So, Sao Paulo...we were there for one night in a cheap and dirty hotel recommended by lonely planet. I think they definitely need an update in their book, maybe a review to mention the convenience and obvious use of this hotel for quick use from the downstairs bar. Ah well it had a bed and a bathroom and was ok for one night at least. We had a fabulous sushi dinner in the large Japanese district and walked around the next day in the shopping district. Definitely had a moment of confusion when I suddenly couldn't wlember if I was in NYC or Boston or in Brazil as we were surrounded by high end stores... Of course we abruptly remembered where we were when we walked into the abundance of homeless. They were everywhere and it was obviously pretty sad and depressing. We were glad to go.
Took another overnight train to florianopolis where we stayed at Tucano hostel. This place is the reason I have not posted. It was the cleanest, friendliest most amazing hostel James or I have ever been to. Despite the rainy weather we managed to have fresh fish, crab, and shrimp. We took a boat one day over to the fishermans village and saw a local waterfall. We took a trek over the sand dunes to Juaquina beach. On the only sunny day we went back to the beach with two Irish guys staying at the hostel and two Brazilian air force tourists from Rio. On Tuesday night after a few too many capihirinias at the hostel we went for a ride to a bar on the sand dunes for some samba! The ride there and back was more comfortable for some...as we had our friends from rio they offered a lift. Not wanting to have to walk around looking for a cab we all piled in. Safety first! James and I went over in the boot...thankfully our friends were very kind to us when going over speed bumps.
Samba was lots of fun after I decided not to care if I looked even more like a gringo...standing with three very pale tourists kind of gave me away (ofcourse to keep the peace I must mention that james is actually quite tan....in his eyes).
After a very late sleep in we took advantage of the sun and spent a few hours on the beach watching the locals and tourists surf.
My favorite day was going down to the south of the island and getting a dozen very large very fresh oysters from a restaurant on the water overlooking the oyster farms.
After a few very awkward hugs with our Irish friends (for James they were awkward) we headed to the bus stop with an hour and fifteen minutes before our 6:00pm overnight bus to Foz do Iguacu. At 5:50, knowing we still had about 15 minutes before we would arrive at the bus station, we started to panic. The traffic was horrific...go figure! Who would think that rush hour would mean traffic?! Mental head slap insert about now. 6:05 we got to the bus stop and ran as though we were a part of the amazing race, bags slamming making slower and more awkward as we dodged the throngs of people unloading from the many buses. We got lost. We couldn't find the exit!!!! "HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS PLACE," we yelled and looked wildly around. We found it. We ran across the street, dodging bikes and vehicles, me picking up presents James had dropped. As my poor physical fitness became a quick reminder of my inadequacy. James sprinted out of sight. Wheezing, I finally caught up to hear that our bus, the last bus of the night, had left approximately 3 minutes before (it was 6:10). A few choice swear words by James an attendant took pity and wrote down the address of a gas station and stuffed us (me with my bags still on) in a taxi and told us we could catch the bus at it's first stop. Back in traffic, at a crawl, panic hit new heights and our laughter became slightly hysteric... our taxi driver caught on. A few maneuvers later he had us off the highway speeding around the back roads in one of the scariest rides of my life. Miraculously he got us ahead of traffic and we found ourselves driving directly behind OUR BUS! At it's stop our taxi honked and parked directly in front of it. We had made it! Many hand shakes and "Muito obrigada" later we were on our bus. I think our taxi driver was very pleased with himself, as he should be. He definitely saved the day. Note to self, take into consideration traffic next time!!!
Safely in iguacu now, heading to see the brazil side of the falls in a few and then the Argentinian side tomorrow.
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