Through Rio Grande do Sul

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hey all,
after enduring the rain in gramado and canela on sunday, we hiked a bit on monday at parque do caracol, named for the waterfall that is the main attraction. because its so steep there are 927 steps you can take to hike down to the base of the waterfall. it was really cool - there is so much vapor at the base that we got pretty wet just standing there and watching. all the plants on the hillsides were green and wet (they reminded me of the produce section after the grocery store after the misters have turned on) and it smelled great because of the little flowers dotting the greenery. we saw a few humminbirds there as well, flitting about in the mist.
in the afternoon we drove south through Novo Hamburgo to Porto Alegre. We had been warned that it was ugly, and unfortunately it was. Although there were prettier sections of the city, the entire place had an air of being poorly kept - it was very dirty, with lots of graffitti. There were some beautiful graffitti murals on the supports of what looked like an abandoned, 1/2 km light rail system, but most of the graffitti around the city was tags and throw ups that looked much more like vandalism than art. there was an anemic park along the river, thoughtfully placed next to four lanes of traffic and the aformentioned crumbling attempt at modern public transport.
so after a brief visit to a joan miro show at a local gallery, we decided to head out. it was dark by the time we got on the highway. through the dark a favela announced its presence by the strong smell of human waste and a few yellow lights, one illuminating two men at a quiet game of pool.

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