Friday, February 24, 2012

A Vacation From Our Vacation.

After the bloco in Ipanema, Vania drove Amanda, Claire, and I to her house in Niteroi. It was a gorgeous house with a pool and sunshine and seven poodles to keep us company. Vania and John introduced us to some Portuguese music and we picked up some Portuguese phrases, we had caipirinhas in the pool and just escaped from the hustle and bustle in Rio.
Rough life down here in Rio.
Their backyard. That pool was our saving grace.
On Wednesday, (after a long, hard day sipping caipirinhas in the pool) John and Vania took us to an Italian restaurant near their house. Our waiter was really awesome and we were actually able to understand most of what he was saying!! It's getting so much easier to understand Portuguese, but it's still difficult to respond back to people. We're working on that though, one step at a time.

Our waiter at the Italian resturant we went to.
On the way back to Botafogo, we stopped at an ice cream shop that had 65 different flavors of ice cream. And you could pick as many as your wanted because you paid by weight. Let me reiterate-- SIXTY FIVE flavors! I couldn't decide if I wanted to go the fruity route and get a combination of grape, strawberry, and passion fruit (uva, morango, e maracuja, for you Portuguese speaking folk) or the chocolate-y route. I ended up deciding on the chocolate. Chocolate, toasted coconut, and cookies and cream with chocolate sprinkles. No regrets there.

Outside of the ice cream shop from heaven.
Flat Stanley got some ice cream too, I might add.
Besides stopping at the fabulous ice cream shop, John and Vania gave us the scenic tour of Niteroi and downtown Rio. This spaceship looking creation is a contemporary art museum which is some place that I would like to go back to, if the chance arises.



John and Vania were so hospitable and wonderful to us. It was quite possibly the best three days I've spent in Rio de Janeiro yet, there's a huge possibility that we'll be spending another weekend there soon.

The three of us with John and Vania in front of the Guanabara Bay.

2 comments:

  1. How about Copacabana? Have you visit Ipanema’s twin? It would actually way more awesome to be able to visit the rocky outcrop separating the two beaches! :D Anyway, did you spent another weekend there, as you said here? It’s nice that you always have a place to stay there. :]

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    1. I was able to visit both beaches while I was there AND made it out to the rocks dividing the two! And we did make it back to our Brazilian home away from home. It was always so nice to get away.

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