quality family time
Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo was not really a tourist stop. This is a city that I spent about two weeks every summer vacation hanging out with my grandparents and whenever my other relatives could stop by, with them. And that's pretty much what happened this trip. We arrived and our four days were a whirlwind of visits and trips with my relatives. We celebrated a birthday with my cousins, had pizza with my uncle, visited the soccer museum and historical center with my aunt, and had street food and played cards with my grandma. I'm not sure erin had a great time, what with me having to translate everything that was going on, and not having any of the freedom to roam that we've had the past six months, but I was thankful to get to spend time with my family, which I see way too seldomly. Example: the last time I had come to visit, they weren't sure I still spoke portuguese. So I proved my continuing fluency, met the new girlfriends, learned about the new jobs, and promised to keep more in touch.
Sao Paulo was not really a tourist stop. This is a city that I spent about two weeks every summer vacation hanging out with my grandparents and whenever my other relatives could stop by, with them. And that's pretty much what happened this trip. We arrived and our four days were a whirlwind of visits and trips with my relatives. We celebrated a birthday with my cousins, had pizza with my uncle, visited the soccer museum and historical center with my aunt, and had street food and played cards with my grandma. I'm not sure erin had a great time, what with me having to translate everything that was going on, and not having any of the freedom to roam that we've had the past six months, but I was thankful to get to spend time with my family, which I see way too seldomly. Example: the last time I had come to visit, they weren't sure I still spoke portuguese. So I proved my continuing fluency, met the new girlfriends, learned about the new jobs, and promised to keep more in touch.
picturesque
Parati
Giving my grandma a final big hug, we shoved off back to the bus station and hopped on a bus to Parati. A city of great importance in the 16th century as the port for gold, diamonds and coffee it lost significance with the building of an inland railroad to other ports. Now it's a quaint little colonial town surrounded by islands toward the sea and waterfalls to the hills. We only spent two nights here, but I could have spent much longer. Our favorite spot was a cascade called the toboggan, because the moss covers the smooth rock surface and ends in a pool, making it the coolest natural slip 'n slide ever. This is one of those places where words cannot describe its quaintness, so please check out the pictures. you'll see.
Rio
Giving my grandma a final big hug, we shoved off back to the bus station and hopped on a bus to Parati. A city of great importance in the 16th century as the port for gold, diamonds and coffee it lost significance with the building of an inland railroad to other ports. Now it's a quaint little colonial town surrounded by islands toward the sea and waterfalls to the hills. We only spent two nights here, but I could have spent much longer. Our favorite spot was a cascade called the toboggan, because the moss covers the smooth rock surface and ends in a pool, making it the coolest natural slip 'n slide ever. This is one of those places where words cannot describe its quaintness, so please check out the pictures. you'll see.
Rio
rugby in brasil
While it was unfortunate that we had to leave Parati, we had a date to keep, as I was invited to referee a the Rio beach rugby tournament that weekend. I was pretty excited to take part, as I had never actually seen beach rugby before, but figured I could pick up on the differences pretty easily.
We had a stroke of extreme luck in that while we were going to be in Rio, a close family friend was sending her daughter to Buenos Aires to stay with my mom. So the two of them exchanged daughters and we had a wonderful room close to the metro and buses. Oh, and breakfast and wonderful food to come home to every night. Yes I will, thank you very much!
Henrique, the local ref, picked us up after a lovely breakfast and we arrived a couple hours before any games started (rugby is universal in it's tardiness). But once the games started there was hardly time to have food. One thing I hadn't really thought about was the fact that sand is effing hot in the summer in Rio ("duh", you may say - Hush, i reply), so Erin had to run and buy me socks so that I didn't burn my feet to a crisp. Even with the socks I was halfway to the refs tent while blowing the final whistle to save my feet. After two very sunny days, the final was played in a freak downpour which may not have been welcome by most beach-goers, but was perfectly pleasant for the players and refs.
We had a stroke of extreme luck in that while we were going to be in Rio, a close family friend was sending her daughter to Buenos Aires to stay with my mom. So the two of them exchanged daughters and we had a wonderful room close to the metro and buses. Oh, and breakfast and wonderful food to come home to every night. Yes I will, thank you very much!
