Blogs from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, South America - page 3

Lads, I apologize for the belated blog post, the webmasters of the blog site even sent me an email asking if I’m still traveling, but this experience has been too rich to steal an hour or two for writing each day. I scratch notes if I’m lucky. In Brazil, I’ve caught myself on the verge of tears just thinking of what awesome friends I’m lucky enough to have (DC/NC/Br you know who I’m talking about (Ed in case you’re wondering you’re out)), what beauty there is to behold in life, and the human struggle that links us all no matter what country, language, religion, culture, or color. I’ve discovered a deep thirst for all things Brazilian. My father instilled a taste for traveling adventures when he took younger versions of my sisters and I on road ... read more

Due to some construction and traffic, we arrived after midnight to the rodoviaria (bus station) in Porto Alegre. It is a large city that most tourists do not visit, but we met two girls Ouro Preto who live there. Some guy in Florianopolis had recommended a hotel, so we gave the cab driver the address. It was booked and so were the next five hotels we tried. Finally we found one that was twice what we wanted to spend. The room was not very impressive, but i did enjoy opening the window in the shower where you could see the whole city from the 19th floor while showering. The next day we met up with Laura and Karine and saw a completely different side of the city. They showed us around the next two days and ... read more

We stayed in the Hotel Express, not far from the airport. After getting settled in our rooms, we went out looking for something for supper; walked a few blocks and came to a tiny cafe. We thought it was closed, because of the gate being shut, but the lady came to the door and had us come in and then promptly locked the gate behind us. :) She spoke no English, but after hand gestures, & Lynette and I ending up in the kitchen, pointing to french fries cooking in a pot, we got our food just fine and it was very good. She kept bringing food from the kitchen and we kept eating. :) After a much needed nights rest, we were taken to a bus stop for a tour of the city of Porto ... read more

Back in Brazil and at the end of our year-long round trip around South America, the dreaded moment was now upon us - it was time for Beruška and us to go our separate ways. As emotionally attached as we had become to that Toyota Banderainte, the time had come to let go. Or not. Letting go was, in fact, not the hardest part. This instead became the difficult task of convincing someone to take her off our hands. It seemed that Beruška’s inner beauty was visible only to us, and everybody else saw only the damaged and rusted body of the car, or what was left of it at least. It became very clear that if we were going to sell this car for more than just scrap, we would have to patch the holes ... read more

Thanks to all of you who have sent me good wishes for my birthday! I had a wonderful day! I am in Porto Alegre staying with a friend from CS. I spent the day bike riding through the city and then danced the night away at a samba club until the wee hours of the morning! :D Porto Alegre isn't much of a tourist destination but they are known for stunning sunsets. The sky turns an incredible color which I don't really know how to describe. It's like a deep red mixed with orange. Absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because we were bike riding and didn't make it to the scenic spot until the sun had already set. But I'm going to try and see it again tonight and get some pics. Hope ... read more