March 30, 2025

SALVADOR, BRAZIL - Capital of northeastern state of Bahia

Lots of us Residences out exploring this port town of Salvador. From L to R - Angela & Steve ( midlife cruising bloggers), PattiJo, Darrell, Scott, Paulie ( chef from Long Island) Marty ( friend of Darrell's visiting) Bob & Sarah, Callie ( friend of Scott's visiting, JR ( don't think I know what it stands for ?) and Cherrie. Statues were outside the Carnival Museum. Museum had free entry and had a great view of port and lots of prior years Carnival customs.

The old town of this Port sits up on a hilltop plateau, that is accessed by either a funicular or one of 4 elevators, pictured below.

Once atop, there were several squares with a variety of colorful colonial Portuguese buildings, cobblestone streets, and baroque churches. Sao Francisco Church had stunning gold gilt woodwork. Lots of colorful street art and local artisans too!

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Saw a poster of Michael Jackson in one of the balcony windows and also noticed  alot of people wearing Olodum t-shirts - so had to look up significance. He shot the video THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT US here in 1995. Olodum means God of Gods or greatest God and is the name of the Afro Brazilian music group from Bahia, Brazil who played with him in the video. Their music is a blend of Brazilian samba, Jamaican reggae and African percussion. The video was also filmed in the Rio Favelas that we saw the week before.

SHIP SHENANIGANS - CLUE PARTY

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.

TERRACOTTA ARMY - XI'AN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.

XI'AN, CHINA - WALLED CITY

By Pat Patrick • September 15, 2026
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .