Fortaleza meaning "Fortress", is the state capital of Ceará, located in north-eastern Brazil. With a population of over 3.4 million (metropolitan region), Fortaleza has an area of 121 square miles. To the north of the city lies the Atlantic Ocean; to the south are the cities of Pacatuba, Eusébio, Maracanaú and Itaitinga; to the east is the county of Aquiraz and the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west is the city of Caucaia. Residents of the city are known as Fortalezenses.
The current mayor is Luizianne Lins a former academic at the local Federal University of Ceará and well known feminist.
On Beira-mar Avenue, kiosks and restaurants offer regional seafood, Sushi, Brazilian dishes and many more varieties of food. There are also many bars which provide anything from beer to cocktails. At the handicraft fair (the feirinha), many stands show embroidery and leather work, as well as jewellery and regional food or artisinal cachaça.
Of the urban beaches in Fortaleza, Praia do Futuro is the most frequented and is characterized by restaurants along the beach, each one with its own musical style and decoration.
The statue of Iracema refers to the legend of the Indian which was depicted in a novel by José de Alencar, a famous Brazilian author who originated from Fortaleza.
On Mucuripe Beach can be found the Lighthouse Museum. The lighthouse itself was opened in 1846 and was active for 111 years, until it was closed in 1957.
Dragão do Mar Art and Culture Centre holds the Cearense Culture Memorial, the Contemporary Art Museum and Rubens de Azevedo Planetarium, as well as cinemas and theatres. Besides this, many old warehouses were refurbished in recent years and became bars and restaurants and can be found in the central area of town. There are both cuisine and show options there in the evenings. It is most certainly one of the trendiest places to be seen in town.
An off-season carnival, Fortal, 
happens in Fortaleza in July. The carnival was re-structured in 2008 and now the event has parking lots, bleachers, stalls and food court. The event lasts 4 days and around 1.5 million people enjoy the nationally famous axé music bands.
Fortaleza also stages music festivals such as Ceará Music. This yearly event includes local artists and international pop rock stars and lasts for 3 days. Around 25 thousand people enjoy the fun of the several concerts, electronic music tents, and fashion shows.
The Pinto Martins International Airport connects Fortaleza with major Brazilian cities and also operates international flights. The city is home to the Federal University of Ceará.
Before starting today’s story I just want to share the beautiful sunset we enjoyed last night. The sky was clear and we watched the sun go down from our balcony. It really was quite a wonderful site.
Then again this morning I had the pleasure of watching the sunrise at about 5.40 shortly after I awoke and just as we were approaching our next port of call in Brazil.
Surprisingly many people on board were up and about at this time and the coffee machines were busy. The indications were that today was going to be another perfect day, if not perhaps a little hot.
As the ship cruised nearer towards the City, the skyline before us showed nothing but high rise blocks that stretched for miles.
This was quite amazing and unexpected. No doubt this would once again be a mixture of both public social housing and up scale private condominiums and apartments. Fortaleza was a real concrete jungle from what we could see.
Very slowly and with the help of a tug, the Prinsendam edged into its moorings. The water was very shallow so caution was again used at this port as indeed it was at the last one.
No purpose built cruise terminal exists here and so we docked in the port by some disused ware-housing. Not a pretty sight. There was no colourfully dressed troupe of Samba dancers to welcome us this morning.
After some breakfast Maria and I headed into town on the shuttle bus provided by the ship. Once again we found that our dear friends from Canada were on the same shuttle so we would again explore the City in their company.
The bus dropped us at the Central Market place, a four story building that in the main housed shops selling clothes, handicrafts and jewelry.
After an exploratory look round we headed the short distance away to see the Municipality's Cathedral. 
This structure replaces the original Cathedral that must have been here for some time. It had been dedicated to Our Lady of the Assump-tion.
The new Cathedral, the third largest in the whole of Brazil, was a relatively new building having been only completed in 1978. The structure was Greco-Roman but built in the Gothic style.
The interior of this major religious establishment was nothing like what we had seen before in the many churches we had seen in Brazil.
In many ways it was simply finished except for an abundance of wonderful stained glass windows colourfully dispersed throughout the upper part of the whole Cathedral. It had a very airy feel about the place with its lightly coloured walls and ceiling. It looked in pristine condition.
We spent a consid-erable period of time here examining the colourful glass windows spread right round the Cathedral. The altar itself was very simple and in keeping with the rest of the place.
Opposite the church, in a little square, was a monument to Emperor Peter the Second of Brazil, who was responsible for abolishing slavery in this country at the rather late date of May 1888 (The same time that the Celtic Football Club in Glasgow Scotland was foundered).
Brazil was probably the last major country in the world to abolish slavery.
Prior to this Brazil had inherited or taken over many slaves from other South American countries whom had given up this practice in earlier years.
On the monument was an engraving showing the Emperor signing the appropriate degree outlawing slavery. It was fitting that this act should be celebrated here with this monument.
For the next hour or so we saw the real Brazil as we went in search of the Teatro Jose de Alencar.
Getting there took us through the commercial part of town with its many shops selling all kinds of products from plastics to fabrics. We passed one shop where sugar cane was being stored on the pavement prior to it being used to sweeten one of the products being sold there.
This was a very crowded part of the City with many shoppers and lots of traffic on the busy roads.
With the intense heat and humidity we did take in all the local colour and smells. It was hard going but we eventually made it to the Praca Alencar where the theatre can be found. The theatre and park were called after the famous 19th century Brazilian writer, Jose de Alencar.
This historic building is most beautiful and built in the Art Nouvean style of architecture.
After a short wait by the outer entrance to this centre of entertainment, it was opened to the public at 1.00 pm sharp.
Through some useful intervention from George and Jennifer 
we were allowed a private viewing of this really quaint 1910 built theatre with its ornate ironwork.
Interes-tingly the iron had been fashioned in Scotland.
This metal work helps keep the place cool because of its structure and airy design.
I took the opportunity to recite some English literature from the stage to the amusement of our Canadian friends who are now convinced I once had a career on the stage!!
Surely I wasn’t that good?
While 'performing' on the stage George took a video of me on his camera no doubt to be used against me at a later date!!
The theatre is housed in a park that has all kinds of activities going on from street theatre to a vibrant street market. It is very crowded with people.
Fortunately there was a taxi rank nearby with plenty of available taxis as there was no way we could possible attempt to walk back to where we had come from. The heat would have been too much for us.
After the drive back to the Central Market Maria went on a shopping tour. The market is extensive with many shops selling the kind of clothes she was looking for. However after about 45 minutes she gave up, much to my relief, and we headed back to the ship’s shuttle bus.
Tonight we decided to eat in the Lido where we both had an excellent meal. After that we enjoyed a few drinks up with Gil in the Crow’s Nest before adjourning to our lovely cabin.
True to her word, Nancy did come forth with a tray of truffles for Maria. They were hand delivered to the cabin by her. While here she took the opportunity to check the temperatures in the room, which were still satisfactory.
As I had previously taken a picture of her colleague Lydia (published in the blog a few days ago), I also took one of the dear attentive Nancy.
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