Ó linda que é Olinda

6/20/12
We got to class early today!!! That felt great. Class was great, we had a wonderful presentation about Nassau and the impact the Dutch had in the Northeast. Maurício de Nassau was a Dutch that came to Brazil in the 17th century. He an advocate for progress rather than exploitation, and because of that vision, Brazil was able to progress in many areas. As a consequence, there is a rich history here in the Recife area, as well as a strong cultural inlfuence.

And so we had the awesome privilege of visiting Olinda today, a city on a hill where we can find both Portuguese and Dutch landmarks. What a beautiful city and what a contrast with Recife. The whole city seems to have stopped in time, and as we walked through the cobblestone filled streets I tried to imagine what daily life back in the 17th century must have been like in Olinda.

The city has a rich religious influence and we visited a variety of churches. I enjoyed putting into practice what I learned in my Barroque class of last semester and observed carefully the detail of this church:

When my friend turned to me and said "Cristinha, you feel right at home!" I happily agreed because in Portugal there are Catholic structures like these in many cities, and I love to go inside and looked at all the details and find out about the history of that building; I believe they all have many stories to tell!


Despite Olinda's many touristic shops and attractions, it remains peaceful and somewhat isolated from the craziness of city life and anyone that comes here will enjoy the feeling of relaxation that lingers in the air. We certainly did!