Day 14 - Buzios

The last day of vacation always leaves me a little bit sad. We took a boat tour that went to some islands and beaches. It was cold and overcast though so we didn't get off the boat to swim although some others on the boat did. Being overcast I didn't wear sunscreen yet managed to get red as a lobster. Our boat looked like an old pirate ship which is way cooler than the catamaran tours. The big highlight was seeing a penguin! Apparently penguins get swept up in the currents from Patagonia and often land on the beaches in Buzios. After hearing this on our trolley tour yesterday I'd spent part of the morning walking along the beach looking for one. At one island people came out in a boat selling freshly cooked shrimp. Delicious. I think the others that bought them ate them with the shells on. Ick.

After the boat tour we packed up our luggage and stored it at the hotel. We went for lunch back to the crepe stand again. The Husband was deciding between a ham and cheese crepe and a ham and cheddar crepe. Good thing I checked it out because they were making someone else's ham and cheddar crepe with more cheez whiz. However what they just call cheese on the menu looks like cheddar to me. We spent our last hour lounging at the pool deck before being driven back to the airport in Rio. Unfortunately we got there so early we weren't even allowed to check in yet. Once we finally got checked in and into the international terminal there was no food there! All I wanted was to buy a bag of chips or get something small to take on the plane so I wuoldn't have to eat the nasty dinner. No luck there although I did spend the last of my Brazilian money buying candy in the Duty Free shop. There were some crazy people rolling around huge baskets of duty free goods. I think one woman had 20 pounds of Toblerone and others were spending hundreds on electronic devices, perfume, and designer clothes. I've never had the urge to make large purchases while waiting for a flight but maybe their flights were delayed and they were bored.

Spiny plants

Tropical flowers

Coconut stand

Our pirate ship

The hotel next door to ours from the boat

One of the beaches

Another beach

The penguin!

The same penguin

The Husband on the boat

Me with some fabulous shrimp skewers

The Husband watching the Michigan football game on his Blackberry

Another picture of downtown

Yet another

All the boats anchored off the beach

Pretty flowers at our hotel

Rocks along the bottom of the water

Our hotel from the boat

Entrance to our hotel from the street

Thoughts on our hotel: We loved Vila d'Este and would recommend it to anyone visiting Buzios. We liked that it was so close to downtown and all the restaurants. All the other pousadas looked nice as well though. What we didn't like was the size of our bed. In Salvador we had the most gigantic bed ever, then in Buzios we had to sleep in a full. We thought the rooms and the bed size were small for the amount of money we paid. Also we wouldn't recommend the restaurant. We only saw one party eat there the whole time besides the free breakfast. They do make delicious drinks though for a night cap or lounging by the pool.

Thoughts on Buzios: Buzios is a great place to relax. I imagine in the summer it's pretty packed on the weekends with vacationers from Rio though. The beaches were not as good as I thought they'd be. They were pretty small although nice enough. Just don't expect miles of gorgeous white sand. The downtown area had a lot of nice restaurants and shops that I managed to do a lot of damage at. I think if we were to go back to Brazil we'd try a different town, maybe Paraty or Ilhabela instead just to do something different.

Day 13 - Buzios

Given that Buzios is our relaxing part of the trip, we haven't really done anything while here. And we don't have plans to do much else. After lunch in town we took a trolley tour of the area. We some beautiful beaches and beautiful houses where the rich people vacation. It was nice to see a little more of the area other than downtown and our hotel and the lookout spots we stopped at had great views.

We had dinner at Don Juan's tonight, a steakhouse. I started with bruschetta and The Husband had a baked potato. What we learned is in Brazil, when cheddar cheese is listed on the menu they are referring to cheez whiz in a can. Look at the picture of the potato below. We also noticed this the next night at the Crepe stand. For dinner The Husband had a pasta that he somewhat enjoyed. By this point in the trip and after being sick he just wanted to go home and eat his comfort foods. I had a delicious filet with gorgonzola sauce. The beef was excellent. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're in Buzios.

Downtown Buzios

Downtown Buzios

Don Juan restaurant

Fishermen sculpture

The penguin restaurant

Buggys you can rent while in Buzios. I wanted a pink one.

View from our trolley tour

View of us at a lookout stop on the trolley tour

View of a beach

Our stop at a beach. It was way too cold to swim. Notice the sweatshirt in the picture above.

Coconuts

Another stop on the trolley tour

Baked potato with cheez whiz

Bruschetta on whole wheat bread

Day 12 - Buzios

The Husband is still sick so we decided to head to the doctor. What an adventure. The nurse and the receptionist didn't speak any English. Luckily the doctor did. Turns out The Husband had an intestinal infection and was dehydrated and would need an IV. Yikes. Getting needles stuck into you in foreign countries is scary. After 2 and a half IV bags, The Husband was feeling much better. I picked his 3 prescriptions for him while he was busy getting stuck. Luckily medical care and prescriptions was fairly cheap in Brazil, especially considering an IV at a hospital in the US without insurance would have been thousands.

