Nodnol
travel
Ok, this is not about London ...
In January, in Lisbon I boarded
the airplane to Salvador in Bahia,
Brazil. After eight hours my plane
was slowly landing in the middle
of the night. The outside tempera-
ture warmed up from -50 degrees
to +27 degrees. I like flying close
above a city and so I pressed my
nose to the window and watched
the many fully illuminated foot-
ball fields from above. I finally
landed shortly before midnight at
the small airport north of the city
centre and started to sweat while
waiting for my luggage. When I
got my luggage I wanted to storm
to the exit to meet Connie who
was picking me up there but I was
slow down by the Brazilians who
walked for me in absolute slow
motion. That’s when I really real-
ised, okay you’re not in London
anymore, relax, it’s holiday time,
there is nothing to do then indulg-
ing yourself in a new culture. And
I truly needed a holiday, a break.
I always need a holiday, a change
of routine and sunshine after all
these challenging and dark win-
ter weeks. Who would not need a
sunshine holiday, right?
The view from my window on
my first morning (green trees,
palm trees) just beamed me into
a dream world of carefreeness.
I could feel it right away and
thought to myself how lucky I
could count myself for this chance
to live like a Brazilian for two
weeks. Yeyyyy!
The best way to travel or to dis-
cover a new country and culture
is with and through the eyes of
someone from there. I think my
ideal way of travelling will always
be living for a couple of weeks in
a new country or in the home of
locals.
How did my days looked like? The
sun did rise early in Bahia and
so did I. My body clock changed
quickly from the London winter
getting up after 9:00 in the morn-
ing to waking up between 6:00 and
7:00 in the morning and having
breakfast around 8:00. In my eyes,
that is the perfect time to start a
summer day. Carpe diem! I also
changed my diet from bread to
fruits and had mango, melon and
fried banana for breakfast together
with a strong coffee.
Connie and I went to the beach
almost every morning. A beach
that was so empty, so peaceful,
so relaxing and also so close to
the house that it was just perfect.
After 10:00 or 11:00 I had to get
out of the sun to avoid getting
burnt. I love the heat but I didn’t
want to overdo it anyway and for
the first time in my life I used sun
protection of 50 LFS! After five
years of living in the UK my skin
isn’t used to a lot of strong sun
anymore. (Sorry London but that’s
how it is.) I would come back to
this beach in the evenings for a
long walk or run, watching some
surfers and people fishing. When
you go over and chat to the people
there fishing you will probably get
some fishes from them. They are
all too generous and super kind
here.
The whole two weeks were not
only full of sunshine but also full
of eating new fruits and dishes. I
can’t even remember the amount
of new fruits I’ve tried but I must
admit that my favourite was
Umbu. Umbu is a Brazilian plum
and I especially liked it in my
Caipiroska in the early evening
or around lunch time. Yes, that’s
how we lived there. Our aperitivo
was a fresh and fruity Caipiroska.
I was never a fan of cocktails or
long drinks but Caipiroska got
me somehow and when going
out now and having a Caipiroska
that’s my way to celebrate a little
bit of Brazilian lifestyle. Apropos
lifestyle. Brazilians