Floripa!
The 14h bus ride into Florianopolis (Floripa for the locals) was the most relaxing ride of my life, as I slept for almost 12h of it. I had barely walked off the bus and into the bus station, looking for the tourist information center, as I was approached by a guy who was renting out apartments in Barra da Lagoa, a rather small fishermen's village on the East coast of the island. The price seemed right, so for what I would have paid for a dorm room at the local HI hostel, I now had my own apartment at a 2 minute walk to the beach.
After a filling and good value lunch on the beach, I spent the afternoon kicking back on the sand, finishing On The Road, my new favorite book.
Opa!
Th next day I signed up for my first surfing class, which was awesome... also because of the great weather and even better waves.
The next day I had my second surfing class in the morning... unfortunately with a little less sun and crappy waves, but it was fun regardless. In the afternoon I decided I had done enough beach bumming and took a bus into the city for an exploratory hike.
creative Xmas stable
Xmas decoration and 28 degrees ... still a little alienated by that combination.
At night I met up with some fellow Couchsurfers and a very friendly Californian couple named Jenna and Jameson. Some guys out there might understand why that is worth a gniffle. :)
On Saturday, I met up with Alex, a good friend of my friend Carlos (my grandparents' neighbor). He took me out to a churrascaria, a typical all you can eat BBQ restaurant where they won't stop serving you (delicious) meat until you come dangerously close to a heart attack.
Alex
After my biggest protein boost in years, Alex, his friend and Eric, another friend from NYC got in the car and drove into the countryside to visit one of Brazil's best cachaça distilleries.
After the visit, and obviously tasting some of the cachaça, we returned to the island and drove to a resort on the North of the St Catarina island where Alex' family has a condo in a fancy resort.
Eric
At night we drove to Lagoa, a town in between Floripa and Barra da Lagoa, where the guys got some drinks and pizza while I drove over to Barra to pick up my stuff.
Floripa by night, view from Alex' penthouse
After some beers, Alex and his wife Roberta decided to call it a night, but Eric and I were curious about what else the night had to offer, so we hit up the Floripa nightlife.
Paying a visit to the El Divino Lounge, we found ourselves surrounded by the most beautiful women... it felt like walking into a Miss Brazil contest. =)
On Sunday, Alex and his friend had a cook-out in the gazebo on top of his really nice penthouse.
Eric and Roberta
Alex, firing up the waterpipe
The weather wasn't too nice, but even with the rain, the view and the feeling of being on top of the world were thrilling.
I spent the rest of the night editing pictures and working on my LJ. In my enthousiasm I didn't even sleep and spent all night like this, while tuning into the Studio Brussel webcast. Around 6.30AM I took a taxi to the local bus station where I got on yet another bus, off to Porto Alegre.