- Recife
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Brazil
Oficina Francisco Brennand is a sculpture garden, ceramic gallery and art gallery. The work is of 82-year-old Francisco Brennand, an internationally recognised sculptor, sometimes referred to as the Salvador Dahli of Brazil. His work is sensual, bordering on erotic, natural and mythological.
He travelled to Europe in 1949 and was influenced by Gaudi, Miro, Leger and Picasso.
The water gardens are by Brazil's most famous landscape artist Brule Marx, and the sculpture gallery is housed in an old ceramics factory. His painted art is housed in a new gallery. All are within a protected area of Atlantic forest on the outskirts of Recife.
If in the area this is a "must see". His work can also be found around the city of Recife, especially on a section of the reef in Recife Antigo, home to his sculpture park inaugurated in 2000 for the new millennium. It can be accessed by row boat from the quay side in Marco Zero square, the centrepoint of the city from where distances to all other cities are measured.
Recife is the capital on the northeast coast of Brazil and enjoys a tropical climate and 12 month summer. Being just 8° 06′south of the equator topical means hot, but the humidity is not too high and Recife benefits from onshore trade winds that make things more comfortable.
These great weather conditions can be enjoyed along the 190 km coastline of the state, and beyond in neighbouring states. Many beaches are protected from the Atlantic ocean by reefs that create natural swimming pools at several points during low tide. It is these reefs that gave the city of Recife its name.
Sea temperatures make you feel you are in a tropical aquarium. Often a mask and snorkel are all you need to enjoy the abundant ocean life. The region also offers good deep sea diving experiences for the more adventurous.
Recife and nearby Olinda are amongst the oldest cities in Brazil and its Portuguese, Dutch and colonial past are still much in evidence. Olinda is a hill top town established by the Portuguese in 1534 and Recife is the nearby port that was developed by the Dutch. Sugar made Recife the richest city in Brazil and its position was maintained for several years with the addition of the cotton industry. These industries were largely dependent upon the slave trade giving Brazil its African influence. There is also a significant Jewish influence. They controlled fifty percent of the sugar industry, and Recife is home to the first synagogue in the Americas dating from 1641. It was from here that the first jews in New York originate.
Nearby is Porto de Galinhas, voted number one beach in Brazil by Brazilians. It is a perfect area that offers a mix of safe bathing, water sports and some of the best surf conditions in the country. The waters are an aquatic paradise teaming with ocean life. You can literally feed the fish here by hand.
All these influences make for a lively and diverse culture, most in evidence during carnival. Carnival here is the most authentic. Unlike carnival in Rio and Salvador, you don't spectate, you take part, and it is free.
The region is popular with Brazilian tourists from the south who come here in their winter months. There is no winter here in the northeast. Temperatues rarely fall below 26C. It is growing in popularity with foreign tourists but guides and information in English are hard to find. The most comprehensive guide in English is Recife Guide, a website with all you need to know. Recife Guide also offers Guided Tours and other services.
Almost certainly you will arrive by plane either on an international or national flight. There are direct scheduled flights from Europe (from Lisbon on TIP, or from Paris on TAM). Charter flights operate during high season, but usually as package holidays rather than flight only. I would strongly advise against a package holiday to Brazil. There are far better ways to experience the country.
Recifes international airport is the largest and most modern airport in the northeast. It serves the main tourist destinations in the region, Recife (10mins by car), Olinda (30mins) and Porto de Galinhas (1 1/2hrs).
Almost every type of accommodation is available, from hostel to five star hotel. A nice and very affordable option are beach guest houses called Pousadas. They vary in price and quality but most offer good clean accomodation with breakfast. At the moment the price range of accommodation is from R$26 (8 Euro) per night in a hostel, from R$100 (28 Euro) in a 3 star like hotel, and from R$300 (85Euro) in a luxury hotel. Prices may be higher in high season (Oct - Mar), or less in low season (Apr-Sep).
The capital of the North East. Recife has great beaches with easy access to the beautiful Olinda (a world heritage site). During carnival Recife is by far the most authentic destination. Less commercial than Rio, Recife also is a short hop from Porto Da Galinhas, Brazil's most stunning beach resort.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recife
www.recifeguide.com/
is just 7 hours from Lisbon direct. Air Portugal have daily flights.
Recife airport is a hub for virtually every city in Brazil and Argentina.
Tambaba is a beach in the State of Paraiba, on the northeast coast of Brazil. Paraiba affords the same beauty of the most famous neighbours, such as Pernambuco and Ceara, but is still much less explored.
Tambaba is the most important naturist centre in Brazil; for nearly two decades now, naturists from all over Brazil come to meet in Tambaba.
In 2008, Tambaba will host the XXXI International Congress of Naturism, organized by the International Naturist Federation.
For a few days, Tambaba will be the world center of naturism. Thousands of people are expected to visit Tambaba in September of 2008.
Recife's main city centre is a baffling and confusing place but I grew to love it there; it's not a conventional place to hang around but since when did travel always have to be about things that are beautiful in an obvious sense? Olinda and Porto de Galinhas are mainly idyllic, beautiful locations, of which Pernambuco state has no shortage, but Recife's main central islands have a strange charm.
At night, you need to be a bit streetwise, but there are the clubs and bars in the Recife Antigo area and the Patio de Sao Pedro and it's a great night out, but in the daytime, Recife city centre's more mundane sights are something that for some reason captivate me. It's not one thing in particular - it's the whole place. At certain times of the day, you get old men selling decrepit vinyl albums lined on the walls of the square to the side of Avenida Dantas Barreto. Near Igreja do Carmo, you'll find men singing Embolada, a mesmeric poetic duel that'll make you wonder how the hell they can summon the power to make you lose sense of where you are using just their voices and a pair of tambourines. You'll find people barbecuing meats and cheeses in unlikely corners and men fishing for crab off the bridges.
The oldest law faculty in the Americas is here, cheek by jowl with some of the best and cheapest lunch restaurants you may ever find; there are some faded Deco-style buildings and plenty of Portuguese colonial-style architecture too, with wrought iron British-designed bridges connecting the three islands, as well as a former prison that doubles up as a craft centre.
Among the narrow streets, men use makeshift sound systems to promote the clothes or radios or cutlery their shop is trying to sell you. This sort of thing would be considered noise pollution in most developed countries, but it makes for a strange sort of music in Recife; "Clothes shop MC on the M-I-C", said my friend.
Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Brazilians have a peculiar kind of restaurant called Rodizio. Customers stay seated (unless they want to help themselves with the salad and seafood buffet), and waiters keep going around with large skewers, each with a different kind of meat. No other place in the world boasts such a large variety of good food for such a low price (early 2006, price was around US$15 per person).
All staff are highly skillful, from the maitre d' to the person who prepares the meat to the waiters.
Check out the restaurant section of this site about Recife:
www.recifeguide.com/
Plenty of good tips there.
Is this your business?Search Been there
