Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A Weekend in Búzios

Despite the weather not cooperating 100% of the time, we had a nice trip down to Búzios in the state of Rio de Janeiro over the weekend. It was cloudy part of the time which made it a little cool and it rained on Saturday afternoon, but, even so, we had fun. Búzios has several gorgeous beaches and the town is clean and very safe.

You can see it was pretty overcast when we first arrived Saturday morning.



But even with the cloudiness, you still get a feel for how blue-green the clear waters are!




Eric was told by one of the locals that there was a trail that cut through the forest between a couple of the beaches. We took about 50 steps and decided to turn back. Not even my husband was ambitious enough to try the trail (or rather, lack thereof. The "trail" - which reeked of urine - disappeared into thick vegetation just moments after I took this picture.)


We took a boat ride over to one of the more popular beaches (João Fernandes) and spent most of the morning and early afternoon there on Saturday.


The sand at João Fernandes is a really deep red. It's quite beautiful!


The boys went for a hike around the rocks while I laid out and enjoyed the sun. This picture comes compliments of Jared. I thought is really shows just how clear the water is there!


The three of us decided just to share a room at a pousada in downtown Búzios. I found one place online that advertised a special room with two bathrooms and space for up to six people. We thought it would accommodate us well! It turned out to have a convenient location and simple, but clean rooms.



What they didn't advertise was that the special room had a bit of a cheesy honeymoon suite feel to it complete with a round bed surrounded by mirrors and, as you can see above, a huge square mirror on the ceiling above said bed. Admittedly, there were two other smaller beds, but I still don't think I'd call it spacious enough (or quite designed) for six! Jared picked on me endlessly for choosing the "Honeymoon Suite" for him to share with us on our anniversary weekend!



We ended up eating at an Argentinian steakhouse on Saturday night. It was most fabulous!


We got out to another beach (Geribá) Sunday morning while it was sunny, but the clouds followed us.

We still had fun with paddle ball and playing in the giant waves though.


Jared told us Saturday morning that this was his first trip to the beach. I responded with shock and disbelief and he reminded me that he was from Iowa. Oh, yeah, that's right - the land of frozen tundra, far far away from all thing coastal. Would someone please remind me again why people live there? ;) (Oops, I think I'm going to be in trouble when the boys get home from work - I forget I'm outnumbered this week! And I'm sure they'll be ever so quick to remind me that I voluntarily moved there. And that I plan on returning. And that eventually I'm going to have to embrace the Iweegan beachlessness and bitter winters. But, to quote the great Scarlett O'Hara, "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.")


Here's Eric, after deciding that Havaianas are exactly the proper footwear for a little rock climbing. Silly boy!





Upon returning home and reviewing my pictures, I discovered that one must be careful while taking silhouette shots of one's husband - especially when he is holding a paddle. Shadows have a way of doing crazy, sometimes obscene-looking things that can render several photographs too R-rated for the general viewing public. I decided to stick with the picture where the paddle is well above his head here - it's a much safer option, trust me on this one.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What, no shopping? Looks like you guys had a great time, even with the so-so weather.

Lori - Blondie in Brazil said...

Beautiful pictures. Looks like a great time, except for the back pain. Congrats on your anniversary!

I hear ya about the trails. There were some in Floripa and I was much less brave than my husband. I'm just not that familiar with the wild life here and what might jump out of the bushes. :)

Aline Tanaka Leonardo- Portfolio said...

Hey Emily,
First Happy Anniversary!!! I hope Eric is feeling better now.
I was in Buzios in January and had a great time. I loved all the beaches. One thing that I missed most here in the US there is no beach service so when i am in Brazil i take full advantage of this service.Your pictures look very good :)
Have a good week

Jill said...

Beautiful photos!

And rock climbing in flip flops... you almost added trip to the ER in your post

Anonymous said...

You and Eric are having entirely too much fun! I enjoy your "southernisms" that slip into your writing from time to time. I wonder how many of your readers know that when you "laid out" you were sunbathing?

Wasn't Brazil a place that a lot of southerners fled to during the War of Northern Aggression? Any evidence that you see today of descendents of these confererales?

Go Dawgs!

Love you both,

Anonymous said...

That would be "confederales". My bad.

Nani said...

Beautiful Place. I am from Brazil but had never been to Buzios.. or anywhere in RIO. I passed through RIO many times, but never stayed there. The pictures are great. I just notticed your Anniversary post, and yous is the same day as me and my husband's. We just celebrated 2 years on August 25th.
Happy Anniversary to you guys!!!

Ray Adkins said...

Emily,

If you are ever curious about the subject, there is a museum of the "American" immigration to Brazil, it is in the city of Americana, state of Sao Paulo, it is also worth to visit the neighbor town of Santa Barbara, also in the state of Sao Paulo.
They also have a cemetery of the local American descendents where every grave marks the American state their descendants came from with the state flag on the grave site.
Close to the American cemetery there is a Pavilion were they hold events and parties related to the celebration American culture and the success of their immigration to Brazil after the end of the several war.
For obvious reasons, the southerners who immigrated to Brazil developed a powerful textile industry in that region of the state of Sao Paulo.
If you Google the subject you will find a lot more info.


Ray

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric & Emily,
I hope that the two of you had a
great aniversary. WOW I can't
believe that it has been a year
already! Do they have any chiropractors in Belo? Hurtting your back, while playing a sport on
the beach ,sounds much funner than
hurtting it doing work. hope Eric gets better quickly. Emily, great pictures of the beaches. Tell Jared
I said Hi!
TAKE CARE & LOVE FROM THE FROZZEN
TUNDERA OF IOWA! (NOT IN AUGUST)
DAD

Anonymous said...

Try to take your guests to Museu Inhotim, about 1 hour drive from Belo Horizonte!

Anonymous said...

Love it... looks like was it lots of fun! Belated Happy Anniversary.