Travel update #36 – Brasil!

So, here we are again. I’m currently sitting on a plane to Buenos Aires. In my previous travel update, I kept it a bit vague about where I’d be going, but you can clearly see that now from the title: to Chile! Haha, no, Brazil indeed. I’ve been exploring (a small part of) that country for the past four weeks. And I didn’t do it alone! I was lucky enough to have Patrick fly over for four whole weeks. Together we created unforgettable memories, and I’d love to share them with you. Here they come! 😊

Perhaps it’s a good idea to (re)introduce Patrick. That name rings a bell for the die-hard readers of this blog. Patrick is a German guy I met three years ago in Bangkok where he was working as a ladyboy. No, haha, not that, but I did meet him there. It was only for 24 hours, but that was enough time for us to know we had a special bond. We stayed in touch and decided to explore Vietnam together (with Dustin :-D) for a month later that trip. We became very good friends there, and since Patrick lives in Aachen, which is only a two-hour drive from Utrecht, we’ve seen each other regularly since then.

Patrick is a unique person. I know few people who are as kind as him. He doesn’t understand when others aren’t friendly. “What’s so hard about being nice?” is a question I’ve heard repeatedly over the past few weeks. Besides that, Patrick and I share plenty of things, like humor, values, and travel experience, making Patrick the ideal person to travel with. I’m glad I can call him my friend. Although, rereading this, it sounds more like he’s my boyfriend. And plenty of people have thought that over the past few weeks, haha! (Right Tadea?? 😉)

When you think of a place in Brazil, you think of…? Rio, of course! Or, Rio de Janeiro, to be precise. So, that’s where we started our four weeks. And when you think of Rio, you think of…? Copacabana, indeed! So that’s where we stayed. Well, no worries, we didn’t sleep on the beach, but in an Airbnb. What an amazing place Rio is, and what a country Brazil is. Truly a different country compared to anywhere I’ve been before. I don’t really know how to describe it, but raw and pure are words that come to mind. Besides, people are much more extravagant than in the Netherlands, and it’s obviously very important to blend in with the locals. So there was only one thing to do: bleach my hair! I’d already decided to do that before I left on this trip. It seemed like a cool thing to do in Brazil. And you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously anyway. I think the result is better than expected, but you can be the judge of that!

Besides, the country literally lives & breathes football. You see something football-related everywhere: people walk around in their club’s kit, every bar has football on all day long, and even the Uber driver was listening to a replay of a match on the radio. For me, it’s pure heaven. Of course, we also went to the legendary Maracaña Stadium and saw Fluminense, with Thiago Silva, beat Atletico Mineiro, with Hulk (if you don’t follow football: yes, the green monster, he plays football in his spare time). Being at the Maracaña was especially rewarding for my German friend, as Germany beat Brazil 7-1 there in 2014. As mentioned: a legendary ground.

We weren’t the only ones in Rio. Haz was there too. And that was a nice coincidence, because I’d met Haz four months earlier in Popoyo, Nicaragua. This was the last week of her trip, and we did a few things together, which was really fun! For example, on our first night, we went to a party in the favelas. If you’re going to get robbed, you might as well do it on the first night, right? Haha, no, luckily it didn’t get that far; they know better than to mess with us! We also went to a samba party, which is of course very typical of Brazil. That was a unique experience, I must say; I’d never seen anything like it before. Of course, we also visited the tourist spots, and with the statue of Christ, I managed to tick off another wonder of the world. That was, after Machu Picchu, the second one that week. I felt really cool in that moment, haha.

What time was it? Time to move on. Ilha Grande, or “the big island,” was on the agenda. But first, we spent a few days in Angra dos Reis, the harbor town where the boats depart for Ilha Grande. Patrick works online, and we spent our workdays here. What did we see in Angra dos Reis? Piratas Shopping Center! Our Airbnb was located there, and you could literally find everything you need here. Supermarket, gym, hairdresser, restaurants, you name it. We felt like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, so we decided to watch that movie in the evening, haha. Finally, we took the boat and reached Ilha Grande. Such a different place from Rio, but really cool. Islands are always very chill, of course. You can do beautiful hikes on Ilha Grande, and we did two of them. It was nice to be a bit more active again and to see nature instead of a shopping center. You hike to secluded beaches, and they are beautiful. And the best part is that you can just take the boat back, which is perfect. Well, the boats were a bit rough, but oh well: better than walking back.

We got ready to head back to the mainland, taking a small speedboat in the rain, and prepared ourselves for the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere: São Paulo! We’d heard mixed reviews, most of them not very positive. So we decided to stay only two nights, but we actually had a great time! We visited the city center, an arty neighborhood, and had the best sandwich of our trip. You won’t hear a bad word from us about São Paulo!

But now it was time to go to a place we’d heard really good things about: Florianópolis! Sounds like a futuristic name from a Superman movie, but it’s actually an island, connected to the mainland, in Brazil. This was another place so different from the previous ones. Low houses, everything super clean, right on the water, it was a bit reminiscent of California. We’d been recommended a hike there, and it was really fun. We first walked to a secluded beach and then all the way up to a viewpoint. We brought our music and sang along to it. We relaxed in the sun at the top, and we had yet another successful day.

We were here on the weekend, which naturally meant we had to explore Florianópolis’s nightlife. We went out with the hostel, were in bed after 6:00 AM, and were woken up by the reception at 11:00 AM to tell us we had to check out. That wasn’t the plan; we weren’t leaving until the next day. Apparently, I’d booked incorrectly. Luckily, they were able to make some adjustments for us, and we could stay in the same room. So, back to bed. The evening was so enjoyable that we did it all again the next night. But this time we knew we had to check out at 11:00 AM, so we dutifully did 😉

We flew back to Rio and spent our last days there. It flew by so quickly. You’d think four weeks would seem like an eternity, but it felt like maybe ten days. We finished the trip by going to a boat party on the last day, and that’s how I’m finding myself with a hangover on the plane. It was a successful evening, though.

It might sound like we partied and did a lot, but if I’m honest, we spent most of our time relaxing. We slept in most days, ate healthy, tried to go to the gym, had good conversations, and above all, laughed a lot. Patrick’s visit came at the perfect time for me. After eight months of traveling, I was starting to get a bit tired of traveling by myself. Traveling alone and meeting new people was starting to get a bit tiresome. Don’t get me wrong: I meet so many great people, but that takes energy, of course. With Patrick around, everything was great; that’s how it really felt. Some buiId up tiredness over the past months came out in the beginning. I normally sleep well, but I slept really long these days. And luckily, Patrick didn’t have to do all sorts of things all day, which made the days very relaxing. We started a new show and often watched it in the evenings before going to bed (well, Patrick watched it, I fell asleep), and I missed those moments.

That’s it for now. As I said, I’m on my way to Buenos Aires, and for good reason. A new destination, a new friend coming to visit. I feel lucky that so many people are making an effort to see me. A big hug from me, and until next time! 😊