Brazil in My Rearview Mirror

Where do I start? It has been an interesting, and thankfully mostly uneventful, last couple of weeks. After leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina, we stopped for a quick visit in Montevideo, Uruguay, which was absolutely delightful. And then on to Brazil. Found this amazing Rose Wine from Uruguay.

After departing Montevideo we had 5 Sea Days. As, I think, I have said before, I love Sea Days. We, the Residents, have formed many different "interest groups". Naturally, there is a group of like-minded wine drinkers, connoisseurs, and others who just love talking about wines. We call ourselves The Wine Tribe. The group has grown from 10 to almost 25, which as you will see, has almost gotten out of hand. We have a wonderful couple from Florida who have a large cabin & balcony and they recently hosted our 1st true official Wine Tasting. Each person was to bring a bottle of wine and the proverbial "something to share". Wines were placed in appropriate numbered bags, we tasted, we drank, and we scored. In total, we had 23 participants tasting/drinking 19 bottles of wine. No one remembers which wine was the most popular but I heard that one was an overwhelming winner. Damn, I wish I knew! A terrific time was had by all. Granted, it is a good thing we didn't have to drive home and that the boat wasn't "a-rocking" too much.

Wow, Brazil a long and different country. We visited 11 different cities in Brazil, from Santos (Sao Paulo) in the South to Belem in the North, all in less than a month. Sometimes we only spent one day but wished we could stay longer or we spent several days and (for me) that was too many.

One of the things about Brazil is that they don't speak Spanish, and most people don't speak English either. And most of us Odysseyans don't speak Portuguese either. Which means communication is usually complicated. There is a wonderful App called Goggle Translate. You dictate or type something in English on your phone and push the right language you want to translate into and Boom, there it is. Most Brazilians know how to use this App better than we do, so most of the time it is a great communication tool.

But, I digress. I need for you to picture, in your mind, the lovely locations where the Odyssey is tied up to when we arrive at these new countries and wonderful cities. Remember that because, many times we are in the middle of a Container shipping facility with 1000's of containers, cranes, trucks, and beeping sounds everywhere. We normally walk down a tall length of steps from the 4th deck down to the dock. Then we can walk maybe a block or two to the Port Immigration building. Other times, we get on a bus because the containers are everywhere and they don't allow "tourists" (or anyone else) walking around getting lost in the mountains of containers. Sometimes those suckers will be stacked 6-10 high. Amazing!

Once we get into the Port building there may be shops, ATMs, security personnel, drug sniffing dogs, and TSA type processes when coming back to get over to the ship. It is always interesting but mostly it is OK and we are getting used to it. Usually a day or two before we arrive at a port, our Itinerary Coordinator will give us a Port Talk telling us about things to see, do, eat, and drink in that port. It gives us a great starting point.

When we arrived in Santos (which is a suburb of Sao Paulo) I was in desperate need of a Manicure and Pedicure. But it was Monday and, it turns out most salons are closed on Mondays. But I was able to communicate with a female Tour Guide who had a friend who owns a Nail Salon. And she got me an appointment, an Uber and off I went. Two sisters own the shop - one does nails & the other is a Brow Specialist (who knew?). At one point they asked me if I would like a Coke Zero (no Diet Coke anywhere in South America). I said, No Thanks but would, jokingly, love a Cerveza. Sister #2 disappeared and 5 minutes later, I had this fantastic beer in my hand. Four hours later I headed back to the Ship - nails, toes, eyebrows, and a beer for $30. I asked if they would like their tip in US $. They frowned and typed in to Goggle - What does it look like? They had never seen US money. So, as I was putting the bills back in my purse they said, Please, we want to keep. I gave them a tip in Brazil Reais ($) and a One dollar bill each to keep.

From Santos we travelled to Paraty (pronounced Par-A-Che), a small fishing town which was preparing itself for Carnival starting that night. Several of our residents left the ship and spent the night in a small inn ashore so they could participate in the festivities. The Party Boats were lining the dock (we were at anchor and took our Shuttles into shore), the hometown vendors were getting ready, and the decorations were getting strung. I took a few pictures and we found a table on the beach. We sat, wiggled our toes in the sand and ordered the Brazilian national drink (Caipirinha) and some fresh fried shrimp. Definition: Caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail, of São Paulo origin, with cachaça, sugar, lime, and ice. The drink is prepared by mixing the fruit and the sugar together, then adding the liquor. A little like a Mojito or a Margarita without the salt and lots more lime. Really good but two of them will knock your socks off.

