DAY 55--RECIFE, BRAZIL

 We docked at commercial pier at Recife this morning at 9:00 am.  There were already two Costa cruise ships in port.  So today probably 9,000 tourists dumped in town.  Cruise terminal was a zoo.

      Temperature at 3:00 pm was 85F with 50% humidity.  Seems hotter than that!!

                          I had "two" orders of the above escargot.  Most excellent!!

                                       We had dinner with Eddie & Lyn and Susanne.

Yummy, osso buco with some mashed potatoes.  We went to the show after dinner but walked out half way through her first number.  The guitarist chose a poor way to start her show.  I hope it got better.

Historical/Background Info:
        This is a new port city for us.  If you look at an atlas, you will see that it is located on the eastern most part of Brazil’s bulge making it the closest point to Africa.  The city’s population is just over 1.5 million, but if you include the whole metropolitian population, it tops 3.7 million.  Recife is located where two rivers meet and flow into the Atlantic Ocean.  Because of the many little rivers and small islands near the city center, it is called the “Brazilian Venice”.
        Its history dates back to 1535 when it was just a bunch of fishing shacks, inns, and warehouses.  After all it was just a settlement for fishermen and way station for Portuguese sailors.  Its name comes from the long reef running parallel to the shoreline which encloses its harbor.
        The climate here is hot and humid due to being just south of the Equator.  It receives a lot of rain and has tropical rainforests surrounding the city.
        The city is a modern looking one now  with some high end stores. The metropolitan area population is over 3.7 million.  It is one of Brazil’s prime business centers largely due to its international airport and shipping ports.  Information technology, medical facilities, logistics due to ports, and convention centers, all add to its economy.
        There is an old colonial section of the city featuring narrow winding streets, restored homes, churches, and lovely plazas.  This makes it a year round tourist destination.

What We Did Today:
        I turned in my tour ticket for ride on catamaran this morning.  It did not have a roof and I was not going to sit in the hot sun for over an hour.  I tried to get on a "Highlights of Recife and Olinda" tour but it was full.  So I took the first Regent shuttle bus into the old part of Recife.  Arrived at the old prison, now a shopping mall-like building, just after 10:00 am.  I walked around the area of old town snapping some photos before catching the bus back at 11:00 to the ship.  My T-shirt was wet as it was soooooo hot and muggy.  Temperature 90F this afternoon but humidity is high also.  Not going to get any better as we will be near the Equator for a week while on the Amazon river.
        Rebecca got back from her workout shortly after I got back to the suite.  At noon we had lunch up in La Veranda.  I have been working on getting photo link ready and writing this since.
        This evening I have requested the chef prepare fried chicken again for 6 of us.  We also requested French onion soup and some fried calamari.  It's going to be interesting to see what shows up at the table.  Hopefully more than one chicken leg per person.
        We all plan to go to tonight's production show featuring JAR singers and dancers.  It will be the 4th time we have seen their shows this segment but they are so good.  Tomorrow we will be at sea.

Here is the link to today's 83 photos:

https://goo.gl/photos/u6YATA3fgakkv6tW6