Mountain of shrimp anyone? Florianpolis, Brazil

Hostal Lagoa 5 minutes from the Lagoa de Concepcao bus platform.

Floripa (as it's commonly referred as), a small island about 20 hours south of Rio de Janeiro, is the quaint vacation destination of southern Brazil. We decided to stop off here because there are about 40 bus hours between Rio and Montevideo, Uruguay. After our recent marathons, we shouldn't be phased... but honestly, I'd rather sleep on a bed of nails than spend that much time on a bus again. We decided to stop off at the ever so talked about Floripa.

It was really just a quick 2 day leg stretch, but very peaceful and stomach-filling.

After a little aimless wandering (with our heavier than ever backpacks) we found our hostal and an all you can eat buffet. Perfect! Soon our backs and bellies were very happy.

We've learned during our travels that we are "Extreme Girls." Not meaning that we do extreme things (remember my surprise when Lori suggested a horse back riding tour), but better said: we do things in extremes. Allow me to explain. We panic when we realize we haven't eaten fruit in a few days and wolf down a pound of grapes each. Bad idea. We don't have a lot of money so we don't eat for 12 hours stretches of time. Hungry, bad idea. We find a good party scene so we do it up for 2 weeks straight. Sleepy, bad idea. We cook enough food for 5 people, we're only 2. Full, bad idea. We decide not to shower for 4 days. Smelly, bad idea. Things like this.

At the moment we were at extreme levels of weight in our backpacks and extreme levels of hunger (nearing the point when our personalities change.) After the all you can eat buffet, we were at the other extreme, extremely full to the point of possible sudden explosion. We unbuttoned our extremely tight pants and went for a not so extreme walk.

Floripa was quaint island with a lake, Lagoa de Concepcao, around the corner and other various rinky dink places. It was quiet. We had missed the Easter Weekend crowds by only a few days.

The next day we checked out the quiet, waveless beach on the otherside of the island, Barra de Lagoa. Continuing our extreme streak, we ordered Sequencia de Camarao (The Shrimp Sequence, whatever that is...) at a beachfront restaurant. Our waiter explained "Oh yeah! It's enough food for 2 people, don't worry!" So we splurged. To our surprise, not just two plates of shrimp appeared on our table, but 5 heaping plates of full bodied shrimp - heads, legs and all.

We beheaded, delegged and gobbled down as much greasy shrimp as we could handle... but really, they weren't all that good and all their eyeball corpses were just staring at us. We had to call it quits after an extreme shrimp eating frenzy. I still can't think about shrimp in the same way.

From there, on account of our extreme fullness, we made the extreme decision to walk back to our hostal from the beach. Once again, we unbuttoned our pants, said a prayer (being that the hike was slightly highway-like) and trudged 1 hour back to our hostal, cursing those greasy, leggy, eyebally shrimp the whole way.

The last noteworthy event, which wasn't really all that noteworthy, was our trip to the bus station. Ready to leave our hostal to check out bus times for the next day, I take one small step outside and note it's raining. Ñ¿*%Ç!!! Our raincoats are rolled up in the bottom of our bags which are crammed under our beds which is a pain in the butt to get to... blah blah blah. We turn around. Mission: Raincoat Retrevial.

Now, I don't want to seem ungrateful for a gift from my mom, but my raincoat is bright yellow (it's meant for biking or highway construction maybe?) and I feel ridiculous wearing it (hence the backpack location.) I'm hemming and hawwing to anyone who'll listen about my stinking raincoat. "I look so ridiculous! Why do they make them in such silly colors? I look like a duck, don't I look like a duck? Why don't they make them more normal looking? I look ridiculous. Seriously, do I look ridiculous?" This and that. Finally, we're all suited up and ready to weather the storm, which by now must be torrential considering all the time it took me to complain and joke and unbury the jacket. I step outside, with only my eyes exposed to Mothernature and... the sprinkler in the front lawn. What a knucklehead.

