Eu adoro Açaí na Tigela!

This Açaí was by far the best I've tasted in Brazil and located conveniently a short bike ride from Gra's house in Floripa. It was the perfect finish to pretty much any activity.


Whether it was enduring a forty minute heat stroke to get açaí in Fortalez's centro, almost missing our 14hr. bus from Paraty due to a serious craving or comparing tigela sizes of just about every vendor on Ihla Grande- what it all came down to is I was most content in Brazil with an "açaí na tigela" in hand. It currently ranks in my top 3 think about foods... com certeza!

Gra, Fla, Fa and friends.

Grazielle's mom, Fatima.

Gra's friends and our friend Adam who we met in Rio and met up with again in Floripa!

Some sisterly love - Gra and Fla.

Staying with Gra's family made our last week in Brazil really memorable. They're incredibly laid back, love meeting new people and after a day or so we felt like we were visiting old friends. It was nice to get to know yet another incredible Brazilian family, practice Portuguese and be in a house instead of a hostel. Gra is moving to Milan in just a few weeks so we spent a good deal of time reminiscing about Italy and trying to find her a place to live-she soon shared our obsession of apartment hunting via Craigslist. On Sunday afternoon Gra cooked up a humongous churrasco and we spent our last night in Brazil having an incredible drawn out feast with a little singing, eating and seriously debating whether or not we should leave this wonderful country.

Florianópolis

Nay catching some late afternoon rays in Armação.

Campeche.

Hooray for natural foods!



Lagoa

Jorge or "Georgie" and Nay.

Tough girl with bike.

Thankfully the sun came out again once we were 20 hours further south on the island of Florianópolis which I've heard described as Southern California in the 1960s, "discovered but still uncrowded." Linnea and I stayed in Campeche- the alternative/ hippy outpost on the island with Grazielle (someone Linnea met via couch surfing- don't ask) and her family. We rented bikes for all five days we were there and spent our first full day chasing after Georgie, a fellow Californian who is a friend of Gra's. One things we couldn't figure out about Georgie was his name. He looks about the farthest thing from a "Georgie." We came to discover his real name is Jorge but since Brazilians add an "e" to the end of everything, everyone there knows him as Georgie. I have gotten so accustomed to introducing myself as "Colleen-e" that I often forget to say the correct pronunciation when meeting other foreigners and have kind of grown fond of the Brazilian version. Anyhoo, Georgie is a documentary film maker/ personal trainer/ has lived just about everywhere in the world and we had a lot of fun having him as our tour guide. We spent a good part of the day trying to act like pedaling halfway around the island and up some serious inclines was no big deal. Nay and I passed the ensuing days biking to places that seemed close on the map but were actually quite far, scoping out the surf, and attempting to replenish our past two and half months that had been seriously lacking in the consumption of anything green. Floripa is said to be the most health, eco-conscious place in Brazil and it showed- the beaches were clean and there was an abundance of small health food restaurants/markets dotting the island. It was the kind of place that made me very apprehensive about moving to a big city... I could have easily been swayed to stay for awhile.

Trinidade.

We hiked to these natural pools- the highlight was getting ferried back by that tiny boat over some good size waves.







We took our full day in Paraty to check out the nearby scruffy, bohemian beach town of Trinidade. We spent the morning sitting high on some big rocks to watch the ocean, had a failed attempt to hike to a waterfall which was more like a trickling stream and ended the day trekking to these amazing natural pools that were protected by huge rocks. I would like to see this place in sunshine, it'd be the ideal spot for a summer camping trip.

Old Town Paraty.

We only stayed in Paraty for two nights to break up the 20 hr. bus journey we would have to Floripa. It's a quaint historical town with plenty of nearby beaches and islands. Our friend Rodrigo from Ihla Grande described it as the type of place his grandparents go... sleepy town, charming architecture and lots of trinket shops.

Ihla Grande...

Pousada Paloma.

Susie and Sebi.





First stop on the boat trip we got to climb some big rocks.


Cool restaurant I snorkeled by on the boat trip called "Reis & Magos."

Susie is a stylist and owns a vintage shop in London, we had lots of fun talking about vintage clothes and also finding a job you truly love.

The fabulous island retreat of Ihla Grande is only a few hours journey south of Rio- it is incredibly picturesque with most places on island only accessible by boat (no cars allowed), plenty of palm-studded beaches, and minimal development. The only setback to our four days on the island was a few days of rain which makes the island's only options (hiking and sunbathing) a little more difficult. Nevertheless, we had a grand time. We switched from the island's hostel- which was a little too "hostel-ish," loud and kind of dirty to a Pousada Paloma which actually ended up being cheaper and a much better choice. As we were half dragging, half carrying our rolley bags down the beach we met a group of five late twenty-year olds on holiday from London who were staying at the house on the corner. They became our new best friends and were absolutely "brilliant!" Most of them had done the "travelling on a shoestring" thing in their early twenties and were happy to offer us the extra spots they had on a speedboat they had chartered to take them to all the secret spots around the island. Even with the gloomy weather, the trip was fantastic. The second day of showers didn't stop Linnea and I from going to Lopes Mendes- which is ranked the 7th prettiest beach in the world and suppose to have great surf. We were both incredibly optimistic about the sun coming out, but ended up getting dropped off in the pouring rain on a deserted beach with the next boat not coming till late afternoon. We found huge leaves for umbrellas but mostly ended up swimming in the ocean to stay warm. I guess few people can say they had the 7th prettiest beach in the world all to themselves. After meeting a few of the locals and the great group from England, neither one of us wanted to leave, the rain ended up being the only thing that made us stick to our original plans.

Wishing I was a Carioca... Rio de Janiero!

View from the Corcovado.

Cristo Redentor statue.

Lagoa at sunset.

This really cool car called a Gurgel had a really cool sticker of one of the places I wish I could've gone in Brazil... next time.

Nay and I our new friend Adam who we met at the Corocavada.

Adam enjoying a view in Santa Theresa.



Thiaza and Cintia- pretty much take the cake as the funnest Brazilian girls ever.

left to right: Thiaza (Thiago's sister), Nay, Cintia (Thiaza's best friend), me and Lucia (Thiago's mom.)

Linnea and I both were completely blown away by Rio. The beaches were pristine, stunning views and with the world's largest urban jungle there was plenty of outdoors to be enjoyed which makes it a very livable metropolis for people who love sun and sand. I had no idea what to expect since I had heard such polar opinions of different people's experiences there, but I fell in love with the place- its energy, passion, conflict and exotic beauty make it irresistibly magnetic. Our excellent company definitely contributed to my infatuation. Nay had a friend, Thiago, who she met while studying abroad in Spain. His family lives a block from the beach in Barra da Tijuca- a nearby suburb described as the "Miami of Rio" with heaps of great beaches and only 20 minutes outside of the city center. Immediately we felt right at home with Thiago's lovely, close knit and incredibly hospitable family who were overjoyed to show us "their" city. We explored Ipanema where Rio's all too glamorous cariocas were strutting the streets, went to a Baia concert (a sort of Paul Simon meets Bossa Nova meets Phish) in Lapa- the epicenter of Rio's nightlife, took the bonde train to explore the cobblestone streets and marvel at aging mansions in the artist outpost of Santa Teresa, climbed to the top of the Corcovado to catch a birds eye view, and danced samba till the wee hours with Thiaza and Cintia at a club were it was impossible not to be moving. It was a teary farewell after such a blissful few days, but Thiago's family are already planning a trip to California and I'd jump at any chance to return to Rio.