Friday, August 22, 2014

Salvador

     I have never been so delayed in posting about a trip before, but the World Cup was so crazy and fast paced that here I am 3 weeks after I have returned home.  It is hard to recall everything, but I will do as best as I can!  After a week spent in Manaus, we headed to Salvador in the state of Bahia.


 Goodbye to the Amazon!

 Flying to Brasilia for a layover.

24 years old and still obsessed with my blankie!

     We arrived in Salvador on June 16th at the very early hours of the morning.  I recall the time being about 5 or 6 AM.  Having to get to our apartment, get situated and then sleep before having to go to the 1 PM match later in the day was pure torture.  I need sleep!  I have never been the girl to go out all night knowing I had an early obligation the next day.  We left the apartment at about 10 AM and a 30 minute drive took us 3 hours.  We barely made it to kick-off due to the extreme traffic.  Lucky for us, we had a cab driver named Dilton who was determined to find us some face paint along the way.


 This is the way to get out of traffic!

 Arena Fonte Nova

 Portugal vs. Germany



 My custom made dress to cheer for Portugal!



 German players thanking their fans after a 4-0 win over Portugal.



Dilton took us to the beach for a few photos after the match.

The following day we decided to take it easy and just hang around our apartment.


I took this photo in dedication to my father and wrote this as a Facebook post.

"I've hardly ever shared this story because it was always very difficult for me... But today I shall.

17 years ago tomorrow, a little girl, age 7 ran into her house to call 911 as her father was having a heart attack outside and her mother was tending to him. He went to the hospital and passed away later that day.  

Something I've never forgotten and as Father's Day has passed and this day comes, my mind always goes to this moment in my past.

As the years fly by and I continue on my path, I know that he looks down every day and is proud.  He sees me living out my dreams of traveling the world, now currently in beautiful Brazil seeing the sport I study about night and day.  The event that unites the world.  He wouldn't have wanted any other life for me because he lived his to the fullest as I have learned through personal memories and the stories told to me by his brilliant friends.  This day will always be difficult for me but it hurts less and less as I know he is with me.  We travel together.  To my father!"

 Delali loves her turtles.

 Queijo on the beach is my favorite Brazilian snack!

     At night, we decided to go to some of the dance clubs on the beach and ended up meeting some new German friends.  Patrick is currently living in Norway, a country which I hope to visit someday.  Lars is an architect and contributed to Arena Fonte Nova a couple of years prior.  The four of us would spend the next couple of days together exploring Salvador.



Pelourinho





     On June 20th, we decided to take a boat tour to Itaparica Island.  It was such a nice day relaxing on the boat and on the beaches.  Couldn't have asked for a better end to our time in Salvador.  Miss you German boys!  Thanks for a lovely few days!












Horseback ridding on the beach.


We said goodbye to the boys and headed to a dinner with Delali's home stay family during a study abroad.  Afterwards, a late night flight to Natal.

“Every one of a hundred thousand cities around the world had its own special sunset and it was worth going there, just once, if only to see the sun go down.”-Ryu Murakami