Brazil Day 15 - Arrival in Salvador

Early the next morning, we were woken up by Mr. Kammel, as we had arrived in Salvador da Bahia, our last stop of the journey, after a good ten-hour drive. The capital of the state of Bahia is the third largest city in Brazil, with its nearly three million inhabitants, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After dragging our suitcases a short distance through the adventurous steep and cobbled streets, we were already in front of our Pousada, where we would spend the last days of the trip. There, we were greeted with a delicious breakfast. Afterwards, Mr. Bönisch, the owner of the Pousada and conductor of the choir 'Barroco na Bahia', introduced himself to us. He told us a little bit about himself, his choir, and the Pousada, and also explained how we should behave in this neighborhood of the city. Since his Pousada was established here, crime has decreased significantly, but we always have to be very attentive, never walk alone, and if possible, not carry any valuables visibly with us. After that, we were assigned to our rooms and taken there by the staff. The rooms are housed in three buildings and are all named after famous painters, poets, philosophers, etc. We then had free time until lunch and could rest a little bit.

With full stomachs, we then went with our tour guide Jürgen through the old town district where our Pousada was located. During our tour, we also passed by the alleyway or the house where Michael Jackson filmed a music video. After singing a birthday song for Mrs. Sandfort on a small viewpoint overlooking the sea, we visited the church 'São Francisco', where we gave a concert the next day. It impressed us with its incredibly detailed decorations and the masses of gold that shone at us from all sides. By chance, we met a wedding couple whose groom comes from near Heidenheim. So we couldn't resist singing 'Jauchzet dem Herrn' from our repertoire for the couple.

After the little tour, we had free time until the joint rehearsal with the choir 'Barroco na Bahia'. For about 1 1/2 hours, we focused intensively on Vivaldi's 'Gloria', which our choir had performed in Heidenheim at the beginning of last year. After the rehearsal, we enjoyed a very delicious dinner together in our Pousada!