We stopped for lunch then The Husband went to take a nap and recover and I went to the beach Joao Fernandes for an hour and a half. Then it was time for my spa day at the hotel and spa next door, Casa Brancas. It was very nice. They gave me a free pair of Havianas to wear and take home. I had a hot stone massage and a facial. Then I went and sat in the jacuzzi for a while and watched the sunset while drinking a cup of tea. Heaven.

We had dinner at a casual crepe restaurant. They had everything you could possibly want on the menu. I had an open-faced crepe with gorgonzola, parmesan, and ham. The Husband had a dessert crepe with strawberries and whipped cream. Another early night to bed. The Husband has to get better.

The Husband and his IV

Strawberry and whipped cream crepe

Parmesan, gorgonzola, and ham crepe

Nighttime in downtown

Day 11 - Buzios

We had a flight at 6:10 am out of Salvador back to Rio. Our hotel owner Didier drove us to the airport in the morning. The Husband is still sick at this time although feeling a little better. We were so thankful we booked the private transfer to Buzios instead of taking a bus. First of all I get carsick easily although I didn't this time. Secondly, instead of taking a taxi to the bus station then getting from the bus station in Buzios to our hotel, our driver was right outside baggage claim and we were delived directly to our hotel. We booked our transfer through Malizia Tours who were great.

We were staying at Vila d'Este. Our hotel was beautiful. Tropical plants and flowers everywhere. The hotel overlooks the water and a little street below. There's a restaurant/bar and pool that overlook the water too. Our room was interesting as it was waterfront and tucked away under the restaurant. It reminded me of a cave, tucked into the side of the hill. There was a small patio and we kept the doors open to see the great view. There was also a staircase there that leads down to the main street into town. It was great being a 2 minute walk into town.

The Husband was feeling well enough to eat some lunch so we headed up to the hotel restaurant. I had the bruschetta and he had some sort of toast with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. Not particularly impressive. The mozzarella was pretty tasteless.

We had a pretty lazy afternoon. After lunch we took a long nap. I had a pedicure at the spa at the hotel next door. Then we headed to dinner at Patio Havanna. The Husband was still feeling sick and skipped eating. I had pasta with lobster. Which actually included half a lobster on top of my pasta. Very delicious.

View from our bed to outside

View from our patio

Chair on our patio

Our room

Staircase to our room

Stairs to our room and down to the street

Pool

Restaurant

View from the pool deck

Downtown Buzios

Pool area

Brigette Bardot sculpture

Day 10 - Salvador

The Husband is still sick. I managed to drag him downstairs for breakfast hoping some food would make him feel better. I also dragged him to the pool for some fresh air during the day (and so we could get our sickly room cleaned) and to the rooftop bar at night. Still feeling sick though.

I spent the day exploring Pelourinho which is the old section of town. They used to auction slaves here. There's tons of narrow streets and squares to explore. I even thought about eating a meal not at our hotel (whose restaurant was fabulous by the way). I walked all the way over to a restaurant that looked good for lunch until I realized it was so fricking hot I just wanted another bowl of gazpacho back at the hotel. So I had the delicious gazpacho for lunch again. I also had this gorgonzola and banana mixture on top of pieces of baguette. It was delicious as well. I wouldn't have thought the gorgonzola and banana went well together but it did.

For some reason the men in Salvador really like me. One of the bartenders at the hotel has a crush on me. Then when watching the capoeira demonstration in the square, one of the guys kept staring at me even though I didn't get up too close. I came back through the square again to hit up the ATM and was watching them again. They came up to me and then two of them fought over talking to me although the one didn't speak English. I did get a picture with them though. They also didn't believe I'm married since I wasn't wearing my ring and thought I was visiting alone. Before escaping, they made me promise to come back later at 7pm which is when the big party gets going in the square. Yes, let me come back later to hang out with a group of 20 men by myself. I'm not sure what it was but the Salvadorian men loved me. Maybe it was the pale German skin that does it for them.

The big party in the square starts with mass in the churches. Meanwhile they set up a stage and lots of little stalls mostly full of people selling caipirinhas. Very cool but I didn't hang out long. I didn't want to sit by myself and invite all sorts of men over to "make friends" with me so I headed back to the hotel. Around 10:30pm as I was checking out of the hotel since we had a very early morning, I heard a group of drummers marching up the street that was incredibly loud. Very cool. People were partying out in the squares for a long time.

I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant by myself again where the lovely hotel owners, Gilles and Didier, gave me some medicine for the sick husband. Then I finished the night with a drink on the beautiful rooftop bar where I dragged The Husband up for some fresh air for a while.

The man who practically molested me in the square

The square getting set up for the big party

The square again

View down to the lower part of the city

Church

Salvador

Church

Traditional Bahian dress

One of the squares

One of the narrow streets

The square full of people

View from the rooftop bar

Thoughts on our hotel: The only thing to say is fabulous. Great rooms, great hotel, great service. I can't say enough good things about it.

Thoughts on the city of Salvador: Unfortunately due to The Husband's illness I didn't get to see much of the city. I highly recommend staying in the Pelourinho area. There's a lot going on. Tons of restaurants and small hotels. I didn't make it to the beach but the beaches in the area are supposed to be really nice. I do highly recommend a stop in Salvador if your schedule in Brazil allows it. It's only a 2 hour flight from Rio.