The trip started off with an uneventful ride to the Corpus Christi airport, an uneventful flight to DFW and a quick layover before boarding the flight to Sao Paolo. I was probably one of 10 people on the entire flight that spoke English. I put in my earplugs, put on my eye shade and I was OUT for about 7 of the 10 hours of the flight.
I arrived in Sao Paolo at 9:45am local time and quickly made it through customs and immigration without a hitch. Once I got my bag I had to go out of security and check-in on the Brazilian airline that would take me to Porto Alegre. Then it was a waiting game, trying to decipher the Portuguese on the departures screens and figure out which gate I was supposed to go to, since 10 minutes before boarding there was still no gate listed. I did make it on my flight though, and was off to Porto Alegre!
Our arrival to Porto Alegre was delayed about 10 minutes and I was one of the last people to get my baggage. With no cell phone I had no way of telling Valerie that I had made it safe and was waiting on my bags. It worried her to see all these people arriving from the flight that I was supposed to be on, wondering where I was and did I make my flight. But the smile I saw on her face when I walked out of security to greet her let me know that all those worries were washed away. Once we said hello and finally let go of each other, we were off on our first adventure…getting to the bus station!
We grabbed a taxi and Valerie told him “vamos a rodoviaria” and off we went! It’s a bit unnerving to be in the back of a taxi, not able to speak the local language, be completely unfamiliar with a city or the people, and hope that the driver is taking you where you asked him to. Fortunately (as would be the rest of the trip) we found out we didn’t have to worry about that one bit. He got us there in one piece, with plenty of time before our bus left to Torres. The bus ride took two and a half hours with about 4 stops made on the way. For 20 hours worth of travel across more than 5000 miles and two continents, it was an amazingly easy trip.
We got to Torres and were greeted by foul weather, overcast and rainy. We checked in to the hotel, got settled and then decided to go out for dinner. After asking the front desk where to eat, we ventured out into the city only to find that everything was closed…we had forgotten it was Christmas Eve! Fortunately, a hotel restaurant at the top of the hill was still open and we had a nice, simple dinner then made our way back to the hotel.
Christmas morning (Sunday) greeted us with more rainy weather, but we weren’t going to let that spoil Christmas! Breakfast was equivalent to a Continental breakfast in the states with slightly different tastes, nothing really exotic. After breakfast we went back to our room to open our presents. Valerie opened the gift that her friend Kessi had mailed to me before I left. We both really enjoyed that present and it’s now on my kitchen counter. Valerie also got: HEB tortillas, JIF Creamy Peanut Butter, Goldfish, and an iPod charging cable. After presents we decided to brave the weather and go see the beach and explore.
We walked north along the beach to the jetty, then back south along the road past the small beachfront community. We got a kick out of all the Santa Clause riding surf boards images plastered around the shops. Again, most everything was closed due to it being Christmas Day. Fortunately we found a good beachfront restaurant open for lunch and watched an intense game of “fut vole” (think volleyball without using your hands, only head, chest and feet) while we ate. When we finished lunch the rain had stopped so we ventured south from the hotel toward the “morros” (mo-hos) or hills on the beach.
At the first morro we found a little path up the “cliff” side and decided to be adventurous and climb up it. We found out later there were roads up the easy side that we could have taken instead; our way was more fun though. Up there you can see for miles in every direction. It’s really amazing how the terrain changes around the morros. They’re just rock formations that pushed straight up out of the ground for no apparent reason. There are 3 of them and then nothing else as dramatic along the beach line for miles. The pictures we got are great, but don’t do justice to being there in person. We walked down the easy way (since it was safer than going back down the cliff) and made our way across the second beach toward the second morro. We saw several fishermen along the way, but no one caught anything that I could see. There was a small shrine on the cliff face that had notes plastered on the rock, candles lit, and several Virgin Mary statues. People would come up and pray, kiss the statues, drink some water that ran out from the rocks and then leave.
The second beach was filled with surfers getting dangerously close to the rock formations. The waves were great for surfing but unless you had a lot of experience could turn ugly very quickly. Then we made it up and over the second morro and over to “Praia da Guarita” where we took lots of pictures and marveled at the rock formations as we climbed all over them. After Valerie did some leaps on the beach and cartwheels on top of the morro we decided to head back to the hotel because we were exhausted after walking several miles up and over the cliffs all day.
