Market day at Theatro Da Paz

Belém's Theatro Da Paz

Sunday!  And there's a street market right near my B&B, right near the Theatro Da Paz, reputed to be one of the great old-style theatre buildings in Brazil.  A vestige from the rubber boom 100 years ago.

This was the place to be on a Domingo in Belém.  Interestingly, the Mercado do Ver-O-Peso which had been packed the day before was just about empty.  The street market took over several blocks, each packed with people strolling around, listening to the loud music.  None of the booths seemed to be selling anything worth buying: cheap trinkets, cellphone covers, children's toys.  But that wasn't the point.  The point was to get out, be seen, and, this is the important part, stay in the shade as the equatorial sun here is absolutely brutal.  (Belém is located one degree south of the equator, so I guess that counts as "equitorial".)

I took a boatload of pictures, mostly of the people wandering around the street market.  Since I didn't get any names, and no one is doing anything noticeably stupid, I will post a bunch of the boatload without commentary interruption:

It's Brazil. Soccer games break out anywhere and everywhere.

This seemed to be an area where kids could rent little cars to drive around in.
(OK. Correct that. Likely the parents would be renting the cars for their kids. But who knows? It's Brazil.)

I snapped a picture of this magnificent, decaying high-rise because it looks just like a hotel I stayed in in Rio.
In a weird dream that I had a few days before I left on this trip.
Where I was staying on the 9th floor of a new, but incomplete hotel.
And I had forgotten to pack everything, clothes, toothpaste, etc., except I was carrying Norm The Dog.
I was holding him in my arms because (a) I forgot to pack his leash and (b) there were no exterior walls on the floor.
Probably a similar nightmare to what the World Cup organizing committee was having.

Always time to pose.

And for the conclusion ...

Policia Militar, who I am seeing everywhere this trip.  I thought they would only be out in force in the 12 World Cup host cities.  But they're here, too.  Anywhere international tourists are to be found.