Hi everyone! This post is about the travelling I have done so far here in Brazil.
For now I have been traveling a lot for the time I have been here. Travelling is easy if you know the connections and places you want to see. The hardest thing is to decide the location. And I have decided to make a refreshment on my blog because I saw some of the blogs of my friends and they were really cool. And as a genuine Finn I can´t let that go by just doing nothing. So I am gonna make the most awesome blog post of my life!
São Paulo. 11-12.08.2011
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| Mikko in the nightlife of São Paulo |
With Vincent. Arrival on Friday morning 5 am and leaving in saturaday night 11 pm. 2 very busy days. São Paulo is a very big city. Worlds 7th biggest city by population. A population of 11,3 million people. That is more than double the population of Finland. The greater São Paulo has nearly 20 million people. Still 5 am in the morning Sao Paulo is as calm city as any.
We slept in the Italian pousada which is located in the middle of the historic centre on the north and “new centre” Avenue Paulista on south side. We walked a lot during these two days. The physical condition of the french is outstanding. We often wonder with my German friend Lars if the french do anything else than walk.
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| The Center of São Paulo |
We also tried to get to know the famous 24h nightlife of São Paulo with bad success! We weren´t able to find the best places for the nightlife unfortunedly partly because of our poor language skills that time. Next time we are going to ask a local friend to help in our ventures!
Morretes 3-4.09.2011
With my dear French friends, Vincent,Boris, Solene, Emilie and Paul. We spent there 2 days hiking and climbing the Pico do Morumbi.Morretes is a small city close to Curitiba. The city itself is a very charming and serene with a river streaming through the center. Closeby the Morretes There is a Morumbi national park which is a paradise for climbers and nature lovers. In the national park there is a 1539m high mountain - Pico do Morumbi.
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| Morretes |
We decided to walk , of course because I was travelling with 5 French being the only person from different nationality, from centre to the national park. We had a perfect weather and hiking with amazing views and athmosphere. I got to see a little different slice of Brazil from the country side.
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| Campsite |
We climbed in the root of the highest peak and spend a night with extreme conditions. We decided not to take tent with us so we spent the one night under the night of stars. (Freezing cold in some parts). Then fresh like a rotten fruit in the morning we started an epic ascend to the highest peak of a cliff I have never climped. It was terrible, I was scared all the time and feeling really bad, but when we finally reached the peak it was completely worth it. The view was remarkable. In the night we returned back by buss having a taste of the local delicacy Barreado: A meat cooked for a long time, over around the clock, rice and bananas.
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| In the top of the Pico do Morumbi. I felt like being on top of the world with a constant wind and a spectacular views. |
Florianopolis Part 1. 7-12.09.2011
With a bunch of exchange students from France, Germany,Spain, Chile and our Brazilian friend who guide who knew some of the best locations in the whole Floripa. We had also a van and a driver for the van. Florianapolis is the European Canarian Islands, a very famous tourist spot, also an island with some of the best beaches in Brazil.
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| Surfing |
We spent there 5 days with 3 of them raining or cloudy and 2 with sun. We circled around the beautiful island with the van getting to know the beaches and the island. We also went to hike in some pretty amazing places and maybe the best trip was to a natural bay where we had an picnic and went swimming on a very beautiful day. In Florianapolis I also tried surfing for the first time! I found I new hobby for me. The sea, the waves and the board. What can I add? The sun. The beach. It is just amazing. And very hard.
Blumenau - Octoberfest 23.10.2011
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| Blumenau - Octoberfest |
A bustrip witg the local students and a bunch of exchange students. We decided to take a part in the worlds second biggest beer festival in the world after the actual Octoberfest in Germany. It is held in Blumenau, a city in the southern state Santa Catarina close to Florianapolis. The whole Blumenau has been build in a german style because the city has a large population of german people.
The bus had an open bar of beer, so the meaning of the trip was only cultural from the very beginning. The bus took us straight to the Octoberfest after a small city tour. So the city is still a mystery to me. The party itself was a pretty strange mixture of traditional german outfits, tourists, and the music was also pretty interesting . Some resemblance with german music, some german artists but most in portuguese and they liked to play only a few songs all the night. And then there was beer. That was tasty. Local breweries serving good dark and clear beers. I concentraded on the dark beers. And after the fest around 5am we returned by buss back home. A very efficient trip.
