is not worth visiting. If someone told me that, I probably would have gone anyway because I like to see things for myself, but if you’re short on cash, skip it. There is nothing remarkable about the church.

the church on Bled Island

The price of the church entrance also gives you admission to the small museum, which is above the cafe in souvenir shop. The museum is just a couple of rooms of paintings and maps and a few artifacts from Lake Bled. It is of moderate interest, but I would have been happy to have skipped it. The island is nice enough, but I only needed a short time there. The real treat is being on the shore and looking at the island.

Bled the Town and Returning to Ljubljana

I stopped and had a tasty lunch of apples, cheese, and honey on bread and coffee, after which I walked around the town a bit and caught some nice views of the streets and the mountains in the distance.

Bled town views

I caught the bus back to Ljubljana. It is a perfect day trip. I was back in Ljubljana early enough that it was still light outside and I could enjoy the late afternoon and evening back in the capital. The next day I would take the train to Zagreb and my Slovenian adventures were over.

(Just as a postscript, I do wish that I had had one extra day in Ljubljana because I would have done a day trip to the Postojna Cave, which looks like another great day trip option. I guess I’ll just have to return.)

Brazil South America

Museums and Murals in São Paulo

I woke up on my second day in São Paulo with a plan. (The first day’s post is here.) The thing that I most wanted to see in São Paulo was Batman Alley (Beco de Batman) and I wanted to get there early. I was staying in the centre, so I got on the subway at Luz station, and I took the train to Santuario Nossa Senhora de Fatima station. From there, it was a fairly short walk to the area I wanted to see. I used maps.me to navigate my way. Once one I was just a block or two away from Batman Alley there were some signs that pointed me in the right direction. It was early and there was almost no one else around.

Batman Alley is a long street (or now really a collection of streets) in one area that is famous for being covered in murals. Apparently in the ‘80s there was a mural painted of Batman which is how the street got its name. Now it covered in murals, like a winding outdoor art gallery and the area seems to be spreading. Murals of all different styles are painted and then painted over. It’s constantly changing. You could go and come back a few months later and the whole landscape of murals will be completely different. There are still paintings of Batman, however.

It was delightful, and going first thing in the morning was the best because there was really no one else around. By the time I left, there were some vendors setting up to sell jewelry and whatnot and a few other tourists had appeared, taking elaborately posed pictures in front of the murals, so I was glad that I went when I did. I love street art, so this was fantastic for me.

From there I meandered over to Coffee Lab, which is known for being one of the best coffee shops in São Paulo. I didn’t have much to compare it to having only been in São Paulo for less than 24 hours, but it did have excellent coffee and a nice atmosphere.

I hopped back on the nearest subway station and went to the Museum of São Paulo. An art museum. An excellent art museum. It wasn’t even really on my list of things that I had to do, but I’m so glad that I decided to go. The museum is in an interesting building, and it has a collection of regular exhibits and special exhibitions. The thing that was amazing about it was that one floor which seemed to be their permanent collection, was that the art wasn’t displayed on the walls. Art was displayed with each painting free standing above a heavy cement base and the paintings just sort of floating in midair. The thing that made it more interesting was that the title of the painting and the artist’s name and any description of the painting were on the back of the canvas; so you would walk around looking at these paintings unsure of who or what they were until you walked around to the backside of it. This is maybe the most creative and interesting way of looking at art, because you are not influenced by knowing what you’re looking at. You are looking at a painting and you have to judge it on its merits and how you really feel about it without being influenced by the fact that you know that it’s a Picasso or Modigliani. I also like that they displayed the art without segregating it into era or type of painting (so there might be a very modern South American painting hung right next to a classical European painting).

It was fascinating. They also had an excellent exhibit of Gauguin’s Tahitian work, which I enjoyed.

The museum is on Paulista Ave, which is supposed to be a very important major street in São Paulo, so I walked down it until I reached the next subway station, which was quite a ways, I was not impressed with the street; it was big and it had a lot of buildings but I thought most of them were quite unattractive and there wasn’t really much on the street that interested me, but I’m still glad that I saw it.

At the next subway station I again got on a train and hopped over to Ibirapuera Park, in the middle of which is the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art. The museum is really in the middle of the park and it was quite a walk to find it, but it was pleasant walking through the park, which has a body of water in the middle and everyone was out riding bikes and running, playing ball and having picnics. It was a nice atmosphere.

The museum was fine. I enjoyed the art, but it was relatively small given the effort it took to get there.

