Paraty

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300km south of Rio, Paraty is one of Brazil's first planned urban projects and today is considered one of the world's most important examples of Portuguese colonial architecture by UNESCO. The town is a grand spot to relax in but the prices of everything are incredibly high, and we know we're nearing the end of our trip and so the funds are getting low, but everyone we met all complained of the same. Still, we had fabulous weather here and divided our time between wandering through the cobbled streets of Old Town and walking the golden sands of Trinidade beach, 21km away. Every hour a local bus heads to Trinidade village and the steep slopes and tight turns makes the journey a rollercoaster experience! The lucky local kids had all gotten an extra two weeks of winter vacation due to swine flu - needless to say the sunny skies matched their sunny smiles!!

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