The Journey here on Monday started around 4am from Heathrow. Very hungover after 2 hrs sleep we jumped into a Taxi from Hotel to airport, connecting flight to Madrid, flight to Rio, 2 Coaches and a cab later we arrived 11.30pm at our accomodation, local time. That scene from snatch when Avi goes to London just popped in my head.. But we weren't greeted by a dodgy jewellery shop owner!
We arrived to our grinning Brazilian host who immediately made us feel at home. A huge relief after the longest journey of my life.
Every day breakfast has been a pleasure here, from the fresh fruit to the delicious Brazilian coffee and cake :) followed by us learning a small amount of Portuguese which has come in very handy.
A link to Burita, for us, 10/10.
http://www.birutaguesthouse.blogspot.com.br
A very relaxed mood around this small fishing village that apparently was helped made famous by Bridget Bardot after visiting in the 60's. I've now just learned that the statue of a women sitting on a bench we saw on the waterfront is a memorial of her..
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arma%C3%A7%C3%A3o_dos_B%C3%BAzios
The first day we ventured out exploring the main town. A maze of narrow streets crossing eachother containing a wide variety of clothes shops and many restaurants, all of which had yellow and green bunting hanging. We settled in for lunch in a what I can only describe as a large hut turned restaurant. We had a large BBQ'd fish which we chose from the tray of fish the waiter presented to us. Extremely good and well priced.
Whilst sipping on a couple of Brahma's after lunch Bren noticed several heads popping out of the water 10m in front us.. turned out to be Turtles. This was confirmed by the waiter who didn't seem that interested :) , well it was a special sight for us and a great start to the adventure!
The next 2 days we spent the majority of our time at two beaches, the first of which we enjoyed some delicacies such as BBQ'd chicken scewers, corn on the cob and fresh Oysters, all offered from what I can only describe as pygmy-kitchen-carts, with wheels. It was all very pleasant and under the Brazilian sun we felt like we had officially landed, celebrated by a couple of beer-can chinks!
Onto Thursday 12th, World cup opening ceremony & Brazil vs Croatia. The plan - Walk, beach, town, buy a Brazil shirt, lunch, buy a footie and go to the Square in Buzios to get a decent seat in front of the massive screen. The plan was executed to perfection, after stocking up with 12 cans of Brahma, Samba'in it up with some eager locals with the footie we grabbed one of the plastic chairs from the many stacks available. It was like a piranha feed, after the first couple starting taking little bites, they all came and devoured. In 5 minutes they all went and hundreds of fans flocked in front of the screen in anticipation.
The first goal was a shock from a Marcelo own goal, followed by some Neymar brilliance and a sea of Yellow behind us celebrating a goal from one of their heroes. A few dodgy decisions later Oscar put the game to bed.
An awesome evening all round. Being part of the first Brazilian win this tournament surround by hundreds of smiling fans all together as one.
Feeling happy drunk we walked back through the streets that had been painted in Brazil colours by a wide variety of locals, kids to grandmas!
Something you wouldn't find anywhere in England, unless you wanted to be fined from the local council!
It's Friday evening now and we've just witnessed what I think will be the shock of the tournament. Spain 1 - Holland 5 !! Think that record is safe against Spain.. so glad I didn't have any of the Spanish defence in my dream team but gutted I took Robben out ! Ah well, still up there with the Neymar points from last night ;)
Out for some dinner shortly.. planning on some Sushi.. lets hope its upto Bren's Private chef standards ;)
So much to look forward to, until the next time friends :)
Alex
