Cruise Day 12, 3 December Port Day / Maceio - Pron: Mah-Say-O - Having now experienced the joys of the Spanish and Italians on tour, we are fully qualified to say, if you must tour with a foreign language group, zee Germans are zee vay to go. Ja. We weren't expecting much from Maceio and were pleasantly surprised. We left the port only 15 minutes late due to a couple of no shows and great agitation from the excellent timekeepers onboard. We are all here. They are late and not here. We go. Boarding Completed!

There was no wifi on the coach (but excellent wifi in the port building which we used at the end of the tour*). Our guide was an excellent English and German speaker and we heard all about the salt, chemical and fertiliser factory on the waterfront, the dunes that disappeared when people built houses, we visited the town, the church of our lady of pleasures - which is the most promising name for the Virgin Mary ever. We went up to the higher level of town for a panoramic view point out to the ship then visited a fishing village for a bit of shopping and food and drink tasting.

So, today's funny money story. Obviously we had our absolute bargain shopping yesterday with the gorgeous handbag, the lapis necklace, the excellent exchange rate and the change - also at the excellent exchange rate. Had we but known we wouldn't get it from anyone else, we would have bought/exchanged more € at 10 to 1! Today's shopping went as follows. Went to the booze and food shop in the little fishing village (pictured)/souvenir place. Had a couple of tries of assorted sugar cane based rum and liqueurs. We saw that a little bottle with coconut or fruit was 12 reais (the currency is the Brazilian Real - plural is Reais). Here begineth the story. Way back in December 2019 BC (before Covid), we were walking along the Seine up to the Princess Diana monument in Paris. We found a note on the footpath. 20 Brazilian reais. Figured it was worth sticking in our FX ziplock and leaving it in the cabin bag albeit with no idea when we'd get a chance to use it, but never say never. We remembered it this morning, being in Brazil and all, and bought it out for possible spending purposes - all €4 worth. This was a fairly 'tired' looking 20 note and we figured shops might not even accept it. But nope. Bought a bottle of guava infused alcohol for 12 reais, and then a souvenir badge from the final market stop for 6 reais and still have 2 reais knocking around in the purse. Bargain. A lot of pressure trying to find a badge or equivalent with only 20 minutes at the end of the tour, but we made it. Most of zee Germans raced through the market with the sole purpose of taking photos of the beach on the other side. Meh. Gold Coast. Same sand, water, apartments, traffic, restaurants shops and tourists. We shopped. Got back to the port with precise, German timeliness. Managed to spend half an hour using wifi in the port building before we boarded and had lunch in the main dining room, finishing just as the ship left port and set sail for Salvador de Bahia. Smashing dinner tonight - Not just one but two wonderful desserts including Baklava. Yum. Just yum. Somebody probably got the sack for making something that needed teeth to eat it with.

*(PS - Why oh why are we enamoured with wifi? Because we swore off it on the ship as it was just crazy expensive A$430 for 18 days for just one device. Yesterday we had wifi on the coach in Recife and had an email from our next cruise company remainding us that their medical form needed filling out online, signed off by a doctor and submitted online by 12 December. Just 3 days after we docked in BA and the last 2 days were a weekend. Damn. Forgot about that in the stress of leaving Barcelona and getting our negative Covid tests. As it was, we would have had to done it during our last 10 days in Barcleona. A one month window is surprisingly short when you are travelling on an 18 day cruise without wifi. So we connected to port wifi in Maceio, just us and 100s of others, and managed to get both questionnaires done and uploaded and emailed to ourselves. Next step? Printing and a doctor's sign off. Stress. Necessary stress but still, not pleasant). We also swore off booze and bottled water of any type. If we didn't have chilled water from the buffet after a meal or at afternoon tea, then we didn't bother. Tap water wasn't flash, but perfectly drinkable.