Stepping back in time

A slow start after the ceilidh, and took advantage of our hosts' broadband to post photos of the party on Facebook (some are on St. Andrew Society of Rio de Janeiro, but most in my own album). Then we opted to take the circuitous, but beautiful route through the hills along to our house, many hills and valleys away. In this part, the hills are still sparsely populated and it was easy to imagine how they must have looked to the mainly Swiss settlers who struggled and sometimes starved here before they managed to get a foothold.

We were looking for a little restaurant and pousada (like a 'parador') we had stopped in two or three years ago, where gentle grassy slopes led to the cabins and on down to the river. However, a few ventures down rough tracks failed to locate it and hunger threatened. Eventually, we found a very European little place, with a buxom, smiling German waitress and good food. There were also some very beautiful photos of local birds on the walls.

On our way again, but by this time the journey was becoming tedious, as we neared so-called civilization and the ugly town of Nova Friburgo. From there through once-beautiful countryside, now extensively cultivated and getting short on trees, to the equally ugly town of Teresopolis (both towns have made the worst of superb settings) and on to our place on the other side. By this time, I was extremely bored with the drive - and it was decidedly nippy (11 degrees Celsius when we stopped for lunch, and a biting wind).

Home at last, to a rapturous welcome from Kayla and the rest of the evening by a log fire. Ahhhhhh