Technically, I didn’t go straight from João Pessoa to Olinda—I stayed in Recife, Pernambuco’s state capital, and I only spent a day in Olinda.

I should be introducing you to Recife, step one of the trip, instead of jumping to Olinda. But I need a bit more time to process Recife. It’s a fascinating place that always leaves me slightly bemused. Need a teaser? Okay… well, I’d say the highlight of this stay was interesting and accidental insights on favela life.

Look, it’s 2 a.m. and I want to start with the easy part of Pernambuco state. Humour me, alright?

Indeed, Olinda feels “easy” compared to Recife. It’s small, walkable, colourful, peaceful. No modern skyscrapers, but convents, churches and monasteries. No jam-packed one-way avenues with buses rushing up and down but steep, narrow streets with cats soaking up the sun on sidewalks.

So yeah, Olinda is easier—except the “finding the right bus to get there” part, obviously.

Recife feels hectic and crowded, Olinda feels deserted and timeless.

You can see the unmissable skyline of Recife from the Alto da Sé hill but even though it’s only less than ten kilometres away, it feels… far. Far because you’re in another world, lost in a religious and historical time warp, surrounded by people devoting their life to chastity, poverty and obedience to God or painstakingly piecing together azulejos, Portuguese blue tiles, to restore artwork—or doing both at the same time, who knows.

I was able to visit both the Convento São Francisco and the Igreja da Sé, originally built in 1537—last year, buildings were closed because of the pandemic.

Then I just wandered around the city, soaking up the atmosphere before jumping on the bus back to Recife.