Monday the weather was a bit better and we got to see a sunnier side of Torres. First we walked down to the Centro to take a look at the shops. We found a painting that we both loved but it ended up being too expensive for us to commit to. We found a street market where Valerie bought some earrings and a bracelet that were hand made. Then we started our long trek back to Praia da Guarita for some beach R&R. We got distracted along the way by some stairs down the cliff faces that we didn’t see the day before. These stairs took us straight down the cliff to the water where there were some amazing formations and some small hidden caves. I kept joking about how if I were a pirate, this is where I would store some hidden treasure since it would be hard to find and hard to get to. Even with these stairs it was hard to get to. It was really fun and amazing to go exploring with Valerie like that. After trekking up the third and final morro, taking a bunch of pictures, and hiking back down to the beach, we laid in the sand and relaxed a bit. We tried one of the local popular drinks, a cored pineapple filled with blended condensed milk, pineapple chunks and vodka. It was DELICIOUS and very refreshing! We took turns getting in the water, afraid to leave our belongings unattended (which probably wouldn’t have been a problem in retrospect).
That night we went to a seafood restaurant (yes Valerie ordered chicken) for dinner. I tried my first caipirinha and man was it good! A caipirinha is just vodka (or cachaca), sugar and lime. For dinner I had fish (I’m not sure which kind) with a spinach sauce, potatoes and rice. Valerie had a sweet chicken dish with rice and fries. The food was very delicious!
Tuesday morning we checked out of our hotel and got a cab to the bus station and headed to Porto Alegre. Two and a half hours later we switched buses in Porto Alegre and headed for Pelotas. Three hours later we were greeted at the bus station in Pelotas by Ana, one of Valerie’s co-workers (who barely speaks English). I got to listen to Valerie’s Portuguese skills shine bright for the first time on the trip as she communicated with Ana about our trip, and get caught up on the work news for the previous week while she was gone. Ana dropped us off at Valerie’s apartment where we crashed after a long day of travel.
On Wednesday we went to meet Perinho because he was letting us borrow one of his vehicles for the next few days while he and his family were on vacation. This was a LIFE SAVER! THANK YOU PEDRO! We went to the grocery store which was a little overwhelming for me since everything was written in another language and prices were in Reis instead of Dollars. We found some “El Paso Texas” taco seasoning which we both got a kick out of (but didn’t buy). That afternoon we drove out to a small community on the lagoon outside of Pelotas called Laranjal. We met up with some more of Valerie’s co-workers who took us to their new house. They gave us a tour of their new house and then we sat down and talked for an hour or so. They made mate (ma-chay) tea which I was extremely excited to try. It tasted different than I expected and it is a little bit of an aquired taste, but the community drink part of it is something that I really enjoyed. You have one cup (culia) that you fill and once you are finished, you refill it with hot water and pass it to the next person, and around the circle it goes. Its really an interesting tradition. After drinking tea we wandered to the beach with another of Valerie’s co-workers, Renata and her boyfriend Matheus. The beach at Laranjal is very windy and is a popular spot for kite surfers, so we snapped a few photos. On our way back to the car we tried a local beach snack, a crepe. It’s similar to pancake/crepe batter poured into an iron and filled with various snacks (chocolate, dulce de leche, or ham, cheese, sausage, etc). Valerie and I shared a chocolate and dulce de leche and a sausage and cheese one. It was really really good.
Thursday morning we woke up, got dressed and drove to Cassino (about an hour away from Pelotas on the Atlantic side) to meet with Pedro, and his family. The drive was an easy one, but I was blown away by the toll we had to pay (R7.80, roughly $4.50). Driving is VERY expensive in Brasil. Fuel was about R3.00 per liter (about $2/liter or $7.60/gallon), tolls were expensive and are on EVERY road between cities, and I was told that it cost ~$600 every year to register your car. We got to Cassino, which is a really neat little town, and Pedro met us and we followed him to the beach to find his family. After driving in circles back and forth along the beach for 15 minutes or so, we finally found them and relaxed in the sand. Valerie and I tried our hand at some paddle ball game…we weren’t very good. An hour or two later we got hungry and had lunch at a little restaurant back in town where we had baurus (or as Pedro described them…a sophisticated hamburger). It’s basically bread with lettuce, tomato, shoestring fries, a thin slice of steak and sometimes a fried egg. It was quite delicious. Sophisticated? No, but it was tasty! After lunch we headed to the HUGE jetti in Cassino. The jetti has a railroad track along the top of it with these small sail cars that will take you out to the end (about 4 kilometers from the beach). The wind always blows hard in Cassino so these cars really get moving on their way to the end. It was really a fun little ride out there. We stopped and took pictures along the way when we had to let other cars pass (it was single track only). At the end we took a few more pictures and watched a few dolphins swimming off in the distance before heading back along the railroad tracks toward the beach. When we got back to the beach we drove down to take pictures in front of the sign claiming that Cassino was the longest stretch of beach in the world. Then we met up with Ana for some chimarrao on the beach before driving back to Pelotas for the evening. That evening we had dinner at Cruz de Malta in Pelotas. Both of us shared filet mignon steaks with melted smoked provolone cheese on top. That’s it, just meat. Those Brasilians from Rio Grande do Sul sure do love their meat! It was really delicious, one of the better cuts I think we had that week.
