Nightlife in Salvador da Bahia is mainly at Pelourinho, in the old city downtown. You may try streets as Rua das Laranjeiras, Rua Castro Rebelo and Cruzeiro de Sao Francisco. They are secure streets with good bars, and live music (most of the animation of Sao Salvador is outside, in the streets).
During the day, Barra beach, at the very center of the city, is the best place for listening to music and watching people.
At summer and within the months preceding Carnival, there are concerts every night at squares like Berro D'Agua and Pedro Arcanjo. In winter (the average winter temperature in Salvador is above 25ş Celsius, just 3 our 4 degrees lower than the summer temperature) there are fewer events, but the animation is also great, and you will always encounter musical groups playing in street and bars.
The musical animation of Sao Salvador is something unknown elsewhere in the world. In Salvador, every occasion is good for music and dance. See, for instance, the Blessed Tuesday event, connected to the weekly Sao Francisco de Assis Church tradition of giving out bread to the poor, on Tuesdays. Somehow, this event became a weekly musical event, lived all over Pelourinho. Every Tuesday, after 6 pm Mass, the music, dance and animation explode everywhere, around the church and in Pelourinho, thanking god and givers for the bread and donations. Until midnight, music doesn’t stop on streets, bars, houses, with people and vendors, bands, and street musicians everywhere.
A tip: Just look for specific and moment information in a Sao Salvador tourist office. Ask for a free entertainment guide with the upcoming events. There are places as Castro Alves theatre where more formal musical events happen: ballet, theatre, or simply the performance of top bahian musicians.
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For more information, about Bahia:
Tropical beaches…
Carnival in Bahia…
Hotels in Bahia
Flights to Bahia (Salvador)
SALVADOR DA BAHIA AND THE BRAZILIAN
FOOD
Lobster and simple seafood dishes are common and extremely cheap in Salvador da Bahia. A lobster dish is cheaper than a fast food dish in Europe or at the USA. Simple seafood is an excellent food option, shared by many Salvador’s visitors with conservative food habits.
But for those who aren’t afraid of gastronomic news, and whose stomachs can handle peppered food, the dishes that should be tasted have strange names, with African origin: Vatapá, moqueca, caruru, acarajé… They are seafood based dishes, but they also have other ingredients.
Vatapá is a kind of seafood stew, with ground peanuts, green peppers and, most of all, coconut milk and dendę (a palm oil). Vatapá is a reference dish. Others as caruru are a variant of vatapá (it’s a kind of vatapá with lots of okra), while the acarajé dish is a vatapá with fried bean cake.
The moqueca is also a seafood dish, and a stew-like of shrimp and other shellfish, with coconut milk, dendę oil and hot pepper. The difference is in the included tomato paste and some complementary herbs: onion, garlic, parsley…
Though they may be not attractive at a first look, any of these dishes are delicious, even when sold at street corners or at sides of the beaches by typical bahians, in their white dresses. You will not forget this cuisine. After savoured, most people sigh for a next experience.
Just be careful with hot pepper. Ask for little pepper, if you aren’t initiated, or just don’t add it (some times it is served separately).
SHOPPING IN BRAZIL BAHIA
Salvador has many stores, many street vendors and some handicraft markets where you can buy typical local articles, but the best place to buy souvenirs and local articles is Mercado Modelo, at the city port, a three-story building, where you can even attend to lively musical shows and demonstrations.
Here is a small list of local products:
- percussion instruments as the berimbau, with its legendary sound;
- bunches of silver fruits to hang at your home (to ensure good luck and abundance at table);
- ceramics;
- religious articles as Senhor do Bonfim ribbons (for good luck), and religious figures.
- very coloured handmade lace and embroidered clothing.
Besides these products, typically bahian, you can find other typical brazilian products as cotton hammocks, kangas, paintings, leather goods, jewellery, and so on.
For more information, about Bahia:
Tropical beaches…
Carnival in Bahia…
Hotels in Brazil Bahia
Flights to Bahia (Salvador)
Books about Bahia
Books about Portuguese Language
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