From Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro

After having spent a few days in Zurich, getting our things in order (more or less) and storing our boxes, we flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil on Monday night. This was where we started our trip around the world.

After having asked a few friends who knew Sao Paulo whether or not it was worth staying there for some nights, the feedback was that without kids, the city has some culinary treasures to offer. With kids, however, it is best to move on as quickly as possible. And so we did. We decided to leave the city behind us and drive with our rental car (aka sardine can) straight to a resort in Tabatinga at the coast. Our luggage barely fitted in the small Ford Ka but somehow we made it through the green plateau and eventually down to the coast. I am not sure if I have ever seen such colors, such a piercing green. The whole country seems to be a dense jungle, except for a little stretch along the coast. Our first stop was Tabatinga, where we stayed for 5 days to wind down and relax. The packing, moving and leaving Canada had been physically and emotionally stressfull. What was more is, that we hadn’t planed further than Tabatinga. We knew we wanted to eventually end up in Rio de Janeiro but nothing was organized beyond Tabatinga. We used these days for planning our next steps, to enjoy some quality family time and to get some rest. Unfortunately, we also served as a delicious snack for all those mosquitos out there.

When we hit the road again, our next destination was Paraty. We booked a small boutique hotel (my hidden mission during this trip is to find a hotel which is childfriendly, suitable for families and stylish at once – so far these seem to be trade-offs). We were over the moon after checking-in to this hidden gem in the middle of Paraty‘s old town. We enjoyed every minute of Paraty and it‘s surroundings, which slightly reminded us of the Ticino Alps in Switzerland. We were sad leaving this edenic place three days later but hoped to find another paradise in Angra dos Reis. Unfortunatly this was far from true and already one day later we gladly left it again to make our way to Rio de Janeiro.

This trip has somehow turned out much shorter than initially anticipated but it was worth every minute. The driving went actually pretty well (thanks Niels!) and we never felt unsafe on or off the roads. We met many open and friendly Brazilians and felt like we got to know a teeny tiny bit of this enormous country.

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Here‘s what we did on our little road trip:

Tabatinga

stay

Niels knew the Resort Costa Verde Tabatinga already from one of his previous trips to Brazil for business. It was the perfect place to start our trip around the world. Nicely nestled into a bay right at the beach, the hotel was very childfriendly with a big pool, a beautiful lobby area, a playroom for the little ones as well as a cooled library for the adults. Staff was friendly but as usual here in Brazil, most of them did not speak any English or only very poorly. (Thank God for Google Translate!) 

Food was alright, but I guess you don‘t need to travel to Brazil for the food anyways. Meat, rice and beans, that‘s what you get around here. And in the evening the choice between meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian. Still, a very nice place to unwind and relax. We met many families with children and found that Brazilians in general are super friendly and easily approachable, even those that do not speak one word of English.

We only stayed in the hotel. That‘s it. No eating and drinking outside. The plan was not to leave the hotel, or even not to leave the beach chair at all and we tried very hard to pusue this plan.

And what we did? Swim, eat, getting stung by mosquitos, slackline (the kids), start a new thriller by Simon Beckett (me), play and sleep. I can recommend it all!

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Paraty

stay

We stayed at Pousada Literária de Paraty – and what a fantastic place it was! It was a bit above budget but we had to come here, it just looked too fantastic to miss, and we were definitely right to stretch the credit card a little for this boutique hotel. When we arrived in Paraty we needed to call the hotel to ask for directions since we could not find it at first. It was nestled and almost hidden in the midst of the old town‘s cobble stone streets and only a very narrow door led the way into the little paradise hidden behind its walls. Liya got sick on the way in, so we needed to arrange the clothes to be washed and the seat to be cleaned  upon arrival. They practically ripped the dirty things out of our hands eager to help and make us feel comfortable. We got a free upgrade to a much bigger and amazing room, actually two rooms and a spacious bathroom. Also, to my great amazement, there was a bathtube in the sleeping room – as a soaking-in-bath enthusiast I loved that!

The hotel offered a very fresh breakfast buffet, situated next to the pool with only a roof but otherwise open-air. It contained a variety of local farm to table products from Fazenda Bananal farm which belongs to the same owners as the pousada and harvests organic, local food. The pool, though small, was a little oasis on its own, right in the center of the Pousada. Service was around the clock warm and very helpful despite certain language problems. 

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eating & drinking

• We went for Crepes or Galettes to Oui Paraty on our first afternoon. A little french-style bistro with three tables outside on the street, it attracted mostly tourists but given it‘s very reduced size this did not concern us too much. The Crepes and Galettes they served were amazing, fresh and very french-tasting. Service was friendly and prices were reasonable. 
• During our first stroll through old town Paraty, we were surprised by a sudden downpour and decided to take refuge in the ice cream parlor Tiê Sorveteria & Cafe where you can choose and scoop your own ice cream incl. fancy toppings and finally pay according to the weight. Cappuccino came from a Nespresso machine but was well done and nicely presented. Worth going, not only during rain.
• Our first dinner we ate at our Hotel Pousada Literária de Paraty, since it rained that evening, we were behind schedule in terms of not making it too late for the kids and so we decided to stay in. The food was delicious and presentation was lovely, only service was a bit dubious, causing me to ask fo a Bellini without the peach in order to get a glas of Prosecco.
• This resto at Fazenda Bananal is not only stylish but serves high quality own grown food! Presentation is just as fantastic as its taste, the service is attentive, friendly and at they speak quite well english. We got to try special fruits and juices from fruits we haven‘t heard of before. Two thumbs up!
• On our last evening we had dinner at Celeiro Armazem Tropical. Its small but charming interior were complemented by friendly and enthusiastic service. Outside dinig was available as well. Food was mediocre, tastewise ok but presentation was rather careless.

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where to go, what to do

• We took a stroll through Paraty‘s historic old town, to the harbor and the church. Around 4pm the sea started flooding the streets of the village, thunder was rumbling in the background and though the streets are lined with little tourist shops, it was at no point overrun or too touristy, on the contrary, the quiet streets and the whole atmosphere had something mystical and quiet to it.

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• On one day drove out to visit Fazenda Bananal, an organic farm owned and operated by the same group of the Pousada Literária and some other hotels throughout Brazil. Accordingly the farm was organized and presented in an inviting and attractive way for visitors to see behind the scenes. We walked through the garden fields, and visited the farm animals. The kids loved to run around and to imitate the loud cock-crow. Finally we ate something in the local restaurant where veggies and meat are served farm-to-table, what an extraordinary experience!

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Angra Dos Reis

Since we tried to divide our trip from Sao Paolo to Rio in bits of driving which were agreable for the kids as well as for us, we researched which villages along the road were worth stopping at. We‘ve been told by locals that Angra (as they call it) must be very nice, so we decided to make it our last stop before Rio and we booked two nights at the Mercure, having been told that the hotel as well must be very nice. The pictures of the infinity pool might have bedazzeled us a bit. Once we were there it did not really strike us as a place we wanted to stay any longer than necessary. Therefore we decided to shorten our stay to one night and it was absolutely the right decision. The pool was nice, but that‘s about it. Everything else reminded me of vacation in Italy in the 80s and I am not talking „A Roman Holiday“.

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