Recife - Brazil

Sunday January 15th - Day 11

Recife which means reef was named for the coral which lies off its coast. It is made up of three sections - the mainland, the peninsula and the Island. Bridges of stone and iron connect the three and it is known for its canals, rivers, bridges and one-way streets making it locally know as the Venice of Brazil.

We decided to take the local shuttle service and do our own thing rather than do an organised tour.

The shuttle from ship to town dropped us at The Casa da Cultura - a former prison turned handicraft market. It was really interesting to walk down the corridors of cells and see how the prison was originally - but now each cell houses a different craft shop.

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Back to the ship for noon day beer and lunch before leaving again on a complimentary Seabourn tour to The Carvalheira Distillery which makes cachaca the most popular alcoholic drink in Brazil. After a tour of the facility we enjoyed several caipirinhas and canapés while we watched local Brazilian folkloric dancers.

On the way back to the ship we drove along the local beach coast and were amazed at the length of the beach and being Sunday it was full of locals.

A caviar sail-away party tonight - I had a "virgin" caviar canapé i.e. wafer with egg, egg white, onion and sour cream but no caviar - I learnt my lesson many years ago by over indulging on caviar at a beach party on Prickly Pear Island in the Caribbean on New Year's Eve ...I haven't touched it since.

As everyone was back on board early the captain brought the sail-away forward - certainly a first on this cruise .

Clocks forward one hour tonight.