And then on to Rio de Janeiro. You either loved it or hated it. I'll let you decide. In our Port Talk, it was highly stressed - BEWARE! Crime is rampant. Primarily pickpockets and phone and jewelry thefts. Do not travel by yourself and always in groups especially at night. Do NOT carry your phone in your hand or on a lanyard around your neck. Do NOT wear jewelry or watches, even costume jewelry. Within 2 hours of arrival (mid-morning) one of our residents was with 3 others out on the sidewalk. He was holding his phone in his hand to order an Uber. A guy on a motorcycle whizzed by him and literally grabbed his phone and took off never to be seen again. Imagine if he had been wearing his phone on a lanyard. Within 3 hours the thief had sent himself $10,000 via Zelle. Turns out the thiefs want to grab a phone while you are using it because the phone is active and then they have access to everything. During our 5 day stay we had 7 people be attacked and/or robbed. Granted there were probably 10's of thousands of people in Rio for Carnival. Most were heavily drinking and dressed in Carnival costumes. All of our residents that had issues were in groups and things just happened very quickly. One resident was talking with an Officer from the Norwegian Cruise line (docked next to us) while in the Security line. The Officer said they were leaving Rio a day early because one of their officers had been killed the night before. I left the ship twice - carried a small amount of money in my bra, did not take my phone and was always less than 2 blocks from the Port Security entrance. I bought a Carnival Mask for $5. Six of us did venture out for a fantastic Brazilian dinner at a restaurant much like Fogo de Chao in the US. Food was great but even our host said Brazilian wines were terrible. So we drank Argentine Reds instead. Desserts were weird. Did I enjoy Carnival & Rio? I've seen Carnival in the Bahamas, Trinidad, New Orleans and in Beaufort, NC -all were smaller but any one was better than Rio! But there were plenty in our group who did it all and had a great time. The last picture is of Rio at night with the statue, Christ the Redeemer at the top of the mountain.

Three friends and I took a side trip to escape Rio. We jumped on a plane and took a short one day trip to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. I remember learning about it when I was in High School. I won't bore you with details but it was a great historical and architectural tour. Check it out. It was amazing what they built in 3 short years.

Picture 1 Most cities in Brazil seem to have this same Welcome sign

Picture 2 Oscar Niemeyer, designer and overseer of Brasilia along with President JK

Picture 3 One of the many churches designed by Niemeyer. Church interior is below ground

and the stained glass between the white supports is the roof . Beautiful

Picture 4 From inside the Cathedral. Three Angels are suspended from the ceiling.

Picture 5 Federal Legislature Building. The inverted domes are over the House of Representatives and the Senate. The 28 story towers symbolize that the two parts of the government are equal in stature. No buildings in Brasilia can be taller than these two towers.

Picture 6 City is designed into Sections and it looks like an airplane.

Picture 7 Brothers Ron & Paul, and fellow resident Ellie. Only time in my life when I was shorter than everyone around me. Everyone, except me, was over 6 ft tall.

Picture 8 Beautiful sunset overlooking one of two rivers in Brasilia.

Saying good bye to Rio de Janeiro. Pretty from the deck of the Odyssey.

We continued our trek northward stopping for short visits along the way. A relief after Rio. And a lot prettier. We went to Salvador, then Recife, and now our final stop Belem which is the entrance to the Amazon River. Some times I just thought Same Song, Another Verse. But it is a really big country and we are seeing the world. In Recife, several of us girls went to a huge 3 story beautiful shopping mall. I felt like I was back in the real world again. We spent 4 hours there. A good haircut (first one since I left N Carolina). A fully stocked grocery store - you ask Grocery Store - Why? Well, potato chips, cheeses, peanuts, crackers, and limes (for cubra libras) all for our cocktail hours. I also bought a chocolate Easter Bunny for my sweet Steward, May, who is from the Philippines. On our Sea Days we have had guest lecturers, guest singers, interview with our captain, deck parties, lots of different Trivia games, and awesome performances by our residents. It has been a busy and entertaining couple of weeks.

A boat ride around the bay in Salvador followed by a great lunch of shrimp and another Caipirinha.

We will be crossing the Equator again on the way to Devils Island, French Guiana. Wonder what that is going to be like. Almost back in the Caribbean. One of my favorite places.

Y'all have a good Easter. And a special Happy Birthday to a couple of my Good Friends in Beaufort.