A drive down south

After the incredulous experiences of Rio we felt we were in need of a little relaxation - que most luxurious hotel yet; Pousada do Ouro.

The journey was just under 4 hours - a blink of an eye for a Brazilian. We saw traffic tailing back most of the way, as Rio's population returned to their day jobs after the carnival holiday. Luckily Parati was not the destination of choice this side of festivities.

Finally we turned off the main road into the medium sized fishing town. It was not quite as colloquial as we were led to believe however once we were past Brazil's version of the one stop, the mini bus trembled its way around the historic centre, along the biggest cobblestones I'd ever seen. We circled the town centre (perhaps made up of just 10 rows of buildings) and parked up on a patchy grass bank near a double garage door. Closed for siesta perhaps?

The staff of the oversized pousada were not long to come to our aid and as we trundled along behind our suitcases we were revived from the drive by tumbling leafy outdoor corridors and tinkling water. 

Our room was over the other side of the cobbled street, through a bright yellow door with a window in it, and along another open corridor with colourful windows either side. Up some stairs and into a chilly but traditional room with rustic style bathroom. Not the epitome of comfort but oh so gorgeous.

We mucked around in the hotel for the remainder of the afternoon, enjoying the colonial settees, patterned paintings, dabbling in the geometric pool and supping fruity caipirinhas.

In the evening we went out to celebrate Jonny's 29th. After circling the block under the soft glow of the street lights and the murmur of music, we found a sufficiently upmarket restaurant which served traditional fish dishes. I had octopus on bruschetta followed by white fish with rice and Jonny had spiced soup with a juicy steak, washed down with a deep burgundy red. A wonderful evening.