Back to Manaus

Monday 28th March

Lazy day. After breakfast had a walk round the town, stopped at a juice bar for a drink of acai with  guarana and looked to see if there was anything at the opera  house this evening but only another play in Portuguese.

In the evening most of the restaurants looked very quiet so went back to Tambaqui de Banda and had grilled Tambaqui and a beer.

Tuesday 29th March

After breakfast walked down to a different part of town where I found the the “Palácio Rio Negro” a beautifully restored opulent mansion open to the public,  originally built for a German rubber baron and later became the Governor's mansion. Not a great deal to see, some rooms as they would have been furnished, an art exhibition in one room and another room devoted to the constitution and state anthem of Amazonas. 

Palácio Rio Negro

Inside Palácio Rio Negro

Elegant old Manaus

Looking out from the balcony over the rather tatty buildings opposite I can't help wondering how the optimistic  builders of this mansion would view the city's progress.  Nearby there was a pleasant little park and  beyond that the town prison with lots of women outside. The area seemed to be going downhill, and across a small river I could see packed, stacked houses,  so decided to get onto a main road along which I found the Chimia Usina, another museum, devoted to the natural resources and people of the Amazon. 

Housing Packed in Tight

An enthusiastic young man showed me round the permanent exhibitions, one devoted to smells from the forest such as essential oils used in perfumes, another to the  everyday objects made by indigenous people and a third devoted to their rituals,  clothes and musical instruments  used in them. All the information was presented in English as well as Portuguese. A third room was devoted to the history of Manaus and a temporary exhibition to photographs of local children.

Ritual Mask used by Indigenous People

Headdress used by Indigenous People

Walked along the river side looking at the boats being loaded up with foodstuffs from a market on the other side of the road and an almost continuous line of vans and lorries. Back in the town centre went to the Provincial Palace, which houses a museum with several rooms, none of them very exciting. One room housed old cameras but there was nothing to explain how photography had progressed through the decades. Saw a 1983 Zenith very similar to one I had, forgotten how big and bulky it was. There was a museum of archaeology which I think, not sure since everything was in Spanish only,  focused on the rationale and methodology rather than any particular findings. Lastly I visited another section split between European sculpture and the history of the Military police. This seemed an odd combination but later I found out that for many years the building had housed the Military Police headquarters.   

In the evening had a steak and a passion fruit juice at Casa do Pensador, another of the restaurants on the square.