CITY TOUR

SATURDAY 23rd JULY

  As I was going out the hotel door at 8.15am to await my pick up a chap was just coming in, whom I took to be the postman as he seemed to have a pile of letters in his hand.  As soon as I got outside I spotted the Ocean Tours Bus, and did a swift about turn and re-entered the hotel lobby just in time to hear the chap asking for Adam Komorowski.  The receptionist pointed to me and we were away.  I was the first of some 16 people to be picked up on this tour.

  I learnt quite a number of things during the course of the tour.  Fortaleza is a city with a population of 2.6 million, so quite sizeable.  The longest avenue in the city measures 12Km.  It is situated 3 degrees south of the equator which is roughly 300Km.  So I am still in winter, and there was I thinking it was summer!  The sea temperture varies between 22-26 degrees centigrade, so never cold!

  The cantilever building I saw the other day is in fact the masoleum for the late President Umberto Castello Branco (President 1964-7), the only Brazilian president to have been born and died in Fortaleza. 
He was President of Brazil, as a military dictator, after the 1964 coup d'etat. He left power in 1967 and was soon after killed when an aircraft he was travelling in was shot down by another Brazilian aircraft, allegedly by accident.

  Next we come to the statue of the archer woman on the local beach.  Well the beach is named after her, and is called Iracema Beach.  She was a fictional character in an  inindigenous novel by Jose de Alencar.  It was first published in 1865.  The story revolves around the relationship between the Tabajara indigenous woman, Iracema; and the Portugese colonist, Martim, who was allied with the Tabajara nation's enemies, the Pitiguaras.  Through the novel Alencar tries to remake the history of the Brazilian colonial state of Ceara's origins, with Moacir, the son of Iracema and Martim, as the first true Brazilian in Ceará. This pure Brazilian is born from the love of the natural, innocence (Iracema) and culture and knowledge (Martim), and also represents the mixture of the native race with the European race to produce a new (Brazilian) race.  Iracema is also an anagram of America , and is fitting to the allegorization of the colonization of America by Europeans, the novel's main theme.  There is a main statue near the port to Iracema, which I will have to go and visit next week.  I managed a quick snap from the coach, but a tree blocked half of it off!

   We then drove through the port and out to the western beaches.  These are known as the "future" beaches as this lengthy area is at present totally undeveloped.  There are bars and cafes on the beach but very few hotels and virtually no skyscrappers.  Doubtless this will change over the coming years.  Apparently locals do not like to live there as it is considered to be dangerous at night. Having picked up our last passanger on these western beaches we turned around and headed back into town.  There is certainly no shortage of skyscrappers there!

  We drove through what the guide called a very affluent area, populated only by bankers, importers and politicians.  And indeed we came across some shopping centres that open from 10am - 10pm.  I think one of them is just about within walking distance, so there is another objective for next week.

  Just down the road was Portugal Square which commemorates the colonisation of Brazil.

  We drove on to the Cathedral, where we dismounted and our guide gave us a tour.  It was built by a Frenchman, Monier if I caught the name correctly.  Some say he wanted it to look like Notre Dame, but it is only the front eleveation that even remotely resembles that Parisian edifice.  It was started in 1939 and finished in 1978, and at one stage one reail was levied on every household power bill to help pay for it.  The stain glass windows were made in Germany (presumably not between 1949-45!).

 The church is white inside which gives it a light and modern look, and the cathedral has a capacity of 5000.

Our Lady of the Ascencion, the patron saint of Fortaleza is featured one side of the cathedral opposite the patron saint of the Province of Ceara.ur visit to the cathedral, we went to the Tourist Centre which is a mass of souvenir shops, T-shirts, dresses and the like.  I was tempted into buying a large bag of cashew nuts!  I also took the opportunity to book another trip for tomorrow.  The pick up is at 7.50am, getting earlier.  I'm off to Morro Branco which is 85Km from Fortaleza

  We did not stop at the Ponte dos Ingleses.  When I asked why I was told it was currently being restored, and from the description I immediately recognised what I thought was a dilapidated pier.  I shall have to go and take another look at it.  Apparently it is a good vantage point for dolphins.  Mark phoned and gave me a url for an Indian Test Cricket streaming site, and I watched the entire post-tea session.  Not going badly - if the weather holds.......  I also did a bit of work for Charly, so quite a productive day.