Receife in October

[Mac 100]

Hi Guys,

 

I will be going to the above city for 5 days in October.

 

Can anybody let me know if there are any Saunas in this city similar to Rio with Escorts.? Also is there much to see regarding places of interest. Theatres etc

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

Mac

[sf traveler]

There's a sauna called Boa Vista which has been favorably reviewed here. I think the website is http://www.termasboavista.com.br You should do a little research with the search function as there are a lot of observations about Recife scattered throughout the threads. Basically, people think it's a great place, but I bet it would help a bit if you spoke even a little Portuguese. SF Traveler

[sf traveler]

There's also the Blue Thermas, in the beachside Boa Viagem neighborhood. Information about them is in the Brazilian Saunas review, or using the search function. Also through http://www.netgay.com.br

Both bath houses are extremely attractive.

 

Recife was the capital of Dutch Brazil in the 1600s. There are old Dutch forts nearby. If you live in Northern Europe, you should see the famous series of paintings by Albert Eckhout that were done for the Dutch governor, Prince Maurits of Nassau. The paintings are now in Copenhagen. Other paintings from the same period were done by Frans Post, and there are several at the Mauritshuis (Maurits's mansion) in the Hague. These will give you a great feel for the place and its history.

 

Modern Recife is a very big city that's mostly modern. It's a port and has become a major medical center for northeastern Brazil. There are some worthwhile colonial churches, a fine old theater (I think it's called the Theatro Princesa Isabel) from the days of the Brazilian empire, some famous porno theaters with heavy action, and miles of modern-style beachfront in Boa Viagem and the neighboring municipality to the south (they all run together imperceptibly). In the oldest part of downtown is an area that has become fashionable for nightlife and which contains the (newly restored) oldest synagogue in the Americas, which is worth a visit.

 

Adjoining Recife is Olinda, the original Portuguese capital of Pernambuco, a beautiful, hilly old colonial town that's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are magnificent baroque churches and convents, some with stunning Portuguese azuleijos, and views over the town and back to the high-rise skyline of Recife. At night there are atmospheric bars and restaurants in Olinda.

 

If you find yourself needing modern conveniences and shopping, there are several big malls, including the shopping center in Boa Viagem, one of the largest in Brazil.

 

This just scratches the surface. A good guidebook (like the Rough Guide to Brazil) will fill in the details.

[trilingual]

RE: The N.Y. - Recife Connection

 

A large part of the Jewish community in Holland during its Golden Age was made up of descendants of refugees from Spain and Portugal who had been expelled from those countries after 1492. These Sephardi Jews maintained a separate identity in Holland, continuing to speak Spanish or Portuguese at home and using Spanish or Portuguese surnames. When Holland conquered parts of Brazil from the Portuguese in the early 1600s, it was natural that many of these speakers of Portuguese decided to build lives in the New World, and there was a large and active Jewish community in Dutch Pernambuco. The synagogue there was the first anywhere in the Americas.

 

When the Portuguese eventually reconquered their territories in Brazil in the 1650s the Jews fled back to Holland to avoid falling into the clutches of the Inquisition. Bad weather forced one of the ships carrying Jews from Brazil to land in New Amsterdam (now New York) instead of in Europe. Peter Stuyvesant tried to block the newcomers from staying in the colony for anti-Semitic reasons, but he was overruled by his bosses at the Dutch West India Company. The refugees from Recife settled in New Amsterdam, and the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue they founded there (the first in what is now the U.S.) is still in existence, although not in its original building or location.

 

The site of the original synagogue in Recife was lost for centuries, but rediscovered not long ago. The building was restored and the synagogue rebuilt in a style similar to what the original is believed to have looked like. There is a small but interesting museum on the ground floor showing some of the excavated foundations of the building and ritual bath (mikve), with the reconstructed synagogue occupying the upper floor.