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| Florianapolis |
One weekend we decided to go with my two German friends again to Florianapolis by bus. The nightbus was only 24R$ to direction and b&b 25R$ a night. So the whole 3 days were around 100€. The weather was very good. We were at Barra da Lagoa in an “pousada” that has very nice,welcoming and international athmosphere. The name of the Pousada was backpackers sharehouse.
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| Canoing in Barra da Lagoa |
We went hiking, canoing, sunbathing and surfing of course. The weather was perfect! We went to one mountain top and had an epic beer with the wind on the top. Then we came the hill down running. Downhill running is a very fast pased, energetic and thrilling sport. We also wandered on a strange sand dune formation in the center of the island when we were going for our buss. The trip was full of adventures. A very refreshing weekend!
Rio De Janeiro 11-21.11.2011
Cidade Maravilhosa. The Marvelous city. The most beautiful city of the world. The list is never ending. I was warned a lot of things before I went there. They were all true. I already miss to be back there. I spent a total of 10 days there with my friends and later with my parents. I was staying on a very pleasant pousada (B&B) near the Cobacabana beach just two blocks away. The name of the hostel was Brazucas. The owner of the B&B spoke only portuguese. But for me it is no longer a problem. I am happy to see that after 4 months of staying in Brazil all of my friends already can take care of daily activities with portuguese.
I went to see Sugarloaf mountain, Cristo Redentor statue both with amazing panoramic views to the beautiful Rio. Flamengo match, unfortunately not in the famous Maracana stadium because it was under renovation for the world cup in 2014. Zoo, a tour in the city centre, Nitoral a neighboring city close by. Also the heart of the nightlife in Lapa was really nice experience. Also the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema of course. I especially enjoyed the activities on the beach such as beachsoccer, beachvolley, futevolley and several other sports that the people invented just to spent time on the beach. The beach has everything needed. I loved it.
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| The Famous Ipanema Beach. Garota the Ipanema |
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| Cristo Redentor |
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| The Sugarloaf mountain. And some tourist |
Guaratuba 25- 29.11.2011
Guaratuba is a city in the seashore of Parana. In the time before Christmas it has a wonderful small city atmosphere. People move a lot with a bikes and everything is serene and calm. Right next to the centre there is a 2 km long beautiful beach with service points to buy refreshments or something to eat. Also the market offered some really nice meat for reasonable price and we made some tasty beefs back at the house. I was spending 4 days there with my parents living in a house of my friends. That time was really relaxing and real Brazil.
Guarapuava 10-11.12.2011
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| Combi |
The trip to the Guarapuava was the most epic so far. We rented a good old white hippie wan, Wolksvagen Combi and took a road trip to Guarapuava to see a 200m waterfall for a weekendtrip. We left after small problems a little late. We drove all day in a cool atmosphere and arrived at night. The park we were supposed to go was closed and we confronted an angry security guy in the middle of nowhere. We had such a nice time!
We were planning to make a churrasco, a barbeque when we arrived so we continued the rubblestreet forward deeper in to the forest road and we found a perfect place to make a churrasco with seats, fireplace, parking place, everything needed. So we set up our camp at night and started to eat. We sang campfire songs, ate some tasty meats, had a perfect night. The Night we spent outside. Some people could sleep in the car, but most people slept outside with sleepig bags without tent of course.
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| The Waterfall |
Early in the next morning, around 11, we went back to the park and it was open! So we took a trip to see the amazing waterfall and just on top of the waterfall was even more beautiful smaller waterfall where it was possible to bath. Some of the group wanted to wander under the waterfall 4km there and 4km back. But couple of us decided to stay to sunbath and swim in the one of the most beautiful natural places I have seen. The weather was perfect. Hot and sunny. We had just an amazing day. Sunbathing and swimming. Afternoon we started our journey back arriving late in the night back to Curitiba.
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| A natural paradise. Showering under a waterfall is one really exciting and adrenaline giving experience. Recommended. |
Ok! Thats about it for now. It is all so sad. Many people have already returned to their countries. For me starts a new year, a new era. I will stay in Brazil another semester working with a project of university. So tune in for later updates! Safe Travel for everyone! It was a really pleasure to get to know you guys! Hope to see you soon! Thank you for everything!
