Southern Exposures 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Best day yet

After 3 overcast and rainy days, we cruised into the South Atlantic blue blue sky today. We consequently spent 5 hrs in and around the pool with everyone else. It was the second sea day in a row. We were in need of some sun therapy. We got it in spades. This felt like our best day yet on board. (Or, how soon we forget how nice the other days were.)
Three days ago we went to the delightful old colonial town of Parati, a few hours south of Rio. We marvelled at the dozens and dozens of party boats in the harbour lined up in rows. We marched into the cobblestone streets and glimpsed 300 year old architecture and culture. The streets without any cars were lined with beautiful little shops, restaurants and bars.
We did a lot of souvenir shopping. We paused at the local beach for a coke zero and weefee which worked well. Strolling back thru the streets we heard lots of bossa nova guitar music in different bars and restaurants. Of course they were all playing classical nylon stringed electric guitars which you can rarely find in Canada.
After yet more souvenir shopping we headed back to the pier for the short tender ride to the ship. Later it was Toscana's for Italian food, Dave's favourite. (Lasagana, calamari, parmesagn cheese..)
Monday we docked at Santos, which has to be one of the biggest ports in the world. We saw container ships by the dozens coming and going. This is the industrial heartland of Brazil. Sau Paulo, a city of 12 million +, is an hour away.
The transfer was inefficient. One bus took us from the pier to the terminal and a 2nd from the terminal to an upscale shopping centre. This took an hour.
Not interested in the shopping centre (we forgot to bring any money or credit cards...), we walked 4 blocks to the beach. A long expanse of sand greeted us with towering condo/apt buildings for as far as one could see. A man said to check out the leaning condo buildings and we did. Some unstable soil resulted in some buildings of 12 or more floors leaning on an angle! Needless to say they were all for sale, ha!
We headed back to catch the 1 PM shuttle bus. Well, there was a big crowd as the schedule said the next one would not be until 3 PM (lunch break). People shoved and pushed to get on the 1 PM bus. It was a tumultous time. We spent 1 hour in Santos and an additional 2 hrs on various busses to get the 1 hour. Not our favourite stop for sure. However the sun came out for a few hrs once we were back on board.
The next day we were to tender in to Porto Bello, a small fishing village with many beaches. It was not to be.b The swell was tossing the tenders around like bobbing corks. Safety first, the captain announced that they were cancelling this stop. So, we had an unplanned sea day and it rained all day. Played some bridge and enjoyed the French cuisine in Jacques (canvas back duckling a l'orange, coquille St Jacques and some delicious soupe Marseillaise.
(Marie's favorite restaurant).

That brings us up to date. Amanha, Rio Grande do Sol - hey gauch!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Buzios!

A quintessential resort town 2 hrs north of Rio. We had a great day. We sat on the beach, had some caiparinhas and enjoyed the hot sunny weather. Marie sunned herself while Dave went for a swim.

Thousands of Brazilians holiday here every year. They were out in full force in flip flops and tangas enjoying a Saturday at the beach. We enjoyed watching them have a good time.

The shopping was great and not overly expensive. We enjoyed the walkability of the boardwalk and side streets full of shops, bars and restaurants. Overall it was our best day outing so far. Very relaxing and peacefull.

We tendered back to the ship and had a quick pool swim before the captain's party. The Captain was detained on the bridge getting us out of the congested harbour (a Pullmantour cruise ship was in the way.) He missed his own party. But we toasted Oceania and enjoyed the 2 hour open bar.

After pizza and shrimp we had a restful night getting ready for Parati.

Bom noites!

Friday, November 21, 2014

The Real Rio

We met Fr Bernard Colgan, OMI for lunch today. He lives in Duque de Caxias a suburb in Rio. He is from Dublin and is helping to establish a new Parish in this bustling city. He has been in Brazil for 40 years and loves it.

He says there is a lot of violence like car jackings and drug related crime. However he has never been at risk. Brazilians are religious people and there is a long history. Religion was an integrating force since the Portuguese landed here in the 14th century.

The shortage here is in skilled professionals like accountants, engineers and dentists. Despite the corruption problems, Brazil has made progress in improving incomes, sanitary standards and transportation.

We gave Bernie some Canadian maple syrup. He has never been to Canada and did not know what it was. It was great meeting him and chatting about Brazil.

We are starting our 2nd cruise now. The clientele is a little younger. We got a free upgrade to a cabin with an extended balcony. Life is good. We are so reslaxed and thankful.

See you at the next free weefee stop!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

A cidade marveilosa

Rio de Janiero is indeed the marvelous city. We arrived Weds AM to stunning blue skies as we cruised past Pao de Açucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain).

Turning left just before the bridge to Niteroi, we docked at 8:45 AM. It was off the ship and onto the bus for our first day of a 2 day tour. Eugenio (Eugene) was our tour guide. First we went to Sugar Loaf to beat the crowds. We took the two step tram up to the top. It was a marvelous 360 deg view more than a 1000 ft above Guanabara Bay. We had a clear view of Botafogo, Flamengo where Kim used to live and Copacabana Beach. As we descended we could here a military band playing.
We had lunch near the military (naval?) base at Vermelho (Red) beach as the band played on. They weighed our food in the restaurant. It was a good lunch of salads and fejoida. Continuing to the Botanical Gardens we walked around for an hour seeing brazil wood trees, orchids, bamboo plants, mango trees, some small monkeys, a scary mouthed fish and a tucan in a tree. Getting tired after a visit to the Sambadrome, we stopped at the ultra modern Cathedral and marvelled at the stained glass going up hundreds of feet to the roof above. Exhausted we got back to the ship about 5 PM.

After a good night's sleep, it was back on the bus to Corcovado, the huge statue of Christ overlooking Rio. We took the train up the steep mountain and were rewarded with even more spectacular views than yesterday, Dozens of photos later we returned to the base for a buffet lunch in Botafogo. Dave helped himself to the caçhaca in the little wooden barrel. The fejoida was to die for. Then we were dropped at Copacabana Beach. It was a State holiday and the beach was packed with families who are cariocas (people who live in Rio). We walked the beach and then shopped. Time for some caiparinhas. Taxi back to the pier at 5 PM again.

Impressions: the city is much more middle class now compared to 1978. We only saw a few beggars. People look very happy and celebrate life here. Family values are obviously strong. The fabulous weather, the natural beauty and the cachaca caiparinha cocktails (lime. sugar, ice) are as good as ever. The only complaint Eugenio had about the favela residents is that they don`t pay taxes.

Everyone should come to Rio at least once to enjoy it. We have another night here. Tomorrow we will lunch with an Oblate who is on mission here. Ciau!