On the Flip Side

We woke up this morning thinking it was going to pour all day. Lucky for us, it didn't even drizzle and we actually had some sun. After breakfast at our hotel, we took the public 120 bus from the bus terminal that was only 1 block from our hotel. For 2.90 Brazilian Real, it took you to the airport and the Brazilian side of Iguacu Falls. Like Niagara, a trip is not complete until you see both sides.

After about a 45 minute ride through the city, we arrived at the falls. There is a bus that brings you to the top and several lookout points. These viewpoints let you capture the beauty of the falls from a distance. In Argentina, you come up a lot closer to each of the falls.

After several photos and walking through, we made it to the walkway that brings you closest to Devil's Throat. We also took an elevator that brings you up for a panoramic view. Here, we were blessed with classic rainbows due to the sunshine! We took many more photos as this was truly picturesque.

We then took the bus down through the park and stopped off at Macuco Boat Safari - their version of Maid of the Mist. We winded through the forest on a bus, walked down to the river, and got into a raft. The raft speeds down the Iguaçu River and they dip you in the falls a few times. We all got soaking wet and as the tour guides say, "have a nice shower"!

Afterwards, we made our way back to the road, on the bus, and down to the visitor center. We grabbed breaded snacks filled with meat and chicken. Then we got back on the 120 bus back to town which took about an hour.

We promptly did a few quick change moves at the hotel and grabbed a taxi to the airport. We had our 2nd and last domestic flight on GOL to head to Rio. At the airport, we grabbed some sandwiches before we boarded. It had started to rain so they handed us umbrellas - we had timed the rain today and yesterday for the end of our Iguaçu hiking days and therefore have really lucked out! C-A-L for the win!

The flight was a little less than 2 hours and the view coming in was a sight to see with the lights and view of the bays.

After a taxi to our Mercure Apartment hotel (another hotel in the Novotel / Sofitel family), we walked down and back to the beach and imbibed a few beers.

Tomorrow will be our first day in Rio de Janeiro! As Eduardo says, it will be amazing and nothing like we've seen thus far!

Chasing Waterfalls

This morning, we woke up and worked with our hotel travel agent to book transfers to the Argentine side of the Iguaçu Falls.

Our transfer picked us up at 9 am. We went through the border with no issues and the weather overall held up. It did rain at times and we decided to term it as rain forest weather. We headed our way to the top via a train and various walkways to Devil's Throat. The falls were beautiful and the mist that the falls generate got us refreshingly wet.

We headed down the train midway and walked / hiked the superior trail and the lower circuit. Here, we had closer views to various single falls. The Bossetti fall was my favorite with the impressive rush of water. There are about 275 different falls spread over 3 miles and up to 266 feet high!

At the bottom of the lower circuit, you could take a boat to the falls. We plan on doing this tomorrow on the Brazil side. Today, we took a ferry to Isla San Martin. This island is in the middle of the falls and had several lookout points. We were told the climb up to the lookouts was 12 stories. After what I had thought was only 3, Lizzie advised me we were all done - thank goodness as these steps were steep!

All the lookouts and views were wonderful and the falls are definitely a sight to see. Being back on the Argentina side was also comforting as I got to use a little of my Spanish. Carlos, my former Spanish teacher, would be so proud as I did well with my object pronouns.

For lunch, we ate at one of the cafés on site and had sandwiches and empanadas. A bird, called an Urraca, took my mustard packet and then dropped it. There were animals all around the park including monkeys and coatis which are like raccoons.

After hiking and walking all day, we headed toward the bottom and grabbed coffees and alfajores. Alfajores are an Argentine treat that I brought back last year as well from Buenos Aires.

Our transfer picked us up at 5 pm and we headed back to our hotel. We were exhausted yet hungry from our day. We had walked over 18,000 steps according to my iPod Nano pedometer! Nowhere near the amount of steps in Montreal with Caitlin, but definitely a tiring amount!

We ended up venturing out for dinner to a restaurant called Chef Lopes, recommended by my guidebook and 1 block from our hotel. It ended up being renamed Gaucho (my guidebook is a few years old). This restaurant was also a churrascaria with a salad buffet. It was half the price of our dinner yesterday and definitely more of a local hangout. We enjoyed beer, the various meats, fried zucchini, and of course, the roasted pineapple.

