Santo Cristo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 28 degrees, hot, sunny and slightly overcast.
Paraty, Brazil: 29 degrees, hot, muggy and overcast.
Today we are going to Paraty!
The alarm clock rang at 4:45, but we were awake beforehand. Julie was making coffee before I got up; it was good because we were up so early that I was able to upload a video before we left.
We arrived at the coach station 30 minutes before the 7:00 departure. Fifteen minutes before departure, we queued to place our bags in the coach’s hold and to board. We showed the tickets to the driver along with our IDs; everything proceeded smoothly.
We found our seats, and about ten minutes later, the coach pulled out of the bus station, heading for Paraty, 200 kilometres south of Rio de Janeiro.
The coach stopped at a service station after about an hour and a half and then headed down to the coast, following it all the way to Paraty, which is really quite beautiful.
Julie cuddled up, facing the window with her back leaning against me and her legs and feet resting on the seat beneath the lower part of the window. She managed to sleep a little while, occasionally opening her eyes to admire the view of the coast, sometimes observing beautiful houses lining the shore or small fishing boats scattered over the sea in coves or harbours.
We arrived in Paraty at about midday, check-in to the guest house, a 20-minute walk from the bus station, would only be after 2:00 in the afternoon, and it was raining, not hard but raining enough to be inconvenient.
As we began to walk in roughly the right direction towards the guest house, the rain began to subside a little, so we could enjoy a little of being in one of the most enchanting places in Brazil.
It was lunchtime, and we were hungry. Walking from the bus station towards the historical centre, we had to pass through the ordinary, less attractive part of Paraty with its less charming shops, restaurants, and bars.
You know you are arriving at the more quintessential historical part of Paraty, as there are enormous concrete bollards chained together with big, thick steel chains that separate the old historical part of the town from the newer, tackier section. It is impressive how big the difference is between the two areas; it’s like oil and water.
All the other times I had visited Paraty, I had never gone to the popular or typical part of Paraty; I had always stayed in the old historical area, with its good taste and expensive bars, restaurants and shops. It sounds like I am a bit snobbish, but that is just how it is and has been. What I have also realised is that the historic centre is only for pedestrians. This is why it is closed off on all sides.
Walking across the main street from the area of common people to the more historic, refined part feels like crossing into a different country and culture; the contrast is stark, and I was glad to return to a place I know and love.
We walked down some beautiful cobbled side streets towards the sea and pier.
We did not want to cross the entire historical centre and reach the pier on the other side; we wanted to eat, drink, and relax. We turned left into another side street that I knew would eventually lead us towards the canal, which runs parallel to the historical centre and where our guest house is on the opposite side.
As we were walking, we reached a crossroads, wider than the other streets. I recognised it as one of the main roads that has bars and restaurants, especially in the evenings.
I told Julie, we entered and saw a row of bars and restaurants with tables and chairs outside on the cobbled street and pavement. The second restaurant we looked at had a group of young girls sitting around a couple of tables, speaking Spanish.
Near them, there was an empty table outside, in front of the restaurant’s open entrance and windows. Inside, it was dark but lively, with all the tables filled with people, including customers, waiters and waitresses, with a small stage facing them on the right-hand side of the restaurant.
On stage was a middle-aged man singing classical MPB Brazilian music by Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and, even better, Vinicius de Moraes. He had a good voice with the perfect tone for the ambience of the low-lit restaurant, being in one of the most iconic places in Brazil.
On our little table outside, we ordered a beer, obviously. Now Julie has discovered beer and, more specifically, chopp, as if they were only invented yesterday. She loves just drinking a cold beer, and even better, a chopp, and simply relaxing.
A little while after we ordered a hot plate of BBQ meat, cassava, campagna salad-vinaigrette, and garlic bread, it was surprisingly much better than I had expected. Within an hour of arriving in Paraty, we were sharing a delicious Brazilian dish at a very charming, quaint restaurant, enjoying alfresco dining to good Brazilian music whilst washing it all down with ridiculously cold Brazilian beer.
How good is that? And with excellent company and a beautiful woman beside me.
I believe we stayed there for nearly three hours. It was a wonderful moment that has become more frequent with Julie; everything we do turns out well and feels very special.
We had to check in, but I was reluctant to go, and for some reason, if the reservation was either cancelled or allocated to someone else. We paid the bill, which I thought was reasonable for Paraty, as everything in the upper-class historical parts has a reputation for being much more expensive.
We re-entered the street we were walking along earlier, crossed the small bridge over the canal at the end, and within five minutes, we reached the drive of The Condessa guest house.
Thankfully, our reservation was standing, and in no time at all, we were in our suite. You enter through the back door, and when you open the front door, it opens onto a kind of balcony on the ground floor, and in front of you is the pool.
Julie was impressed, and looking out of your room onto the swimming pool is very nice.
We unpacked, had showers, made love, rested a little, and then, in the early evening, it was time to go out, explore the town, and eat and drink something. The only problem was that it was raining hard, but we had no choice if we wanted to eat.
At the reception, which I thought was very good and considerate of them, there was a large stand of umbrellas that guests could borrow. Walking out of the grounds of the pousada-guest house in the direction of the historical centre, it was literally pouring down. We shared one large umbrella between us; I held the umbrella, and Julie held my arm.
Walking on the wet cobbled street isn’t easy and can be quite slippery, almost causing you to fall.
We found a very lovely restaurant, low-lit and with excellent taste. We ordered some chops, but for some reason, there was something wrong with the place and its ambience. The waitress was a little off, bordering on almost being rude. The service was slow, and the ambience felt unwelcoming. We and another couple were the only ones there, so we decided not to stay.
Facing the rain once again that hadn’t stopped or slowed, we turned into another street. From the outside, the small, discreet Italian restaurant was unassuming, but as soon as we went inside, the aroma, the lively atmosphere, and the bustling people with positive vibes hit us instantly, and we wanted to stay.
We asked for a table and were promptly shown to a nice, discreet table on the left-hand side of the room, against the back wall, completely different to where we were 10 minutes ago.
We ordered some beers, of course, and decided to share a pizza. Julie has this thing where she likes sharing food with me; she prefers to order dishes that can go in the middle of the table so we can both share or pick at them, rather than ordering separate plates.
The pizza arrived at just the right moment, and it was very tasty. For the rest of the evening, we enjoyed pizza and drank beer at one of Paraty’s most charming restaurants.
Unfortunately, we had to leave eventually. We paid the bill, faced the rain, got wet for the second or third time today, and were back at the guest house in 10 minutes.
What a day!
What a night!
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
