Brazil!

Jason and I just came back from a trip to Brazil!    We were gone for two weeks, thanks to my Dad, who agreed to watch the kids for us.  We went to Brazil to go to Rebeka's wedding--and since we were traveling all that way we extended the trip to do a bit of sightseeing.  To be honest, we were pretty nervous about the trip because: A. we heard that Brazil was very dangerous, and B. our kids had just started school, and Alaina was a new kindergartner.   So we approached the trip with a bit more trepidation than usual.

We started the trip off in Rio--a city that our current au pair told us she would never go to because it was so dangerous.   But how could we go to Brazil and NOT see Rio?   So we went.   And we loved it!  We were super careful--only went to the nice areas--never walked at night--never carried a purse etc etc., but the bubble we stayed in seemed quite safe.   The city is geographically stunning with big mountains reaching into the sea, and wide swaths of beach.   Unfortunately, it was still a bit cold for beach weather, being that we were there in the early spring.   But we did get to take the tram to the top of sugarloaf mountain, and saw the Christ the Redeemer statue--one of the seven modern wonders of the world.   The statue is on a huge mountain that overlooks all of Rio--and is really spectacular.   AS Jason said, "It makes the city".
  

From Rio, we headed to Rebeka's hometown of Londrina.   Londrina certainly is not on the tourist circuit--although it is fairly big with a population of 600,000, most people did not speak English and were excited to meet Americans.   In fact, we got into one Uber and the driver heard us speaking English and stated "you must be here for the wedding".   Ha Ha.

Anyhow, Rebeka's wedding was spectacular, and quite the party.  She got married on a farm overlooking rolling hills, and had a reception that lasted almost until dawn.   Around the time a normal American wedding would end, a Samba band paraded in for an hour performance.   When we left, exhausted at almost 3:30 am, the party was still going strong!

The following afternoon, we went to a barbecue at Rebeka's Aunt's home and got to visit to her and Alex's family more.   We then headed back to the coast.

Our first stop was Paraty, a colonial city between Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.   The city itself is quite picturesque with cobblestone streets and brightly painted homes.  We took a boat ride the fist day to some nearby beaches, but unfortunately the weather was not too cooperative.  

The following day was similarly cold, so we opted for a hike to the top of (yet another) sugarloaf mountain.   The hike was short but quite steep.  The view from the top was spectacular--a 360 degree view of mountains and sea.

Our final destination in Brazil was Ilha Grande.   This is a large island that, up until the mid 1990s, was a penal colony.   Sometime around then the Brazilian government realized it was far to beautiful a place to be a prison and moved the prisoners elsewhere.      The island retains much of its isolation--there are no cars at all--and small towns are linked only by hiking trails or boats.   It was a laid back, quiet kind of a place, and a perfect spot to relax at the end of the trip.   Each day, we took boat tours to different sections of the island--and we did get sun on 2 out of 3 days.   It was even warm enough to swim and we did some great snorkeling.

Meanwhile at home, my dad held down the fort quite well.   He was able to get out and do some great hikes during the day, as best as I can tell the kids didn't terrorize him at night.  We feel very fortunate that we had the opportunity to go!