Last Minute Passeio (Cabo Frio and Búzios)

This weekend was our first actual out of town trip since we arrived in Brazil in March. On Thursday, our friend Cristina called to tell us there was a group of American students in town that were taking a weekend trip and we could tag along if we wanted. They had rented a bus and several rooms in a rental house, and the whole weekend would only cost us R$100 (only 50 bucks) before food. So we figured, why not? We didn't have any plans anyway.

The students are a group from the University of Georgia at Athens (UGA), living here in Niteroí for five weeks. They are taking a Portuguese class at my school and their professor from UGA is also teaching a Brazilian culture class. They all had varying knowledge of Portuguese, from as little as one semester, all the way through the lit classes. They are all doing homestays, and one of the students is living with Cristina, so she came on the trip too.

At first we weren't quite sure what to think, just tagging along on their trip. But it turned out to be a lot of fun. Everyone was very nice, mainly language majors and most of their Portuguese was really good. But the best part...despite the Portuguese studies, we got to speak English almost all weekend!

On to the actual trip:
We traveled to a beach town about three hours away by bus (still in Rio state) called Cabo Frio, which means Cold Cape. They had rented rooms in a huge place (118 beds) for only about 26 or so people. When we arrived, everyone got right down to the thing of utmost importance for a weekend trip...making drinks. They sent people out to buy the essentials: toilet paper, snacks, and mixers. When they returned we had a fridge full to the brim with about six different kinds of beer, an arsenal of cachaça, about 25 limes, and a big bag of sugar. We all got right to work and after a couple hours of caipirinhas, we loaded onto the bus with our to go drinks and headed out for dinner. It felt like Mardi Gras all over again. We ate at a great spot called the Canal, which was just that...a big canal filled with boats, and the dock was lined with restuarants and bars. After much Pizza Portuguesa, we headed back to the hostel to continue the party with some Circle of Death and other lovely games (oh to hang out with Americans ;) )

Saturday we headed to another nearby town called Búzios, which was about an hour away. Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate, and it was very cool and cloudy the whole day. Luckily, we didn't get any rain, although it threatened the entire time. In Búzios, we visited two different beaches, Ferradurinha and Geribá. Ferradurinha is a tiny beach surrounded by huge rocks and ENORMOUS waves. Especially with the weather, the waves were pretty rough. It was gorgeous, but the tide was so high there wasn't much dry beach, so we moved on to Geribá. Geribá is a huge beach and it's completely flat, which also ended up sending the water almost all the way up the beach. The waves there were also very big, and the absence of huge rocks meant there were bunches of surfers. Since it was really too cold to swim, we found a little beach bar and ordered lunch and drinks and just lazed around, which was very nice.



Praia de Ferradurinha



Praia de Geribá

After the beach, we headed to the center of Búzios, which was definitely my favorite part of the trip. The center is all cobblestone streets filled with beach shops, bars, and restaurants. We ate dinner in a churrascuria (which blew the UGA students away =) ) and there, Stefan and I tried Grapa for the first time. (I was told by so many people to get Grapa when I went to Europe and never had the chance.) I think that once was probably enough. The stuff is probably the strongest alcohol I've ever drank... in tast and effect. All I can say is WOW. After dinner, we strolled around the streets, trying drinks from this bar or that, and checking out the shops. We finally settled at a jazz bar called the Havana Club...decorated Cuban style. The music was fabulous and we had a blast. One guy with the group, Pablo, is a Brazilian from this area doing his PhD at UGA. His parents met up with us in Búzios and his mom, Maria and I became friends. They hung out with us at the jazz club, and were super fun!



Brazilians like their drinks COLD! The bottle is actually in a block of ice!



Me and Stefan with Maria. Pablo is in the background.



Havana boys!

Sunday we actually went to the beach in Cabo Frio, which is also very pretty. The sand is very white and extremely fine. The beach there is also very flat and the waves are unlike any I've ever seen. They literally come in tiers, the last being the biggest, and they were HUGE! One minute there would be no water at all on the beach, then the next the tiers of waves would come in and the water would be past my waist! Sunday was gorgeous so we actually got to play in the water and I got a nice sunburn.



Praia de Cabo Frio

We had lunch at a beach bar and watched Brazil play New Zealand in a World Cup scrimage game. Then, unfortunately, it was back on the bus...to return to normal life, and my upcoming test on Thursday :( It was a great first trip away and we are planning another in two weeks for another Rio destination, Ilha Grande. Hope you guys enjoyed what I think has been the longest blog yet, and hope you like the pics.

Até Logo!