My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
We really liked Pausada Ilha Faceira where we stayed last night. It wasn’t raining when we got up this morning so we could enjoy this nice view towards the beach from our balcony.
Our view towards the Atlantic in Florianópolis
After a great breakfast we hit the road and headed inland. For most of the day we weren’t on the main road so we saw a lot fewer trucks and much less traffic. This was the view from the high point on the road.
The view from the road.
Tonight we are staying in a wonderful cabana out in the country overlooking a river.
Our cabanaThe view from our balcony
We went shopping for dinner before we left Florianópolis.
At the grocery storeBread, wine, cheese, and salami for dinnerSitting and reading by the fire.
This morning before we left Curitiba we stopped at Tingui Park. We were loookng for the old Ukrainian Chuch that is now a memorial.
The park is beautiful. We had a lovely walk. The temperature was around 70 which is much cooler than it has been the last couple of days.
Tingui ParkMore of our walk
Duke was in front of me. Look what he found in someone’s back yard across the creek!
Capybaras they are the size of large hogs’
They are the largest living rodent. They are enormous.
Capybaras n someone’s backyard
After seeing that group we saw a lot more. I thought they were rocks when we first saw them.
Another Capybara
A bit farther down the path we found the Ukrainian Church. The church a replica of a famous church in Ukrainian. It has a museum inside.
Ukrainian Memorial Inside the memorialDuke inside the church/ memorial One of many decorated eggs. Another view.
After walking back to the car we drove about two hours south to the town of Joinville. It rained much of the way. The road was very good but there were a lot of trucks and it was very windy. All of which contributed to a stressful drive for Duke.
For dinner we went to a German restaurant near our hotel. It was wonderful. I had Goulash. Duke had sausage and we shared an apple strudel. The strudel was to die for. The best I have ever had!
Zum Slausch German RestaurantGoulash and spaetzleSausage and sauerkraut Apple strudel
After breakfast this morning we got a taxi to take us out to the rental car agency where we had a car booked. Unfortunately the taxi driver misunderstood where we were going and took us to an address near São Paulo’s other airport. Eventually we were able to make him understand where we wanted to go. He was apologetic and eventually we arrived at FOCO car rental.
Duke got a number and waited a bit then started the rental process. When they were about finished the agent realized that we had booked the car to return it at Foz do Iguazu. Duke made the reservation in May and as he soon learned they closed their Foz do Iguazu office in June.
Luckily their customer service was good and they wanted to make the situation right. The agent started trying to find an agency with an office in Foz do Iguazu that had a car available to rent. Eventually she found one, they drove us to the Movida rental car office and five hours after we left our hotel we were on the road out of São Paulo.
Duke renting the carNot our rental car!Ready to leave São Paulo
The drive was long and there was quite a bit of traffic but about 5pm we arrived at Pousada Coisa Mais Linda, on the coast, where we are tonight.
When we checked in the credit card machine wouldn’t take a credit card without a PIN. And the lady checking us in didn’t speak English or Spanish. Google Translate was helpful. Luckily we finally thought to try ApplePay and that worked.
After we unloaded it sure was nice to sit in the bar and enjoy our beers as we overlooked the water and unwound!
Relaxing after a long day
We had dinner at our hotel. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast at the hotel is São Paulo. Our fried casaba and fish was really good!
We are staying at the Meliã Paulista in São Paulo. We had a good breakfast there this morning. I have never seen corn on the cob on a breakfast buffet before.
Part of the breakfast buffet
São Paulo is one of the biggest cities in the world. According to Google the only cities bigger are in Asia.
The view from our hotel room.
São Paulo is on the Tropic of Cancer. Spring is starting here. The weather has been hot. We walked about a mile down Avenida Paulista to the SESC building. they have a free viewing platform on the roof. Along the way we walked through Trianon Park.
Trianon Park
We had to wait a while to get tickets to go up the SESC building. They had a nice air conditioned lounge with free wifi for us to to wait in.
SESC waiting area View from the top of the SESC buildingUs on the viewing platform.
On our way back from the hotel we stopped at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP).
São Paulo Art Museum
The art work is displayed on crystal easels with the descriptions on the back.
Inside the MASPRenoir paintingsBack of the painting of the two little girlsHieronymus Bosch painting
Tonight we went to a show at a jazz club called JazzB. The group played mainly tango music. We had a fun evening.
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