Again, we hope the weather will hold up tomorrow as we explore the Brazilian side of the falls!

São Paulo

First off, Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Allison and Lizzie's moms, and all the other moms out there! We love and appreciate you very much!

Last night, we learned that Vila Madalena was the "east village" of São Paulo. Venga was a delicious restaurant and we had an array of tapas such as baccala (salted cod), breads, croquetas, ham, fish, and cheese. We drank sangria and wine and caught up with my old friend, Eduardo.

After dinner, Eduardo suggested a bunch of bars and we said we wanted to do something locals would do. So where else would he take us? A samba bar! It was a hole in the wall that was super casual and had an awesome band. It was called "O Do Borogodo", which roughly means in sentiment, "bottom of the barrel". It definitely had the dive-y feel, but was awesome. We drank caipirinhas that were flavored strawberry, lime, and passion fruit and some local brews. You're also given a slip of paper when you walk in, where you're suppose to record all the drinks and have to cash out at the end. Very efficient!

They were several very good samba dancers and were very fun to watch - supposedly all the ladies want to dance with the good ones. Even the waiters get into the mix showing off their moves and one of the best dancers was wearing a Knicks / Carmelo Anthony t-shirt - go NY!

One of the best parts of the night was when a waiter delivered a note to Eduardo from a mysterious girl who asked if he was available! It felt a bit middle school, but supposedly this was common. It was incumbent upon Eduardo to write back (which he did using my back) and was about to give the slip of paper back to the waiter. The waiter then decided to do Eduardo a solid by telling him who it was. We all decided engaging in the back and forth was not necessary, but flattering nonetheless and courageous since Eduardo was with 3 girls!

Eduardo Explaining the Note

Eduardo Responding to the Note

Around 3 am we finally headed home after some sweaty samba dancing. Eduardo - many thanks for taking us out and showing us such a local, non-touristy experience. I will never forget it and will be forever grateful! You single-handedly made São Paulo worth it!

So today, we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed to Ibirapuera Park which is considered the Central Park of São Paulo. There were runners, bikers, and families everywhere. We enjoyed the people watching and the pretty trees and lakes.

Ibirapuera Park

After our jaunt, we grabbed a cab and headed to Liberdade, known for being the Japanese neighborhood. There is a sizable Asian population in Brazil and especially in São Paulo. On Sunday mornings, there is a street fair where folks sell knick-knacks and street food. We walked around the neighborhood and ended up at Korea House. Allison pointed it out, but it was also listed in my guidebook as the best Korean BBQ joint. A bit of a hole in a wall, we found the bulgogi and bibimbap to be tasty. The naeng myun (cold noodles) needed more mustard and vinegar which they did not serve as extras which is typically served. Also, we had hoped that food ordering would be easier, but the waitresses did not speak Korean.

After our Korean lunch, we headed back to the hotel and grabbed a cab to the airport to head to the famous Iguaçu Falls - one of the top 3 waterfalls in the world. It is on the Argentina and Brazil border, and Paraguay is nearby as well. Our flight was booked on GOL - the low cost domestic airline which is also a Delta partner.

View of the São Paulo Sprawl from the Plane

Checking in and the security was very smooth and so was our flight. Our hotel, Del Rey is in the town of Foz de Iguaçu and was rated well on Tripadvisor. It also had rooms with 3 twin beds. However, our room ended up having 1 double and 2 twins. The staff were also super welcoming and with a Four Square check-in, you get a free caipirinha. For the win!

We ventured to the local churrascaria buffet called Bufalo Branco. The host gave us a 20% discount, even though the hotel said we would get 10%. C-A-L for the win, again! The salad and appetizer buffet was fresh and the barbecue of various meats that were doled out from skewers were also quite tasty and flavorful. We all wished Amanda was here to share in the buffet experience! My favorite, ironically, was roasted pineapple that had cinnamon and nutmeg. As my friend Mikey knows, Koreans do love pineapple!

After our long and filling meal, we headed back to the hotel to catch up on sleep, but also to rest for our big day at Iguaçu tomorrow. It's suppose to rain so we're not happy about that, but we hope it will be intermittent!