First Day in Floripa

---

Our trip here was fairly uneventful. Par and I met up in Miami - where he just managed to walk up behind me without knowing where I was at.... :-(
Som minor baggage issues (when are there NOT baggage issues????) and we were ready. But wait, doesn't Gustaf live in Miami - Par's roommate from Georgetown and also Swedish - so we called mom who called him and all of a sudden he calls and is on his way to pick us up. We went down to Coral Beach and caught up on some gossip and met Rat Bastard (small white teacup maltese) and Selma (large black some kind of terrier) and had a good time.
Ett skafferi, flera skafferåd, eller hur var det nu?

At 9:45pm, we boarded our flight and took off for Sao Paoulo - barely stayed awake for dinner and then we pretty much slept the whole way.

We landed in a foggy SP. Kinda looked like coastal California with rolling hills and small houses dotting the hills. We successfully made it through customs and immigration (yes, the bike came with us!) and found our way to the next gate, some food and then we waited, waited, waited and waited.....and nodded off, and waited some more. We also debated whether everyone's bikes would make it to Floripa since there were almost 30 or so Ironman people on the same flight...

Finally we boarded for Floripa and after a pit stop in Curitiba, we landed on a picturesque island with lots of green mountains. Looked really cool!

After we got to our hotel, we crashed for a nap and a cold shower. Par went for a run before dinner was served here at the hotel, by the pool. Met some cool people that we thought were from Sweden (shirt that said Sverige!) but turned out he only knew some Swedes. ~'m hoping all these people in great shape will somehow rub off on me... :-)

We crashed hard around 9pm and slept until 7am......up for a quick breakfast (Nutella!) and then a walk on the beach. Nice packed sand is perfect for running (so Par claims.) Then Par went off for a course tour and me for a city tour and some shopping.

We drove up the hills past some fantastic houses to Morro de la Cruz - loosely translated by our guide Gilda as Hill of the cross. Fantastic view of Florianopolis the city.
The houses here are all jumbled and look to be built to fit into the lot they are on. Kinda cool, and my normally straight engineering brain is enjoying something different! :-)

Then we went on to see the old bridge to the mainland, which is now being rebuilt to be a walking bridge only, and on to downtown for some shopping. The old customs house is made into an arts and craft house where little old ladies sit and make lace (knyppla!). There is also a 150yr old fig tree in the middle of the central park. Legend has it that you can walk around it one way and have luck in love, or the other way if you'd rather NOT have luck in love. I'm sure you can all guess which way I went!!!!
I was accompanied by Katie, a soon to be masters student at Harvard in Public Health she is here with her boyfriend Mike who is doing the race. Katie has spent the last few months in Pakistan helping to rebuild after the earthquakes. Pretty interesting stories.

After the tours, we went to the Ironman City at the Agoste Club which is where the start and finish are and the vednor expo. Par picked up his race kit including the timing chip etc. to be ready for the race. There are lots of rules!

Now he is swimming in the ocean while ~I'm updating this blog. Hope everyone is well. Talk to you soon!

Sorry - no pics yet. The hotel computer USB drive and my card-reader aren't friends yet.....

---

Photos

Florianopolis airport
Florianopolis Airport

Bike Together
It all fits!

par on beach
Par on Canasvieres beach

Lena and ocean
Lena wondering if the water will get her

Our Hotel
Villa de Vincenze

View from Hotel
The view from our hotel

Morro de la Cruz
The cross

Florianopolis Downtown
Panoramic view of Florianopolis

Ironman Brasil Expo
Ironman Brazil Expo

Comments

[Heike]

Good luck!
Good to hear you had a safe trip!!! I would prefer the shopping part over the running part and think you are doing just fine! :-) In Ahus everyone is asleep. But we are wishing you good luck for race, shopping and all the other fun! God natt Heike and all

[Michelle]

Good luck to Par!
I'm sitting in the LA airport waiting to board my flight back to Hawaii... got a text msg from Par about your blog so I thought I'd take a minute to write in and say hello and Good Luck!! I was in Brazil a few years back so I can picture all that you're doing there. Make sure you have a capirena (something like that?) to celebrate after the race... tell them to chop up the mint leaves real good and add a little extra sugar. It's the best!!!

[Mamsen]

Good Luck 2morro.. in the race Par and have some of grandma Ida's rusks while biking...sailor's nödproviant that always served us well! Have a wonderful time both of you and Stars & Stripes says mjauuuuuu & hi! Kram