Henrique, the local ref, picked us up after a lovely breakfast and we arrived a couple hours before any games started (rugby is universal in it's tardiness). But once the games started there was hardly time to have food. One thing I hadn't really thought about was the fact that sand is effing hot in the summer in Rio ("duh", you may say - Hush, i reply), so Erin had to run and buy me socks so that I didn't burn my feet to a crisp. Even with the socks I was halfway to the refs tent while blowing the final whistle to save my feet. After two very sunny days, the final was played in a freak downpour which may not have been welcome by most beach-goers, but was perfectly pleasant for the players and refs.
Call me Steph Dogg
Rugby duties done, we set our goals to touristing the city. Want to know a great idea in theory? climbing Corcovado, the 2400 foot mountain with Christ the Redeemer at the top. The first 45 minutes of the hike were fine, no big deal. But then we get to the climbing, and I mean this thing goes straight up for 1000 feet through a steep, hot, humid jungle. We only brought a liter of water (how hard could this hike be?), and when we got up to the top, we didn't even get a discount on entry (why would you do that to yourself?). But it's fun to say we did it, not to mention the crazy looks we got from the locals when we told them we climbed.
And then we walked and walked around the city. We spent time in center, seeing spectacular old buildings, strolled in the posh Ipenama and Leblon beachside neighborhoods. We listened to live music in Lapa and went to the Sambodromo and watched a few Samba schools warm up for their Carnaval parades. And we went up to Santa Teresa, a bohemian neighborhood traditionally reached by a cute little train. Unfortunately the train was shut down last August when a crash killed 5 people and injured many others when due to several mechanical failures. eek. Luckily, because we had to walk up, we stumbled upon the famed Selaron staircase, which I've confirmed I'd seen in a music video.
And then we walked and walked around the city. We spent time in center, seeing spectacular old buildings, strolled in the posh Ipenama and Leblon beachside neighborhoods. We listened to live music in Lapa and went to the Sambodromo and watched a few Samba schools warm up for their Carnaval parades. And we went up to Santa Teresa, a bohemian neighborhood traditionally reached by a cute little train. Unfortunately the train was shut down last August when a crash killed 5 people and injured many others when due to several mechanical failures. eek. Luckily, because we had to walk up, we stumbled upon the famed Selaron staircase, which I've confirmed I'd seen in a music video.
who's sick? not this one
We somewhat reluctantly left the city for a few days, originally to go to trendy and beautiful Buzios, but failing that due to holiday price hikes, we went to Ilha Grande, a large (and also beautiful) island halfway between Parati and Rio. A string of bad luck dampened the excursion, what with bad weather, erin being sick, and a botched hotel reservation (don't say you're ON ilha grande, when you're not). But we made the most of it with a full day snorkeling excursion.
We may have had time to do more if we hadn't had trip-planning to do. Besides the failed Buzios /Ilha Grande hotel debacle, and the normal couchsurfing requests, we found out mid-week that the flight that we'd bought at Christmas had never been purchased, thanks to a "sorry about that" email from the travel agent. Thanks. So, we literally spent 4 hours trying to buy another ticket online, and in the end had to ask our host to front her credit card and then go to the ATM to pay her back. grrr.
Luckily I'm not worried about missed opportunities in Rio, I'll be back. Maybe, quite possibly in 2016??
-SB
PS - Next up Salvador do Bahia and some final thoughts on Brasil.
We may have had time to do more if we hadn't had trip-planning to do. Besides the failed Buzios /Ilha Grande hotel debacle, and the normal couchsurfing requests, we found out mid-week that the flight that we'd bought at Christmas had never been purchased, thanks to a "sorry about that" email from the travel agent. Thanks. So, we literally spent 4 hours trying to buy another ticket online, and in the end had to ask our host to front her credit card and then go to the ATM to pay her back. grrr.
Luckily I'm not worried about missed opportunities in Rio, I'll be back. Maybe, quite possibly in 2016??
-SB
PS - Next up Salvador do Bahia and some final thoughts on Brasil.
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