We left home on the 24th of May. Traveling to Brazil was quite the haul but our flights were good. We flew from Green Bay to Detroit starting at 1:00 pm Thursday, and then direct from Detroit to Sau Paulo (11 hour flight) for our trip down. We arrived in Sau Paulo at 7:30 am on Friday morning. There is only a 2 hour time difference from home so that wasn't so bad, but it's just a long ways away! (see my map below!) Caroline's sister Dani picked us up at the airport that first morning and off we went on our first day of sightseeing!
Our first adventure took us from Sau Paulo to a little town called Campos do Jordão, which is also nick-named the 'Little Switzerland' of Brazil (Point B on my map below).
This little European-feeling town was tucked up high in the mountains so getting there was an adventure in itself. It kind of reminded me of Mackinaw Island or some other touristy place like that with lots of little shops and restaurants. With it being winter, this is a popular winter vacation spot for Brazilians. It was actually cool there (mid-50s or so), and we were all in jeans and sweaters/light coats, but the locals were BUNDLED up! People were wearing fuzzy warm coats, hats, and boots. We were clearly not from there =) We ate a great lunch, did some shopping, ate chocolate, and drank beer. It was a fun first day even though we were dead tired! I really didn't take any pictures (I think because I was tired...I really didn't sleep on our plane rides) so I pulled this off the internet. It really did look like this.
On our way back down the mountain we stopped to take some pictures. These pictures really do not do this view any justice. It was amazing!
Colin and I with our big beers, going on about 36 hours with limited sleep, on top of a mountain! =)
We then made our way down the mountain and to Lorena (Point C on my map), which is where Caroline grew up. Colin and I stayed at a hotel, but it was just a few blocks from the Panuzzio family's house, so we spent most of our next couple days there with Caroline and her family. Her Mom made us a fabulous salmon dinner our first night - the food in Brazil was SOOOOO good!
After a good night's rest we were ready for day 2! We spent most of our second day at Caroline's childhood home and where her parents live now. Lorena is a cute little city - small, with narrow cobblestone streets, old buildings and a lot of charm. There are about 75,000 people there along with a major university, and there are a lot of people in the streets.
A view of the city from our hotel - I thought the clouds looked cool.
Another view of the street - we were a bit fascinated with how close the power lines were to the buildings.
The dining room where we had several wonderful meals.
The kitchen. Their kitchen was small with not a lot of storage, but who needs storage when you have everything you need fresh and ready every day just within a couple blocks walk? You could walk to the bakery and get fresh bread; to the market and get fresh fruit and cheese; you could have eggs and milk delivered daily. Everything was so fresh and so good.
Their patio with a little pool, which apparently comes in quite handy during their HOT, HOT summers. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon getting my nails done on this patio our second day there. Nail services are very common and very cheap in Brazil! They had a very nice young girl come to the house to do my nails, Caroline's, and her sisters' too. She is a student at the university and does nails as a side job. I got a pedicure and a manicure for the equivalent of $10 USD.
Caroline's parents live in the second story of the building they own, right above her Dad's auto parts store. Nelson's shop is open every weekday, and until 1:00 on Saturdays. He opened the first auto parts store in Lorena.
Night two (Saturday) was also wedding night for Ashley and Caroline. Since so many of Caroline's family could not travel to the States for their wedding last Fall, they had a second smaller reception for family and friends in Brazil. There were about 75 people there, and once again the food was awesome. The reception was held at Caroline's Uncle's Italian restaurant, also in Lorena.
Their cake table
White flowers like at their first wedding
Colin and I
Ashley, his friend Jake, and his friend Jeff. Jake traveled from Germany, and Jeff traveled from Michigan. After 9 days in Brazil, these 3 flew to Peru to climb Machu Picchu! Crazy boys!
Brothers
Caroline, her sister Dani, and I. I love these girls. They definitely went above and beyond to show us a wonderful time in Brazil.
The lovely couple with Caroline's parents, Nelson and Celia
And with Herb and Donna too
Herb and the boys
Bride and groom, this was the first time for Ashley meeting many of Caroline's extended family. He's much more relaxed at this point! =)
Two of my favorite things in Brazil - dessert and caipirinhas! Like the food, the desserts were all sooo good - I have such a sweet tooth. Caipirinhas to Brazil are like margaritas to Mexico - they are the Brazilian national cocktail, and we had them everywhere we went! Traditionally they're made with lime, but we had pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi caipirinhas too. This one is pineapple and it was my FAVORITE! Colin and I are going to try and make these at home this summer =)
University sign across from the restaurant. This is where Caroline and her sisters all went to law school.
Celia and her sister Leta. These two wonderful ladies were so good to us. Cooking for us the our entire stay in Lorena. They were so, so sweet.
Colin signing kareoke with Nelson...or Nelson holding the microphone and Colin singing was more like it. Colin was nicknamed the 'loco' brother at the wedding back in October; I wonder why. He has a reputation in Brazil now.
Caroline's Uncle who cooked a fabulous meal for us!
I couldn't get a picture of the restaurant from outside - without being in the street, so I just took this one of a picture of the restaurant inside. It was really nice!
Dani was the instigator of the karaoke incident...Colin will get his revenge in Vacation Part 2 =)
Sisters
Male bonding...Nelson just loved Colin.
We stayed at the restaurant until about 1:00 am....eating, drinking, talking, and singing. It was a really nice night with a wonderful Brazilian family. The next morning we packed up our group of 10 and headed on a shuttle service to Rio de Janeiro, which will be Part 2. Before we left though, we captured this sight from outside our hotel in Lorena. I guess it's pretty common for city streets to close on Sundays to encourage people to get out and walk and ride bikes. There were literally hundreds of bikes in the streets which was just a typical Sunday.
2 comments:
I want part 2 now!!!! Sounds wonderful....can't wiat for the rest!
Looks awesome! What an adventure!!!!
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