Settling Back Into Relaxation Mode

Friday 16 March

We woke this morning to a hazy sky and the surrounding islands just misty outlines in the distance. But by the time we arrived a breakfast, the sun was burning the clouds away and blue sky was clearly visible. Colin was treated to another feast – ten courses of pure indulgence, including strawberries, boiled eggs (the most perfect four minute eggs he has had on all tour) and lime flan. The sun rose behind the hotel so we decided to take advantage of our shady patio for a couple of hours to blog and relax. We sampled the plunge pool, which made our skin goose-bumpy as our hot bodies entered the cool water, but we soon adjusted and it was gorgeous to just sit and let the water lap around you, while looking at the magnificent view.

By 13.00 most of the patio was in the sun and too hot for the computer – so we decided to take a wander into town to find a drink and some nibbles – Colin couldn’t possibly be hungry yet. We gathered a few restaurant flyers from reception and sent off, teetering down a very steep cobbled hill to the esplanade below – it felt a bit like walking a tightrope, carefully checking before placing one foot in front of the other – it was very uneven in many parts as well as precipitous in places – and this was with my walking sandals on! The stroll beside the lapping waves was pungent with a light seaweedy smell that reminded us of cockles and mussels at the seaside at home. In no time at all we came across several restaurants – a Thai and a Japanese, both extremely expensive,and then “Bardotze”, a recommendation from the receptionist – which turned out to be the only restaurant without a menu outside, and closed for lunch! We carried on into the town itself – less than ten minutes from the hotel – and found two main streets, full of shops selling swimwear in minute sizes and thousands offlip flops, designer posh frocks (yet everyone here wears casual all day) and leather goods, interspersed with restaurants offering main meals – not snacks. We know Brazilians like to eat at midday, but thought that some eateries might now have catered for the tourist – perhaps Europeans have notyet arrived in sufficiently large numbers. We looked at all the menus, and wandered around the narrow malls, found a Maccy D’s – where would any town be without the golden arches – and eventually selected a buffet restaurant for lunch. This was the Brazilian answer to fast food – bowls and bowls of different salads, hot food limited to noodles, rice, beef and potato dishes, lots of sauces and seasonings, all to help yourself on large plates (good sales ploy) before taking to a desk for weighing. Ariane had explained about this system but we hadn’t quite understood. But basically you take what you want to eat and are charged according to the weight on your plate – seems a very good idea to me, and it definitely worked for us. We had a fine selection of salads, a beer for me and a caipirinha cocktail for Colin, for less than 10 GBP – good inexpensive fast food.

To walk off a few of the calories, we continued up the road to the end of town, and back down the other road. The shops didn’t vary much, and nor did the restaurants. There was a warm and friendly atmosphere pervading the streets and it reminded us of Yangshuo, but much more up market. It was very hot during the middle of the afternoon as we strolled back to the hotel, and we definitely needed another beer to cool down. The WIFI only works in the lounge area, so we lolled in large comfy sofas and checked and sent a couple of emails before investigating a few more sites on the internet that we had collected on our travels. We asked the receptionist – a different crew from earlier – to reserve us a table at Bardotze fo tonight, and he also convinced us to go to the tango show at Don Juan on Tuesday – it only happens once a week apparently.

In our room we were able to sit on the balcony and watch the sun go down and the stars start to twinkle overhead. The end of the verandah is just a six-inch stone wall – then a sheer drop to the next level. All day, men have been working by flinging concrete on to a wire frame below our room and the couple next to us, as part of the project to make a direct access to the esplanade below. When we walked to town we saw that the steps were in place to the first level, where it seems a bar area is under construction. Not sure why they are suring up the wall below us, but the team has worked very hard in high temperatures to finish the first “throw”.

We donned our glad rags, and tottered our way down the near vertical hill to the road below (I had heeled sandals on now as I have only one pair of evening shoes left - my others fell apart a few days ago). The walkway was a completely different place at night, crowded with people making their way back to their pousadas to ready themselves for an evening on the town, or out early to find a restaurant. The transformation was amazing – couples lounging on every available bit of space to sit – seats, wall and even the pavement, as well as the strollers.

At Bardotze we were shown to a table for two, not far from the door – which let in a cool and welcoming evening breeze. The menu was more limited than the hotel, but the atmosphere was already buzzing, with more and more people arriving to fill the few empty tables available. We chose sole in a mango sauce for Colin and squid in cherry tomato sauce for me – both with jacket potatoes and cheese topping (we hadn’t had one of those since arriving in South America) and salads. We decided to change from wine to cocktails tonight, majitas for Colin – with loads of mint – and bloody mary’s for me with carrot sticks. The queue for tables kept fluctuating as people waited a while, then gave up the wait, or decided to return later. We ordered tea at the end of the meal, chamomile as there was no green tea. When it arrived it was sickly sweet – horrid when you are not used to sugar – but the cashier (who could speak a little English) came and explained that the brew came out of a machine with the sweetner already included – Brazilians like sweet things as we remembered from the desserts at Rio Negro.

We decided to wander with the hoards around the town in search of Don Juan’s and a few other recommended restaurants. We easily found our first quest- not far into the shopping area and the others were nearby. Walking back to the hotel, the sea road was still swarming with couples wandering into town – lots of older men and younger women here - presumably in search of food and drinks. Buzios is a town that stays open well into the small hours of the morning.

We negotiated the uphill climb and made our way to bed. There are only five channels on the television here - one being CNN, another being a film channel that sometimes has films in English with Portuguese sub-titles. The other three are gobble-de-gook us. We had lost the picture on CNN, but a little searching found that it was shown on several different channels. The film was in Portuguese this evening, so we ended up reading a little and switching out the light around midnight.

I can see the time spent here will be a repeat scenario of Koh Samui – lots of relaxation and good food – shame the other guests won’t be joining us.