Friday we took our time getting ready and headed back to Cassino to meet with Ana’s family for some traditional Brasilian churrasco (BBQ). They were kind enough to invite us over for drinks and a family bar-b-que at the little house they were renting for vacation. We arrived and were quickly shown how to make a proper caipirinha. Lime, Sugar, and Cachaca. Pretty simple and very delicious. Then I was escorted out to the back yard where the “magic” happens. Nearly every house, apartment, and even hotel room (with a balcony) is equipped with the traditional stone hearth used to make churrasco. It’s a simple brick pit with holes drilled in the back panel and rods placed across the front. The holes hold the skewers that the meat is pressed on to hold it over the fire. Pretty simple design with really great results. We took lots of pictures of the meat cooking. There was beef ribs, sausage and a large cut of beef (I’m not sure what cut though). Andre told me that the only seasoning on the meat was salt. While the meat was cooking we enjoyed a few drinks. I found a Brasilian beer that I really enjoyed and will try to find here in the states called Itaipava. The meat was wonderful. Simple flavor that really focuses on the smoke and meat flavors. It’s different than our bbq though. There’s no dry rub, wet rub, sauce, marinade or anything. Meat & salt, that’s it. To go with the meal we had a simple salad of lettuce, onion and tomato. Typically though, for a traditional bbq there will be just meat and maybe a small amount of bread. After we ate, we sat around and talked for awhile. Valerie brought up the fact that I had brought her boots down to Brasil and they were in the car. She pulled out a CD that had some Texas Country on it, put on the boots, and we gave a short demonstration of some Texas country dancing. We did a 2 step, a waltz and a 1 step. I was nervous because I was out of practice, but we did just fine, and got a nice ovation after we finished. I really enjoyed the day because we got to look into the family life of southern Brasil. That evening we drove back to Pelotas and wandered around the city a bit more taking pictures of the fountain in the square and a few of the older buildings in the area.
Saturday, New Years Eve, we walked around the city quite a bit. We walked past a restaurant called “Restaurante Texas Grill”. Apparently us Texans are famous, even in South America. Then we walked through a huge farmers market. It was probably a half mile stretch or more of the main avenue and people had truck and table after truck and table of all sorts of produce for very very cheap. I told Valerie that if I were living there I’d be shopping there once a week for sure! So much good stuff. Then we walked down to the cathedral which was really neat, but couldn’t get many good pictures because it was overcast and raining. We walked all the way down to the Centro (downtown area) to do some window shopping. We bought some chocolates and some chimarrao (tea) from a few of the shops. We were having trouble understanding the gentleman at the tea shop and ended up buying the “forte” (strong) version of the tea (which I found out once I got back home). Man is that stuff potent! On our walk back we passed a Masonic Lodge that we previously found and took a few pictures in front of it. Turns out it was built in the mid-1800’s and is the main lodge in Pelotas. There is lots of rich Masonic history in Pelotas. Back on the avenue by Valerie’s house there was a street flower stand where people were going crazy buying flowers. They had some of the most beautiful flowers of all different sizes and colors. We wandered through for a few minutes and I offered to buy Valerie some New Years Flowers. On New Years, colors are very important to Brasilians. Flowers, and things you wear, represent what you are hoping for during the coming year. White for peace, red for passion, pink for love, and yellow or green for money. There were a LOT of people buying white flowers. I think that’s the go-to color. So we bought a bouquet (which cost all of about $9) and headed to find some coffee (I had been craving and missing coffee since I got down there). We found a little shop (that fortunately was still open, most shops had closed by now) that had some very delicious and fancy coffee drinks. Valerie got a white chocolate one, and I got one made with Amarula (a liqueur from Africa). They were very delicious and really hit the spot.
