RECIFE , the Northeast's second-largest city, appears rather dull on first impressions, but it's lent a colonial grace and elegance by Olinda, 6km to the north and considered part of the same conurbation. Recife itself has long since burst its original colonial boundaries and much of the centre is now given over to uninspired modern skyscrapers and office buildings. But there are still a few quiet squares, where an inordinate number of impressive churches lie cheek by jowl with the uglier urban sprawl of the past thirty years. North of the centre are some pleasant leafy suburbs, dotted with museums and parks, and to the south there is the modern beachside district of
Boa Viagem . Other beaches lie within easy reach, both north and south of the city, and there's also all the
nightlife one would expect from a city of nearly two million Brazilians.
Tourists wandering around Recife should be particularly careful with their possessions and it's best, too, to use taxis to get home after an evening out. Recife is one of Brazil's most violent cities, an unsurprising statistic given the immediately obvious disparity of wealth and stark poverty, and the large number of homeless people on the streets. On Sundays in the old centre of Recife, the streets often seem deserted except for beggars; everyone else seems to be on the beach at Boa Viagem. Tourists tend to hang out in the much pleasanter environment of laid-back Olinda
The City
Modern Recife sprawls onto the mainland, but the heart of the city is three small islands , Santo Antônio, Boa Vista and Recife proper, connected with each other and the mainland by more than two dozen bridges over the rivers Beberibe and Capibaribe. This profusion of waterways has led to the inevitable description of Recife as the "Venice of Brazil" - a totally ludicrous idea.
Recife island is where the docks are and therefore marks the point where the city began. Until only a few years ago it was a dangerous, run-down area inhabited mainly by drunks and prostitutes, but the investment of millions of dollars by the local authorities and private business have brought about something of a transformation in both the look and feel of the area. The brightly painted colonial buildings make the small, easily negotiable island a pleasant place to wander during the day, even though there aren't many specific things to do. And the island now has the best nightlife anywhere in the city centre, its streets jammed with revellers right through the early hours.
Avenida Dantas Barreto splits the island of Santo Antônio , home to the central business district and many surviving colonial churches. Just over the river is Boa Vista , linked to Santo Antônio by a series of small bridges; the brightly painted criss-cross girders of the Ponte de Boa Vista are a convenient central landmark. Santo Antônio and Boa Vista are the dirtiest areas of Recife, and although they bustle with activity during the day they empty at night, when the enormous, largely deserted streets are a little spooky and forbidding. Residential suburbs stretch to the north, but the bulk of the middle-class population is concentrated to the south, in a long ribbon development along the beach at Boa Viagem .
There's no excuse for being bored in Recife. There are literally dozens of colonial churches in the city, at least one of which it would be criminal to miss; one excellent and several lesser museums ; and some lovely public buildings. The churches tend not to have regular opening hours, but if the main door is shut you can often get in by knocking on a side door - if there's anyone inside they'll be only too happy to let you in. Even for the less determined sightseer, there are parks, beaches and a number of places where the most interesting thing to do is simply to drift about, absorbing the feel of the city and watching people get on with their lives - something that's particularly true of the city's markets .
