Beautiful Buzios!

February 12 - 14th, 2015

Theres nothing like sitting at breakfast at 9:30 am, thinking you have all the time in the world to pack, maybe run to the beach, get organized and catch a bus, only to be approached by the hotel staff saying that the aforementioned bus is waiting outside, two and a half hours ahead of the allotted time.  No panic, call Bruno, our organizer, who shows up by cab in record time, loads our stuff into a taxi and whips us to the airport to catch a tour bus to Buzios for 12:30 pm. Problem solved. Three hours later we made a quick short transfer to our new place for 3 nights, a beautiful boutique hotel which we immediately fell in love with. A breezy, huge room with sprawling balcony complete with hammock and no plans but R and R, and a lovely, relaxing poolside breakfast spot.

Buzios is a quaint small town popular with Brazilians looking for an escape and is very reminiscent of the Algarve in Portugal with its 23 beaches, rugged sea coast, fishing boats and fresh air, So picturesque. A short walk to the downtown and we were surprised at the number of shops, restaurants and bars hopping with people of all ages,  just enjoying the ambience. Some really neat ideas in stores, deco etc., and a nice evening walk down the pier.

So many beaches, so little time, so we rented a buggy, which locals pronounce boogey...to get us to as many as we could. It's really fun but a piece of crap to drive, especially when sliding down a hill backwards and first gear ain't quite working the way it should. Max 40  kph, no driving on the beach, but you can take it on the roads and it did the trick. We even gave some kids a ride to another beach as they didn't realize they were in for a long walk. It had a funky version of a locking device too. Very effective, we call it a lock and chain. I'm thinking lawn chairs and coconuts may be my next calling...

We also hit the other end of town and had dinner at a restaurant where the owners were so friendly and happy to meet us and try out their English. Always fun. We met two nice guys from Detroit and Michigan at breakfast, Giovanni and Mark, who bought us a few drinks in town after running into them. I think the were a happy to speak English to someone and we were happy to oblige! One evening we had dinner on the ocean, just a perfect backdrop for shrimp, steak and fresh from the oven breads with melted bocconcini cheese and tomatoes. Samantha, the cat, visited too.

Happy Valentine's Day!