South American Vacation

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I had a great time with my family- the best vacation to date, each year somehow we out do the last trip! We sailed down the Eastern coast of South America. We began our journey in Brazil, and we slowly made our way to Uruguay, and ended our adventure in Argentina. It was such an incredible experience, in 10 days it is quite difficult to sum up a continent, however I think that one word that could describe the people of these countries is passion. They have a passion for life, they struggle to survive in ways we can't imagine, they tango, their food, their love of sports, I could go on, and on!

We started in Rio de Janeiro. I truthfully didn't spend enough time there to really enjoy it, but I did see the giant statue on the mountain which was truly beautiful. Something about Rio felt somewhat sinister. Please forgive me if you are from Brazil, I just felt somewhat unsettled there, not to mention the countless people that would come up to us and tell us to keep our belongings close to us so that they wouldn't be stolen. It is definitely not an empty threat- my boyfriends sister got her camera stolen right out of her hands when she was taking a picture, and I heard countless other tales much worse! However, I would go back and spend time there, I just wouldn't carelessly roam the streets.

Rio De Janeiro- a lot of the areas surrounding the city looked like this. The homes appeared to be built right on top of one another.

As we left the port the first evening, the views were really amazing- unfortunately I don't have any shots, the mountain with Christ the Redeemer was lit up and looked incredible, followed by the gorgeous Sugar loaf mountain. Here is a picture I found- just incase you aren't familiar.

Next, we stopped in Búzios. Unfortunately it was raining terribly. Here is a photo I found that captures it in it's full beauty. It is regarded at the "St. Barths" of Brazil, and where Brigitte Bardot would hang out with all of the beautiful people in the 60's. It was one of my favorite stops regardless of the weather, very cute resto's, shops, and beautiful beaches, very tourist friendly.

Via

I took this picture- It is of Brigitte Bardot- However I think it looks like Heidi Klum??

Next stop was Paraty(pronounced Para-Chee) It was really beautiful. It was much quainter, and felt a lot more rustic than stop number one. We were to enter into the town on a long dock, in which the planks were loosely secured, and there were large gaps- so my sister and I took forever to get across with the fear that we would fall through... The streets were cobble stoned in most areas(otherwise dirt) there were carts drawn by horses, there were stores that sold rum on just about every corner, men were shucking coconuts with machetes- we planned to take a boat tour to the surrounding beaches however nature took its course and the rain forced us back onto the boat!!

All of the boats were really colorfully decorated

There were really decorative doors everywhere, I have tons photos of intricate designs that adorned many of the residents

Beautiful tiles, and colors- the heat was UNREAL while taking these pictures

Such detail

Some of the group making their way down the cobblestoned street(It was hard not to trip unless you looked where you were stepping). There were 11 of us in total!

This was pretty cool

My beautiful little sister!

Christmas Decor

A horse drawn cart

Being rained out!

Just another day...

On that note, I think that I will continue with more of our experiences and adventures tomorrow. There are so many more photos to share- I hope you enjoy!!

The best to you all in 2012!! xoxo

Always Stay Graceful,

L.