Twoscore and ten years ago, came forth to these tropical shores the creator and contributor to this blog.
In those days air travel was very scarce, so my parents and I (at the tender age of six months) braved the seven seas to come over here as my father was transferred for his job. The journey between Southampton and the famous coffee port of Santos took two long weeks, with stops first in Vigo and then Lisbon, from where, as Camões would have said [1], we “sailed thro’ seas where sail was never spread before”. Then came Las Palmas and then, after sailing the seven seas, Rio de Janeiro and finally Santos where our odyssey ended; the ship would then continue to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The ships, the Três Graças (Three Graces), namely RMS Amazon, RMS Aragon and RMS Arlanza [2], belonged to the famous Royal Mail Line which graced the South Atlantic at the time. I made two later trips (at the ages of two and eight) and vaguely remember the cabins where the passengers slept and also the mini-golf and the swimming pool on the deck.
Brazil was very different at that time, the cities were much smaller, and there was no violence. There were still trams in the city and the city of Brasília had just become Brazil’s new capital, replacing Rio de Janeiro. The country had only won the World Cup once, and Pelé was just starting out on his successful footballing career. Incredibly, Piraporinha Avenue, where my father worked and which is now a major thoroughfare connecting Diadema and São Bernardo do Campo, was just a dirt track!
Meio século atrás, veio aportar nestas terras tupiniquins o criador e contribuidor a este blogue.
Naquela época as viagens aéreas eram muito raras, e meus pais e eu (na tenra idade de seis meses) enfrentaram os sete mares para vir para cá, pois meu pai tinha sido transferido no seu emprego. A viagem entre Southampton e o porto cafeeiro de Santos durou duas longas semanas, com paradas iniciais em Vigo e depois Lisboa, de onde, como diria Camões, saímos “da ocidental praia Lusitana, por mares nunca d’antes navegados”. Depois veio Las Palmas, e finalmente, após atravessar os oceanos, Rio de Janeiro e Santos, onde nossa viagem terminou; a nau continuaria ainda até Montevidéu e Buenos Aires. As naus, chamadas d’ As Três Graças (RMS Amazon, RMS Aragon e RMS Arlanza), faziam parte da célebre empresa Royal Mail Line, que desfilaram pelo Atlântico Sul na época. Eu fiz duas viagens posteriores (com dois e com oito anos de idade) e me lembro vagamente das cabines onde os passageiros dormiam e também o minigolfe e a piscina no convés.
O Brasil era muito diferente na época, as cidades eram menores, e não havia violência. Ainda havia bondes nas cidades, e Brasília tinha acabado de se tornar a capital do Brasil, no lugar do Rio de Janeiro. O Brasil só tinha vencido a Copa do Mundo uma única vez, e Pelé estava começando a sua famosa carreira no futebol. Parece incrível, mas a Avenida Piraporinha, onde meu pai trabalhava e que hoje é a principal ligação entre Diadema e São Bernardo do Campo, era apenas uma estradinha de terra!
REFERENCES:
[1] MICKLE, W. J. (translator) - The Lusiad, by Luís de Camões, 1776. Obtained from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lus/index.htm
[2] Fonte: Site http://www.novomilenio.inf.br/rossini/rmsp5.htm
In those days air travel was very scarce, so my parents and I (at the tender age of six months) braved the seven seas to come over here as my father was transferred for his job. The journey between Southampton and the famous coffee port of Santos took two long weeks, with stops first in Vigo and then Lisbon, from where, as Camões would have said [1], we “sailed thro’ seas where sail was never spread before”. Then came Las Palmas and then, after sailing the seven seas, Rio de Janeiro and finally Santos where our odyssey ended; the ship would then continue to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The ships, the Três Graças (Three Graces), namely RMS Amazon, RMS Aragon and RMS Arlanza [2], belonged to the famous Royal Mail Line which graced the South Atlantic at the time. I made two later trips (at the ages of two and eight) and vaguely remember the cabins where the passengers slept and also the mini-golf and the swimming pool on the deck.
Brazil was very different at that time, the cities were much smaller, and there was no violence. There were still trams in the city and the city of Brasília had just become Brazil’s new capital, replacing Rio de Janeiro. The country had only won the World Cup once, and Pelé was just starting out on his successful footballing career. Incredibly, Piraporinha Avenue, where my father worked and which is now a major thoroughfare connecting Diadema and São Bernardo do Campo, was just a dirt track!
Meio século atrás, veio aportar nestas terras tupiniquins o criador e contribuidor a este blogue.
Naquela época as viagens aéreas eram muito raras, e meus pais e eu (na tenra idade de seis meses) enfrentaram os sete mares para vir para cá, pois meu pai tinha sido transferido no seu emprego. A viagem entre Southampton e o porto cafeeiro de Santos durou duas longas semanas, com paradas iniciais em Vigo e depois Lisboa, de onde, como diria Camões, saímos “da ocidental praia Lusitana, por mares nunca d’antes navegados”. Depois veio Las Palmas, e finalmente, após atravessar os oceanos, Rio de Janeiro e Santos, onde nossa viagem terminou; a nau continuaria ainda até Montevidéu e Buenos Aires. As naus, chamadas d’ As Três Graças (RMS Amazon, RMS Aragon e RMS Arlanza), faziam parte da célebre empresa Royal Mail Line, que desfilaram pelo Atlântico Sul na época. Eu fiz duas viagens posteriores (com dois e com oito anos de idade) e me lembro vagamente das cabines onde os passageiros dormiam e também o minigolfe e a piscina no convés.
O Brasil era muito diferente na época, as cidades eram menores, e não havia violência. Ainda havia bondes nas cidades, e Brasília tinha acabado de se tornar a capital do Brasil, no lugar do Rio de Janeiro. O Brasil só tinha vencido a Copa do Mundo uma única vez, e Pelé estava começando a sua famosa carreira no futebol. Parece incrível, mas a Avenida Piraporinha, onde meu pai trabalhava e que hoje é a principal ligação entre Diadema e São Bernardo do Campo, era apenas uma estradinha de terra!
REFERENCES:
[1] MICKLE, W. J. (translator) - The Lusiad, by Luís de Camões, 1776. Obtained from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lus/index.htm
[2] Fonte: Site http://www.novomilenio.inf.br/rossini/rmsp5.htm
Very interesting reading, Paul. We do have this in common: both came over from Europe by ship. Then, there are the differences: my trip was sixty years ago, in 1952, I was six years old, and the ship had no minigolf or pool, it was a poor immigrants ship, and the trip (one way only...)from Genova to Rio was sponsored by the IRO-International Refugee Organization. Upon arrival (in February, Carnival), we were confined to the Ilha das Flores, in the Baia da Guanabara, similar (but only in general purpose) to Ellis Island, in New York. Only after my father was hired by a Brazilian company, were we allowed to go on land...and I stayed on/in this land until now, just as - seems to me - you did.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Giovanni