On the way out I found myself utterly lost trying to get out of the park I was trying to go back the way I came but I got turned around and every time I tried to exit the park, I found myself faced by a fence. I eventually found a gate out and then realized I was nowhere near a subway station. I got on a bus only to discover that they only take exact change and I only had paper money, which they would not accept and there was no way to pay by a card, so, frustratingly, I had to get off the bus and walk quite a distance to the next subway station. That was a bit annoying.

But I did make my way to the subway eventually and went back to the centre and visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Assumption and Saint Paul; a large cathedral from the 1950s which was which is pleasant to visit. (And even had its own cathedral traffic lights on the surrounding streets.)

Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Assumption and Saint Paul

From there I walked around the central area. It was Sunday and the streets were filled with people. There was a market going on with vendors selling mostly clothes, trinkets, toys, and electronics. It was very lively. People were flying kites and selling food. It all felt a little bit rough around the edges but was lively and it was nice for a wander.

At this point it was late in the afternoon and I had to start thinking about getting back to the hotel because I had a flight heading out of Brazil, but I still made one more visit to the Mercado Municipal Paulistano, where I had been the day before for lunch. I had a quick meal and then went back to my hotel to pack up and take the train to the airport.

Mercado Municipal Paulistano

I really liked São Paulo. I wasn’t supposed to be there; I was supposed to be in Paraguay (you can read about that debacle here), and I don’t know if I would have had a better time in Paraguay, but São Paulo was good. I liked it better than Rio, and it was entirely different from Salvador. It made a nice end my trip to Brazil, despite all the hassles of getting there in the first place. Brazil was a place that I had never really been excited to see but now that I’ve been, I’m glad that I’ve gone, and I would go back to see more of the country. A country that big and diverse deserves more than one visit.

Brazil South America

Salvador’s Lower City

I went on and on in my first post about Salvador about how pretty, interesting, and historic it is. What I carved out of that post was anything about the lower part of the city. My first post was all about Pelourinho, the UNESCO heritage treasure of the upper city, but the lower part of Salvador is also worth visiting for a few reasons.

To get to the lower city there are some excellent options: one is an outdoor elevator (the Lacerda Elevator). Perhaps not surprisingly, given Brazil’s Portuguese connection, the only other place I have seen an outdoor elevation is in Lisbon. Why is an outdoor elevator so cool? I don’t know. They just are. Even better, this one, (built between 1869 and 1873) has an interesting design and costs pennies (the equivalent of about 4c CDN).

The other way to reach to lower city is by funicular: the Gonçalves funicular, built in 1889). I love funiculars. Again, I don’t know why. Like the elevator, it is so inexpensive it is practically free.

Funicular Fun

I took the elevator down, which put me just across the street from the sea, and just across from the crafts market: Mercado Modelo. The market is worth visiting even if, like me, you don’t really have any plans to buy anything. There are lots of things to look at and lots of things I liked but I just don’t have the need to buy souvenirs. There are also some good places to have a bite to eat.

I wanted to see the market, but I was on a mission. I wanted to try some local cigars. Bahia is a tobacco growing region of Brazil and makes cigars and I had only tried two brands in the past, so I want to do some smoking. I had found a cigar store in Pelourinho, but the selection was dismal, and the cigars were in poor condition. I got a tip from a very helpful concierge at a fancy hotel in city that there was a good cigar store (Charutos Bahia) in the lower city. (I may stay at hostels, but they seldom have the intel on cigars, so sometimes I’ll seek the advice of a concierge at a hotel I would never pay to stay at.)

Buying cigars. Look how happy I am.

I found my way to the cigar store. It didn’t have a great selection, but almost everything that it had was local. The man in the store didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Portuguese, but we managed to have a robust conversation about cigars, and he helped me select six different locally grown and made cigars for me to try. And over the next 24 hours I did my best to smoke all of them so that I could go back the next day and buy more of the ones that I liked.

I walked more around the lower city and smoked my cigar and eventually stopped and found something uninteresting but vegetarian to eat.

Statues in the Square

The next day I returned to the lower city with the goal of purchasing the cigars that I liked the most. I bought one box and one bundle and then carried on my way wandering around. The thing about the lower city that is remarkable is that many buildings are in bad shape; they are mossy, some of them are look like they’re falling down, and some of them seem to be just hollow facades, but they’re all quite beautiful in their own way. They have a lot of character and a lot of colour. And some of the streets, especially those near the bottom of the funicular are lively, with small fruit and vegetable markets and coffee shops. I enjoyed wandering around down there. There were some nice murals and churches, and it was beautiful without being precious.

Lower City views

I really enjoyed my time in Salvador, and I felt very satisfied with how long I spent there. The next day in the morning I had a flight to go to Paraguay via Sao Paulo. That trip didn’t really go as planned but I’ll write about that in the next post.

Wandering North

Tag: transportation