Welcome to Wanderlust: May 2012

Itacaré 4/2-4/4

The final leg of our trip was a visit to Itacaré, Bahia. Just a quick ferry ride west and a five hour bus ride South of Salvador lies the most beautiful town I have ever visited. Itacaré is not a very well-known tourist destination in Brasil and I can only hope it stays this way. The town is small with cute little shops and cobble-stone streets, and the entire east coast is lined with multiple beautiful white sand beaches.

Just cruisin' on the Atlantic Ocean, watching Salvador disappear.

We spent most of our time on the many small beaches of Itacaré, and there was never more then 15 people on any one beach at a time. The mood was tranquil, the sand was beautiful, the waves were crashing and the sun came out to play.

Praia Resende

When sitting on the beach you could turn around a see what can only be described as a jungle of palm trees behind you.

Taking a little hike to the beautiful beach next door.

Praia Costa

Aka. Our own private beach (unofficially of course)

Pathway leading from our hostel to the beaches

Pathway from the road to the beach.

Rough life. I know.

This trip was such an adventure.

We managed to:

Visit 3 different cities

In 2 different states

Sit on 7 different beaches

Stay in 4 different hostels (if you include the airport)

And made countless memories that I can't wait to share with you guys when I get home.

I was so lucky to be able to take this trip with my friends and just to brag a little bit...

I was the only one who didn't lose something along the way :)

Mom and Dad trained me well.

Salvador da Bahia 5/1-5/2

Next stop on our trip - Salvador da Bahia.

Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia in the Northeast of Brasil. Salvador was the first capital of Brasil and is the center of Afro-Brasilian culture because it was where the Portuguese first landed in Brasil with African slaves.

Salvador is extremely hot all year around, is packed full of churches and lined with busy beaches.

Quick lesson in Brasilian travel: Dont Expect ANYTHING To Be On Time! Ever!

Our first night in Bahia we never made it to our hostel and ended up spending the night in the airport. Why you might ask?

Oh, maybe because our flight from Rio didn't depart until about 30 minutes before we were supposed to arrive in Bahia (mind you, it's a 2 1/2 hour flight).

But here's the best part... Our flight wasn't even considered "delayed".

Only In Brasil.

So, because of "Brasilian Time", we arrived in Bahia after midnight and there were no more busses running until morning. Hence, airport sleepover.

My tile bed and backpack pillow were quite luxurious :)

Since we knew we would be spending a lot of time at the beach in Rio and in the next leg of our trip, we decided to stay in a neighborhood called Pelourinho near Praça da Sé, which is the historical center of Bahia. This area is full of old buildings and churches and is the home to many cultural festivals in Salvador.

Igreja São Francísco em Praça da Sé

(Yay for SF)

We came across some people practicing Capoeira and decided to show off our moves. They obviously liked Zaria the best (probably because she's black), but Grant and I thought we would show them up with our ninja-like arm jabs.

Capoeira is a form of dance fighting that emphasizes the movement and flexibility of the legs as well as acrobatic technique. Apparently Grant and I missed this memo.

This is more like what Capoeira actually looks like, but Grant looks a little scared, understandably.

The city of Salvador has an upper and lower level, which can be easily accessed by pedestrians using this awesome elevator in the center of the city. This was only a 5 minute walk from our hostel and only costs 15 cents to ride. The upper level leads right out to Pelourinho while the bottom level opens up to Salvador's famous Mercado Modelo.

My favorite stand at Mercado Modelo. How cool are these masks?

The view of sunset from outside Praça da Sé in Salvador da Bahia :)

Rio de Janeiro 4/27-4/30

I spent four amazing days in Rio de Janeiro with two of my good friends from school, Zaria (from Michigan) and Grant (from Australia).

We arrived in Rio on April 27th and that night we went to see the Rio Ballet Company perform Tatiana live in Centro do Rio, and then spent the evening in Lapa, the downtown/nightlife area of Rio.

Lapa is famous for Escadaria Selarón, and the Aqueduto da Carioca but at night, Lapa turns into a lively street party lined with bars, clubs and food/drink venders.

Our first night in Rio, living up to it's reputation, Grant was robbed by two transexuals at knifepoint. (Enter heart attacks for Mom and Dad... oh and Miranda).

BUT he was okay and was able to file a police report the following day to send to his insurance. Luckily for him, the "trannys" only wanted his iPhone (oh American products, so exciting to Brasilians)

Escadaria Selarón (The Lapa Steps): An art project started by Jorge Selarón in 1990. Basically a collection of tiles that he has been lining these steps with for 22 years. Now travelers from all over the world can bring tiles from their countries and he will add them to the project. There is still a lot of unfinished parts, but he calls is "his tribute to Brasilian people" and expects it to be an ongoing project until his death.

Aqueduto da Carioca (after a little bit of rainfall). At night the street venders set up their carts here as it is in the center of all the downtown bars and clubs.

The second day of our trip we decided to walk from the North end of Copacabana Beach to the very south end of Ipanema. Although this was a pretty long walk (especially in the sand), we decided this was a great way to see the two most famous beaches in Brasil, but also to see the people of Rio (aka. Cariocas) and the lesser known beach of Leblon.

Copacabana Beach. Said to be the most famous beach in the world.

Ipanema Beach. Home of the well-known Bossa Nova song "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema). Much more beautiful beach than Copacabana but it was a little overcast this day.

Me with my good friend, Cristo Redentor

The view from Jesus' platform in the sky. The beautiful mountains of rio de Janeiro, including Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) at the bottom right (the tall pointy one).

My trip to Rio was exciting and busy. Zaria, Grant and I wanted to get in as much sightseeing as possible while also trying to enjoy the culture of Rio since it is very different from São Paulo. I was able to see all of the sights that I really wanted to see, but would love to go back and experience the rest of the amazing sights and adventures that Rio has to offer.

Mercadão and My Brasilian TV Debut

My class had another cultural day last month, a visit to Pátio de Colégio and Mercado Municipal (lovingly referred to by Paulistanas as Mercadão).

Mercadão is a well-known indoor "street style" market in the center of Sao Paulo. You can buy meats, fish, cheeses, wines, spirits, fruits and so many other types of food at this market. My favorite was the fruits. There were so many fruits I had never seen or heard of, so I decided to be a little sneaky. I walked around to almost every fruit stand I could find and asked for samples.

Me: "Oi, pode prova este?" (Hi can I try this?)

Vender: "Não provas" (No sample)

Me: "Não entendi" (I don't understand)

Vender: "Desculpe, mas, não pode" (I'm sorry, but, you can't)

Me: "Ummm, não entendi, por favor, deixe-me tentar" (I don't understand, please let me try)

Eventually most of the sellers got annoyed with me and let me sample at least one fruit.

I tried to find translations for some of the fruits but since we don't have most of them in the US, there is no translation.