We walked around the town again today but it was much much quieter. All the revelers from the day before had had to return to work until carnaval officially started.
We decided to visit a church which we'd heard was still open to tourists. Inside were corridors and rooms full of intricate blue and white tiles. There was also a large courtyard with a sundial and a small garden.
Afterwards, we walked up to the top of the hill again. There were markets there, food stalls and a lookout tower. We had a tapioca lunch and then looked around the markets. We went up in the lift of the lookout tower to get a birds eye view of the place. From there we could see all of Olinda, the ocean and lots of the neighboring city of Recife as well. We bought some souvenirs at the market - I bought a wooden wall hanging and Andrew some presents for family and then returned to the hostel to rest.
That night we went out in search of the food market again but alas it was gone! We walked around trying to find some local restaurants mentioned in the lonely planet but to no avail. They were either absolutely dead or just sold pasta and pizza. We had to settle instead for a dinner at a creperie restaurant which was pleasant enough. As we ate we heard drumming gradually getting louder and next thing you know a marching band were going past the restaurant - more carnaval practise!
We'd enjoyed our time in Olinda and soaking up the history of this small town. We'd read its a good place to spend carnaval and after seeing the practise sessions the day before we'd have to agree. The atmosphere would be amazing and the carnaval more traditional. But the city of Salvador and it's carnaval were calling us so it was time to hit the road again the next day.