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The last few days in Paraty were really lovely. We moved into a great new hostel...not to bore everyone with food details, but we´re not used to having free breakfasts and the food was AMAZING. The owners had only run the place for 4 months and were so friendly and caring, such a family atmosphere. They had everything you coudl possibly need for breakkie with so much care taken over the appearance, flowers and strawberries decorating all the plates. Makes such a change from just crackers and coffee that you usually get! We also bumped into some friends, from Chile, who we had met on the first 2 boats in the Amazon. It was really nice to catch up with them again...especially as they had been inspired by the amazing Caipririnhas (a Brazilian cocktail, the most famous drink from the country) in Salvador up North and had even worked out how to make them. So we spent the night making delicious caipirinhas and chatting away. Met a few other nice people, some English lads doing a sort of Erasmus year abroad, and a really lovly couple in their fifties, the man Kiwi and the lady Canadian. They had taken early retirement and were travelling out their rest of their lives...they had already been going almost 7 years and have some amazing stories to tell!
The weather has also been really looking up...typical timing for the Brazilians! Its their holiday weekend so the masses descended on usually tranquil Paraty, and the sun came out just in time...now that they´re all heading home the clouds are back! Typical...if only we had that luck for bank holiday weekends in Europe! After heading to Trinidade, a village about an hour away with some beautiful beaches, we spent the rest of the time relaxing on the beach in Paraty before our bus back to Rio. It was only about 5 hours on the bus, so it was nice to know we were done with all our heavy travelling...such an insane thought. We couldn´t even get our heads around the fact that it was November already (Em was singing Christmas carols on the beach, didn´t quite fit...) and the idea that we would soon be home and having to adjust to winter temperatures was very scary! But we were both SO excited to head to Rio!
We took the bus from Paraty to Rio...we tried to pick the worst day from the weather report, but being the idiots we are, managed to land sitting on a bus all day on the hottest day so far, a nice 37 degrees! Was probably a good thing as Em was feeling pretty sick and so needed the air conditioning that we only ever get on buses! Its a beautiful drive back, all along the Costa Verde, with the beautiful jungle-clad mountains on one side and the coast on the other. Eventually arrived back at the Rodovaria in Rio and straight away we were just hit with the excitement and buzz of the city. On the local bus from the station to Copacabana, Em was like a puppy, with her head stuck out the window staring at the Christ the Redeemer statue passing by, with a permanent smile stuck on her face! You aren´t going to wipe it here (I have wanted to come since I was a child and so far I´ve only made it to the airport so saying I was excitement is a gross understatement!)
The city is so alive! We are staying in Copacabana, possibly one of the most famous beaches in the world. The city is huge, so even the area of Copacabans itself is massive and has everything you need! The beach is a massive stretch of beautiful white sand, with even more beautiful people jogging along side it, playing on its many football pitches or volleyball courts! Its very ´Rio´with the skyscrapers marching up to the beach, Sugarloaf mountin towering in the background, and accross the headlands are the ´cooler´beaches of Ipanema and Leblon! The hostel we´re camped at for the rest of our trip is ok...some friendly staff, free pool table and loads of information on all the party scene in Rio. Already argued a bit with the staff as they tried to overcharge us, one won´t even serve us now..but hey, thats life! Its just fantastic to be here! As the cliche goes, I really don´t want to come home, but I couldn´t get a better place to leave from! Even going to the supermarket is an adventure (you have to literally push and shove your way to even make it into a queue) and you get to see all the Brazilian ´types´, from the very beautiful (scarily so) to the absolutely wild ones...Brazilians have NO quarms about their bodies whatsoever, and it doesn´´t matter what size you are, everything will be on show! I don´t think i´ve seen a bikini that wouldnt fit me on any body size yet. But you have to love the spirit...they just have what they have and are proud of it! Its another world!
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