Top five things to see and do in Recife, Brazil - A european part of Brazil
In 1630, Holland invaded Brazil. Their domine on the northeastern of the country lasted more than 30 years. Remember that Brazil had allready been controled by Portugal since 1500. As a consequence, Recife became a city that looks like european. Specially in the center (Old Recife), you will se Dutch buildings and briges everywhere, together with the Portuguese churches. It´s very interesting to see the mix between this european architecture with the tropical beaches (with warm water!). It makes Recife one of the most bealtiful and interesting towns in Brazil. Top 5 list of things to do and see:
Old Recife
The heart of the city. Fot those who like culture it´s an obligation: you can have a tipical brazilian drink in front of a Dutch building. Nightlife in Old Recife is also very interesting. Like some europen citys, there are bars in the middle of the street. On weekends, the old streets got full of people from all over the city.
Beaches
Boa Viagem is one of the most important neighborhoods in Recife, and there you will find the most bealtiful beaches. beaches are known all over Brazil (everytime the President comes to Recife, he stays in a hotel in front of Boa Viagem´s beach). There you can see the natural 'recifes', a tipe of coral formation that gived the city´s name (Recife means 'reef'). You can also have a beer and enjoy the warm water. Everyday, even when it´s not weekend, the Recifenses come to the beach to relax or practice sports, so here you will get to know the our friendly people.
Old forts
Like you allready know, Recife was invaded several times. Those old times where hard, so the kings builded forts to protect the city. There are 2 main forts in Recife: Forte das cinco pontas (Fort of the five points) and Forte do Brum (Brum´s Fort). Today, those two became museums, and still preserve the original structure(inclusive the cannons!). There you can understand Recife´s history and buy souvenirs.
Carnival
Recife has the biggest street carnival on Earth. The 'Galo da Madrugada' is huge: in 2009 there were more than 2 milion people! It starts raelly early in the morning (you will have to wake up like 5 in the morning), and only ends at night. You will get tired, but it will worth it. There´s nothing like more than 2 milion people singing a song at the same time. You will get to know 'Frevo', a tipical kind of song tht will make you dance involuntarily. You won´t find it anywhere in the world.
Nightlife
Recife nightlife is very attractive. There are lots of pubs, clubs, restaurants of many types of food, that I couldn´t say all. Just to give some examples: the main club is Club Nox, that usally recieves DJ´s from all over the world and have one of the more modern sound and lightning systems in Latin America.
