Sideways

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Last weekend I once again boarded a small bus for a day trip outside of Porto Alegre. The excursion was organized by the same group I went repelling with but because winter has arrived, this trip wasn't physically demanding like the last and definitely did not involve me having to face any fears.... our destination was the countryside and vineyards of Bento Goncalves. For those of you questioning the title to this blog, tours of the wine country instantly remind me of one of my favorite movies and a must see if you haven't: Sideways

Anytime I am asked to get out of bed by 7 in the morning there must be a very good reason involved but for a day outside of the city involving large amounts of red wine, cheese, salami and italian food, the decision was fairly easy. There is a large number of italian immigrants and villages surrounding Porto Alegre so my expectations for the wine was fairly high. The day trip was fairly interesting and also included stops at the Casa de Tomates (House of Tomates) and Casa da Ovelha (Sheep). After having already toured the Chianti Region in Italy and Napa Valley in California, I must admit I was fairly disappointed at the quality of wine at the vineyards but this by know means prevented me from fully indulging myself and getting my money's worth from the trip.

Since I was the lone american this time, the trip once again presented the opportunity to make new friends and in this sense it was definitely a success. I met two very cool and interesting couples: Matias and Romina are from Buenos Aires and Matias actually speaks German and lived in Mannheim, the same town where I lived in Germany. Their friends, Tiago (Brazilian) and Eva (French), were also along so there was more than enough different languages going on for me. They were nice enough to invite me over Saturday night for fondue with the only stipulation being that I brought a couple of bottles of wine that beat the performance of the vineyards, no problem.

I am very much looking forward to this week...on Wednesday, I'll be flying to Rio de Janeiro to begin a two week trip north with my good buddy from UNC, Daniel Leiser. It is a pretty funny story because little did I know before coming to Brazil that Daniel was actually born here and speaks fluent Portuguese, so he will make the perfect travel partner. We will begin in Rio, then fly north to Salvador and make our way by bus up to Recife. All of these cities are right on the beach and only know one season: summer. So I am very excited about the climate change.

Click here for all the photos from the vineyards and more >>>

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Comments

[Mom]

You and Mary make a cute couple-her friends seem to like you too!!!! Love you!!!!

[Oma & Opa]

Your experiences never cease to amaze us---Stay safe , we are looking forward to Aug 2---

[showers]

Its good to see you takin' it to the limit down there cause we all miss you up here. Leiser is pumped...

[donald j]

miss ya buddy
it's good to see the pics. makes me feel like i'm there with you. just want you to know that your definitely loved back here in the states. keep it up buddy...