16/02/09

Its been a couple of weeks since our last blog so plenty to write about!

On Wednesday 4th Feb we moved to a nice pousada in the centre of Buzios. We felt a bit isolated in the hostel we were in as the manager had flown to the US and nobody else there spoke English. It wasnt all that clean either so we didnt want to use the kitchen to prepare food so ended up having bed picnics of tinned tuna in tomato sauce on our last night there - not very appetising! We were also concerned that our new Brazillian friend John was getting a bit too friendly ....so we were glad of the move! He actully became a bit of a stalker and while writing our last blog he managed to find us hiding out in the only internet cafe that was totally hidden from the main street. How he found us I don't know....unless he checked every single one until he did.

The next morning he kindly offered to carry my bag to our new place, an idea which we weren't really keen on as we didn't want him to know where we were staying, but he was insistent so we let him....it was a help though cos its a nightmare carrying them around in the baking heat. So he came with us on the bus to the centre and carried my bag all the way to the front door of the pousada. Luckily he decided then to leave us to it and didn't follow us to the room which we were glad about, but not before asking what we were doing later that day and suggesting he join us at the beach again. I said we would be going in about 3 hours and that we would meet him there, but he insisted that he came to meet us at the pousada. So I said that was fine, we would see him in 3 hours time....secretly planning to disappear before then to a completely different beach and hope that he didnt track us down! All this was organised with me trying to communicate in Portuguese, and doing a fine job of it I might add! So once we were checked in we make a quick exit and went off to the beach....luckily we managed to find a spot where he wouldnt find us so we thought we were rid of him....

Not so.....! Later that night we had a knock at the door and immediately knew it was him. We ignored it the first couple of times but then he started shouting "Hoochie!" so we had to open the door. He wanted to show us some t-shirts he had bought so while I hid in the bathroom Rob humoured him for a bit and looked at his new t-shirts. Rob told him we were about to go out for something to eat and drink hoping that he would get the hint and leave but he said he would wait outside the room until we were ready. After 5 mins he knocked again and said he was going to take his shopping bags somewhere and would come back again in 5 minutes....so we made a run for it as soon as he was gone - in the opposite direction to all the bars. But after 20 mins or so he managed to find us again! There was just no getting rid of him. We made another excuse that we had to go and call family and friends and would meet him in the bar afterwards. The phones weren't working so we ended up having to walk around to try different ones and by the time we got back to the bar he had already left. We started to feel a bit guilty then so we did check in the bar but were relieved when he wasnt actually there!

The two of us went to a really nice cafe bar called Chez Michou where we'd been before which did fantastic crepes - any filling you want. We had one each and a few too many caipirinhas and came away in the early hours a little worse for wear! And....guess who managed to find us as soon as we walked out of the bar....! As we were quite drunk we decided just to go for one drink with him and were then joined by a couple of the barmen we'd been talking to at Chez Michou so it wasnt too bad!

We had a lazy day the next day as we were feeling a bit fragile and we were moving to Cabo Frio on the Friday so needed to have a clear head and be fit for carrying the dreaded backpacks. We had a final visit from the stalker on our last night (some people just dont take the hint!). We had told him the previous night that we were visiting friends in Cabo Frio on the Thursday just so he wouldnt turn up through the day but there he was again knocking at the door on the evening. He wanted me to go for a walk along the beach but I said no I was too tired and needed an early night. Then he told me he would like to cook some fish for me on a barbeque at the beach but again I said I was too tired but thanks anyway! We were so glad to be finally moving on the Friday and getting rid of him for good....

Apart from all of that we loved Buzios!

We weren't all that keen on Cabo Frio. We had 3 nights there but there wasn't a lot to do. We checked into the first pousada we could find and it was ok - cheap and clean enough with a good breakfast so we were happy with that. We had a day on the beach the first day and a walk around the town to find our feet a bit. It was even hotter than Buzios so wandering around through the day wasnt much fun cos we couldnt escape it and there was no breeze. It didnt feel as safe as Buzios so we were a bit wary and didnt venture out on the first night - watched movies on tv instead!

On the second day we decided to get a bus to a little beach town about 20 mins from Cabo Frio called Arraial do Cabo. The beach there was gorgeous so we had a nice relaxing day there catching some rays. On the evening we went out for something to eat and a wander through the market near the beach. There were more restaurants than bars so we ended up just sharing a very pricey omlette and then heading back to the pousada. On our final day we didnt do much as it was even hotter again and too uncomfortable to be out in so we had a short walk along the beach, had some fruit salad from one of the fruit bars for lunch and then went back to the welcome coolness of our room and hid from the sun.

We were quite happy to leave the heat of Cabo Frio and on the Monday got a bus to Niteroi and then to Petropolis, a little historic town up in the mountains about an hour from Rio........

(....very tired tonight after partying til 5 am this morning so Petropolis will follow on the next blog....zzzzzzzzzzzzz)