After coffee we tried to find a place to eat a nice New Years dinner, but everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, was closed. It’s tradition for families to spend the New Years together, and so all stores and restaurants close for two days. So, we ended up coming back to Valerie’s apartment and I whipped up a little noodle dish that we enjoyed. Since everything was closed, and the weather was foul, we decided to stay in for the New Years and just enjoyed being with each other. We watched some fireworks through the rain on Valerie’s balcony, watched the celebrations in the bigger Brasilian cities on TV, and enjoyed a glass of champagne at midnight. It was a great way to spend the end of 2011.
New Years Day, my last day, greeted us with warm temperatures and sunshine…of course, the only day its sunny and warm is the day I leave. We woke up later than expected, after staying up celebrating the New Year, and headed to Lobao for lunch. Lobao is what we think of as a “traditional” Brasilian BBQ restaurant where the waiters (gauchos) bring meats to the table and slice off a piece for you. It was very very delicious, and I think there are a few places in the states that get it close to the way they do down south. Valerie’s friend Rafaela met us up there, her family was celebrating her grandfather’s birthday I believe. I stuffed myself on about 15 different kinds of meat and a really great side dish buffet bar. Rafaela ordered us a special dessert, roasted pineapple with sugar and some cream sauce. I’m not a big fruit person, but this was incredible. I’m going to figure out how to make it because it was so delicious. We were taking pictures of the logo of the restaurant and the waiter saw us contorting ourselves in awkward positions to get the logo from the side of a plate with something in the background. A few minutes later he came back to the table with something wrapped up and said “this is a gift for you, but don’t let anyone see”. We were really confused, but when we finally opened it, we understood. He had grabbed a cup and saucer from the restaurant’s kitchen that had the logo on it and given it to us. It was a very nice gesture, one that I don’t think he would have done had Rafa not mentioned to him out loud and to everyone around that we were American’s from out of town. Thanks Rafa, haha! After lunch we walked back down to the cathedral to see if it was open, thinking surely it would be open on a Sunday. No luck. However, since the weather was better we got some great pictures from the outside. We also found a large Masonic monument in the courtyard of the cathedral that we hadn’t noticed the day before. We walked back to Valerie’s house in a little bit of a funk, knowing that I would be leaving in a few hours, but we tried to keep our heads up. Around 5pm we left her apartment, headed for the bus station where we sat and waited for my bus to arrive. She and I have had to part several times, and each time has been by car (where one of us is driving), or plane (where you can’t see the other person once they board). Leaving by bus is different. You board and then have to wait while the bus loads and pulls away. We waved bye for probably 15 minutes before the bus finally pulled away. It was a tough way to say goodbye.
My return trip wasn’t quite as easy as the trip down there. The 3 hour bus ride turned into a 4 hour 15 minute bus ride because of traffic. This left me with about 1 hour to get to the airport, check in, and board before my plane closed the doors. My heart was racing. Once I got to Porto Alegre I had to try and ask if the bus was going to the bus station, it wasn’t. So then I had to get a taxi, but the line was (and I’m not exaggerating) about 100 people long. Fortunately there were a LOT of taxi’s that shuttle people through the line quickly. Once I got in the cab, I told the driver, in broken Portanol (Portuguese & Espanol), that I had a flight in less than an hour and I had to get to the airport as fast as possible. I got my point across because he flew out of the bus station and was probably going twice the speed limit and running red lights and stop signs like it was going out of style. Fortunately I made it, checked in, and was able to board as one of the last few passengers to make it. From there I flew to Sao Paolo where I had 1 hour to get my bag, go out of security, check in with American, go back through security, and board the next flight. All of that isn’t a difficult task, unless you don’t speak the native language, and then it becomes quite intimidating. Sao Paolo, being a bigger airport, had more people who could speak English, so I wasn’t left high and dry and it all worked out fine. I slept most the way to Miami and watched a beautiful sunrise over the Florida Keys as the sun came up. Since we were flying West (away from the sunrise) it extended the length of the sunrise to about an hour. I could see straight to the bottom of the ocean in a few places because the water is so clear there and there were little islands popping up all over the place with reefs between. I wish that I had a better camera to take pictures with, the iPhone just didn’t do any justice to the beautiful sights below. Miami was a breeze to get through and I was off to Houston in no time. Houston to Corpus was uneventful and after more than 24 hours of travel (26.5 I think) I was finally back at home in my apartment.
All-in-all it was an amazing trip and I couldn’t have had a better travel partner. We hiked, swam, ate, drank, drove, rode, shopped, took pictures, and in general just enjoyed each other’s company. I can’t wait for our next great adventure, who knows where that will be!
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