01.10.16 | Tag 70| riverside

Today we took a trip to the neighborhood of Ribeira. We had been wanting to go there for a long time to see the beaches and explore the important places. We drove through the streets of Salvador by bus for some time. We also drove through the entire port area, which we hadn't really seen before. The first stop was the church in Ribeira, the Basilica do Senhor do Bonfim.

This church is a popular tourist attraction and also important for Brazilians. I mentioned in an article before that we were given lucky bracelets. In Salvador, these are sold everywhere or sometimes given away. Each one has something different written on it, which means it has a different meaning. These bracelets are usually worn on the body or tied to objects, such as to have luck during a car ride or to protect certain people by tying the bracelets to the fences of houses. The church in Ribeira is covered with these bracelets:

People seek protection from God by doing this and therefore tie the bracelets to the church fence. There is also something else interesting inside the church. In one of the rooms, there are many letters with photos or imprints of walking sticks or body parts of people. They are placed there so that these people are under God's protection or prayers are said for them to get better quickly in case of illness.

After these many impressions, we went to Forte de Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat.

An old fortress that was built to protect Salvador. Here we also had a nice view of the skyline of Salvador.

Then we walked back towards the port of Ribeira to see everything and the beaches there. What caught our eye were the many dilapidated boats that were in the port, just waiting to be sold or scrapped.

Finally, we ended our day with a delicious ice cream at the supposedly best ice cream shop in Salvador.

We could choose from at least 25 flavors of ice cream and the price was also reasonable. Besides, the ice cream was really delicious, especially in the bright sunshine.