We rung in the new year on the Beautiful Island of Ilhabela, just a six-hour hop and a skip from São Paulo. Hard to recall the specifics of the past week, but a typical day involved a breakfast spread of coffee, cakes and exotic fruit, during which we had to decide which beach we would go to for our morning swim - then on to a local eatery for fresh fish, pineapple juice and gallons of ice cream, followed by a jump in the hotel pool and a nap before venturing out again for dinner.
On New Years Eve we eschewed the flashy, exorbitantly expensive party at the Sea Club (and the even more expensive party at the newly-inaugurated yacht club opposite our hotel) to hang out with the common man in the old town, for what turned out to be an equally amusing party complete with fireworks and a ROCK covers band. The common man responded by throwing cider all over us at midnight, but them's the breaks.
Last night was a bit of an adventure, as the power went out on (seemingly) the whole island post-storm, just as everyone was gearing up to head home or get dinner - civilisation broke down shockingly quickly, although we found a magical hovel still serving hamburgers off a gas stove, and were handsomely fed and watered by the time the lights came on again. Was a nice way to decompress from the holiday spirit, and remind ourselves why we don't just live here all the time... I also had to a bit of work at some point but let's not dwell, eh.
An amusing subplot involved the mass Tinder date between Gaby's friends and their respective suitors, which we somehow became accessories to back in São Paulo months ago ago and which moved to Ilhabela this week with no sign of resolution; still, they seem like nice chaps, and one of them taught me this week's Brazilian saying: "the prawn that sleeps gets carried away by the wave" (or "seize the day and don't be a sleeping prawn", I suppose).
Today we're off down the road to Tabatinga, and Giorgio's beach house for a change of scenery; then I've been summoned back to work tomorrow morning (not that I ever left), so we're going to have to make our way back over the hills to the big city, and check on the cats. Will let you know when we're back for a Skype, and pics will surely follow...
Ciao for now,
Frau
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