We brave the 20 sprinkler drops with our rubber lined bodies and then tumble over with laughter for the next hour about my idiotic confusion.

I think it's about time we get out of Brazil :)

Rio 'Did I Miss Something?' Janiero

Overnativa Green Hostal Rua Bento Lisboa 83A, near the Catete Subway Stop, (stay there!)

We did miss something, Carnival. That's when all the magic happens in Rio de Janiero; streets filled with loud music, girls in small costumes with big feathers shaking their perfect bods to samba, parties that go day and night, drinking, dancing... high prices, more robberies, violence...etc. Okay, so we didn't mind missing Carnival. Salvador was just about all the partying we could handle, but we were still expecting something special from Rio... and when we got there, it was just a normal city. There did seem to be a higher number of gyms and in consequence, a higher number of muscular bods, but no, not all Brazilians are tan, fit and beautiful. The beaches were spectacular with crystal clear water... We of course caught a rainy afternoon when we checked out Copacabana, thinking, at least we have finally reached the place that inspired Barry Manilow to write the famous song, Copacabana!!

'At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana (Copacabana)
The hottest spot north of Havana (here)
At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana
Music and passion were always the fashion
At the Copa....they fell in love'.

We later realized while analyzing the lyrics more closely that we weren't north of Havana and Lola the showgirl actually lives in New York.

Rio does have some notable sites; Sugarloaf Mountain, an oddly shaped peak that you can reach by cablecar for a view of the whole city and the 30 meter statue of Christo, one of the 7 wonders of the world. We spent a laughter filled day visiting the Cristo with two, should be professional British comedians, Rob and Adrian. While at the top, clouds rolled in and out giving us a peak of the amazing panoramic view of Rio including the favelas (slums) in the distance.

The favelas that surround Rio are known for being some of the most dangerous slums in the world. Check out the extremely powerful movie, City of God for a shocking and horrifying view of the favelas... the Brazilians we met said that the movie is not an exaggeration.

We then pondered what is so wonderous about this 'Wonder of the World'... We were able to think up a list of more wonderous things in the world. So we decided that it had to be political... a need for more tourism in Rio when carnival isn't happening... maybe a pull from the Catholic church? Hmmm, for now it remains a mystery.

While in Rio our quest to hear, understand and dance to all kinds of Brazilian music continued. One night we went to Bip Bip, a hole in the wall with live music, supposedly where many Brazilian stars started their careers. We found ourselves amongst a serious crowd of old men who told us not to talk and not even to clap. ooook.

We also spent an evening dancing forro at a big club with a 1970s feel. We watched girls in cute dresses float and twirl across the dance floor, led by handsome partners... seriously, did we go back in time? We too gave forro a try, but there was less floating and more embarrassed laughter.

Of course there was more samba and we watched, still amazed as girls and guys alike shook it all night long. We then decided that we just can't possibly learn every South American dance.

After a couple of days we made the good decision to change hostals in order to avoid being moved into the 15 bed, mixed dorm, with a group of guys that our British friends referred to as, the prisoners. We ended up in a small, quaint hostal run by Dida, one of the kindest Brazilians we'd met. Actually everyone we met at the hostal turned out to be cool.

We celebrated Easter by going to one of the most interesting Catholic masses that I've ever attended. There was minimal talking during this mass. Basically everything was sung.

We stayed in Rio a day longer than planned, just so I could buy a nut agogo... an instrument usually made with two metal bells, but mine is all natural. The extra day turned out to be worth it, not only so I could take home another strange instrument, but also because we found a big crafts market, the most interesting and creative one that we had ever seen. Brazilians really know how to recycle. They turned what might be trash to most people into some really cool wall decorations, purses, shirts, etc.

We drank one last acai (strange fruit, drink, meal... supposedly very healthy) and chose our next destination Florianopolis, 20 hours South by bus. That would be our last stop before cruising straight on to Uruguay.