Skip to main content

Saudade Brazil!


Sao Paulo, Brazil. 20 million people in the metropolitan area; the second largest city in Latin America. This was our first stop in South America. And what a change from London it was.



Sao Paulo, Luz

I found the transition very strange and was really glad we had chosen to stay with a local Paulistan through air bnb for the week. Luiz was around our age, spoke perfect English, loved a beer and a chat and helped us to settle into the busy pace quickly. Plus he had a really cute kitten. Cute but also evil (we have the scratches to prove it).



Charlie, the cutest evil cat on the planet


Sao Paulo is not really a tourist destination, but the working hub of Brazil. However, it is the BEST place to find delicious food, so we decided to embark on a food tour of Sao Paulo. They have the biggest population of Japanese outside of Japan, so we over-dosed on cheap sushi while we were there.


Sushiiii and Caipirinha
Sao Paulo, Fresh food markets



The meals in Brazil are ginourmous and delicious (who knew rice and beans could taste so great?!). You can pay $7 for a huge steak, a plate full of rice and beans, salad and some chips. Sometimes we couldn't even finish one serving between us.

From Sao Paulo we headed South (leaving Rio and the North for later on). We visited Curitiba (the city with the highest standard of living in Brazil), Iguazu Falls (Argentine and Brazil sides), Florianopolis (42 beaches on one small island), Porto Allegre and Cambara Do Sul (to visit some canyons).




Iguazu, Brazilian side


Itaipu Dam, Foz Do Iguazu
Our boat ride under the falls in the background! (Argentine Side)

The Devil´s Throat (soaking wet)
Our friend at the falls. He looks a bit worried...
Sand boarding attempts in Florianopolis

Brad dances on stage.  Iguazu


Florianopolis Sand Dunes


Beautiful beaches of Floripa!
Brad´s new friends...

Our lovely host in Floripa!


In Curitiba we were hosted by a Brazilian family who spoilt us night after night with traditional food, BBQ, breakfasts (warm rolls filled with melted cheese, YUM!), delicious coffee and great conversation. We would stay up so late talking with this family; we learnt a lot about Brazil and they were very interested in Australia. This was definitely a highlight and we can't believe how lucky we were to find them.



Curitiba, Brazil
Brad finally finds a piece of art he can relate to.

Our family in Curitiba (warm cheese rolls for breakfast - mmm)!


Green Curitiba!
Brazilian BBQ in Curitiba, our favourite!!


Incidently, they will be going to see Australia play Spain in the world cup in Curitiba. They looked at us with pity when they mentioned this. (Ie. Australia stands no chance!)

In Cambara do Sul, we met 4 lovely young Brazilians (when Brad disturbed the bird that one of the couples was trying to take a photo of). They took us under their wing and insisted on driving us out to one of the canyons in their car. It took an hour on a horrible dirt road with pot holes galore. When we reached the canyon, the weather closed in and we couldn't see a thing!! It was still worth it to meet and spend time with these great people and have a good laugh.

The beautiful ¨view¨ of the Fortaleza Canyon. Cambara Do Sul
Our new friends from Porto Alegre
Canyon  Itaimbezinho, Cambara Do Sul

Brazilian people have been the most similar to Australians that I have met so far in our travels (in my opinion). They are generous, open, love a BBQ and a beer, love their sport and most importantly they have a great sense of humour! We were welcomed at every turn on our journey through Brazil. From the random guy at the pub who wanted to practice his English, to the girl at the metro station who asked if we were okay, to our lovely air bnb host in Florianopolis who drove us around the island for free and even cooked us dinner! 

 We really hope we will get back there before we leave!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All roads lead to Rome: Marathon Recap

Let me preface this by saying, before last year, I would never have considered myself a runner. And I still don't! As you know, I have had a lot of time on my hands over the past couple of years and decided to take up running as a "hobby". Yes, I know. This does not sound like the Kath you used to know. But alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. It was after signing up for a 10k at the beginning of 2016 while Brad was doing his marathon, that I realised event running is a LOT more fun than your average Monday night jog. And if the best part about running isn't that you can eat whatever the hell you like, then I don't know what is.  Brad smashes out the Gran Canaria Marathon, 2016 After a couple of half marathons (I know, right? Who even am I anymore?!?!) and another couple of 10ks, I thought, "bugger it. Why not give a marathon a crack?" Brad and I decided to choose a primo location for the marathon, so that we coul...
Post a Comment
Read more

A bucket list reshuffle in the Arctic

Norway. November. Polar night. Why not?  We jumped on the plane after a whirlwind month of visitors whose names ALL began with J. I was tongue tied for an entire month. Special mention to Jojo, Judy, Joe and also my friend Julie who took us on an impromptu tour of the island. The weather was about -5 degrees celsius when we got off the plane in Oslo, extreme layering took place immediately, followed by a long silence between Brad, Jojo and I. I am pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing, "why on EARTH would we come to Norway in winter...by choice?!". ...No one said a word until we made it to the warmth of our airbnb... A day of museum visiting, reindeer meat sampling, Norwegian salmon eating, ridiculously expensive beer drinking and early sunset photography lay ahead of us. One visit to the Fram museum in Oslo and naturally, being an ENFP personality, I now want to become a polar explorer. Cute sled dogs, open seas, northern...
1 comment
Read more

SOMOS DE PRIMERA!

First of all, there was the BIGGEST of BIG news on Gran Canaria this month! Well, apart from this of course: http://thecanarynews.com/bus-crashes-into-gran-canaria-airport/ In the middle of June, Michael and I were beginning to worry that civil war had broken out on the island, when all we could hear were loud explosions, screaming and car horns outside. The local Las Palmas "football" team has moved into the Spanish Football League's first division (La Liga) for the first time in 13 years after winning against Zaragoza 2-0 in Gran Canaria. This is a big win for Las Palmas, who came close last year but were disqualified thanks to some overly keen pitch invaders. As the professional bandwagon jumper that I am, I will be keeping a close (ish) eye on their progress. Check out the FEROCIOUS mascot for UD Las Palmas: (HAHAHAHAHA!) Somos de Primera! The team toured the city on buses signing autographs... Annnnyway, enough of this chit chat about "football".  We have b...
Post a Comment
Read more