Punte del Este, Uruguay

After a longer day at work, we made our way to yet another tender ~ 25 minutes this time to get to land. I tell you there is something to be said for docking!

The scenery into the harbour was beautiful as there were beaches as far as you could see along the righthand side. There were plenty of small sailboats, windsurfers and those just out enjoying the fun ~ which seemed a bit odd given it was 4pm on a Wednesday. We had an overnight so it was nice to be able to get off the ship, wander around, have a nice dinner without the stress of needing to be back onboard by a certain time.

In the harbour, there were some restaurants, fishermen preparing their lines for the next day. It also had a few water creatures sunning themselves.

We walked through town to the opposite side, where there was a second beach that seemed to go on forever. Being exposed to the Atlantic ocean, this beach had far more activity in terms of surf. There were plenty of people sitting around, enjoying the sun. It would seem that this is the afterwork activity here ~ hey that isn't all that bad.

Some interesting sculptures...

After viewing the fingers, we left the beach and headed back towards the harbour and had dinner next to the water. Dinner was fantastic as Akis had a traditional Uruguaian dish which consisted of french fries, a slab of steak, a fried egg and some cheese. Yes, how could Akis go wrong with that.

The view from our table...

A leisurely stroll back to take in the sunset ~ and dismantle a few trees... Very nice place. I'm looking forward to coming back here.

Florinapolis, Brazil

Like many of the Brazilian ports, the final port had us tendering. With almost 35 minutes in the tender one way, Akis and I hemmed and hawwed about whether or not we would head out. I am quite glad that we decided to take the trip.

Once we got off the tender, we were right on the beach. There must have been over a kilometer of sand before us and people everywhere enjoying the beach.

There wasn't much in the way of shops, but you did see vendors everywhere selling some sort of BBQ meat product ~ which Akis didn't want to touch with a 10 foot pole, the Pina Colada carts where just about any alcoholic beverage was available, and the guy trying to sell bikinis ~ this one didn't make much sense to me as you would think if you were already at the beach, you would already have the bathing suit, no???


There were plenty of sights at the beach, or should I say plenty of bums. Even the lifeguards were distracted by them ~ yes, that is them looking off to their right. But it was interesting to note, no matter what your shape, age or size, everyone wore the bikini and showed more skin than folks would ever show back home. Guess this is why the boys love Brazil!

But the highlight had to be the drink ~ who could say no to rum in a freshly cut pineapple?

Buzios, Brazil

The second stop on the Brazilian tour was Buzios. Another overnight which allowed Akis and I to go out for a late dinner and drinks. It was a great little tourist town ~ very quaint, and for Akis with all the late night activity, it reminded him of Greece. The nice part about overnights, is that you don't feel the pressure to get back to the ship. You can enjoy your time out and return when you are ready to go back. The other nice part is that you can return the next day and then spend time at the places you scoped out the night before. Here it is in the daylight.






Not to mention we were in luck that day. After 3 cloudy, drizzly days in Rio, it actually cleared up and became rather warm, making the wardrobe selection of jeans a bit of a silly one.




We managed to find a great little restaurant with tables outside and some art to look at ~ all in the spirit of Carnival. You definitely can't say you would go hungry in the restaurants here!




After dining, we made our way through the shops to spend some more money ~ yes that is an Ice Cream place in the distance. Definitely one of my more favourite places...

Other Rio outings

We had a couple other outings in Rio before we left. The first one was to a night club called HELP. HELP is right. This perhaps should have been an 'boys only' excursion.

We arrived to find that most girls there wore less material to the club, than just about everyone I know wears to the beach. I was definitely the 'odd' one out wearing pants and covered arms! As you can tell, the boys enjoyed it though...



The last night, we went out for dinner at an all you can eat Meat buffet. Not for the faint of heart or the veggies in the crowd ~ you may want to stop reading now... but before you do, check out the decorations. Who would have thought that broken glass and floors covered in crap would be acceptable in a dining establishment. Guess the Health Codes are a bit more lax here in Brazil.




This dining experience had a buffet in the middle of the room with all the 'side dishes' and the meat was then brought to you and carved onto your plate.





You even had little tongs to gently guide the meat to your plate. And 3 plates so you could just keep getting more!! Definitely a different kind of dining experience! Can you say GORGE?