The beginning of the rain and a few gringo mistakes along the way!!!Jul 1, 2010
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| So we arrived in Ihla Grande after a fun filled week in Rio and were greeted with picturesque beaches, boats and pousadas. The weather was sweet ... little did we know that this was to turn to rain. One of the most beautiful islands in Brazil turned out to be one of the most boring without the sun, particularly as the food was terrible ..... no decent seafood in sight ... on an ISLAND!!! Needless to say we didn´t stay there too long. Next stop Paraty, a beautiful colonial town south of Rio. We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast recommended to us by some Germans in Ilha Grande and were not disappointed by the cleanliness and warmness of the staff. Here it also rained, but there was plenty to do and some fantastic seafood. Mmm seafood...our first night we had colossal shrimp the size of our heads, it was delicious. The food here was definitely a highlight, along with the ridiculously cobbled streets and the amazing beaches in Trinidade. After a number of fantastic days we decided to move on to the monster ... Sao Paulo where all the craziness began. The bus trip was a disaster, no sooner than fifteen minutes after the bus driver pulled away a little brat in front of us reenacted a famous scene from the Exorcist and threw up all over the isle and the women next to us. We nearly booked those seats ... LUCKY!! It must have been at least an hour and a half till the driver pulled over so you could imagine our faces as the parents refused to clean it up and the stench lingered. After the six hour journey from hell we managed to navigate through the throngs of people spinning onto the streets outside bars and music shops and arrived in the Bohemian part of town and our hostel in Vila Madelena. Here we met a number of cool people (and future members of the Turtle Power Graffiti Squad) including a Brazilian anarchist and rock star, Igor, and the man who never had his hands separated from a beer can, Michael. We spent the afternoon getting our bearings before a number of drinks and the ´Burning down the House Party´opposite us. The party was held in a house due to be demolished and the occupants wanted to send off the place in style. On entering the Brazilian ´Skins´type party we were hounded by familiar tunes in awful accents ... the line ´Yeah i´ll tell you about my problem, you´re from New York city i´m from Rotherham´ will never sound the same again. After some creative discussion with the Turtle Power Graffiti Squad we embarked on a turtle filled adventure to cover the walls of the house and hostel wall ( So if you go there and see the turtles you know who did it). All in all our time in Sao Paulo was brief but brilliant, even seeing the useless football team get thumped early on Sunday morning couldn´t take the shine off an unforgettable night. Next stop Salvador... |
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