Something was missing. I had that nagging feeling.
Yesterday, I imbibed my first cup of tea since leaving England.
It was so good that I had 3 more, back to back without a break.
Afterwards, I needed many bathroom breaks – a small price to pay!
Unashamedly British maybe, but tea is unquestionably a wonderful thing!
This is a new category starting here.
One upside of my misadventures in Rio was finding this gem of a contender for the worst toilet. The bar has been set.
This has the potential to be a semi regular feature, depending on how (un)fortunate I am.
The specimen in the picture was uncovered in a place vaguely resembling a cafe in a semi shanty area, where discrete use of the camera was necessary.
It is a unisex toilet..
I am sitting in a car driving from Taubate to Ubatuba, a beautiful journey across rolling countryside, over a ridge of small mountains to the coast, the frequency of the rich greens of the foliage increasing as we travel. From a distance, all the flora looks the same. On closer inspection, the variety is revealed and it becomes hard to find two trees of the same type.
From the peak of the pass it is all downhill to Ubatuba. There was a memorable section of road to rival that famous one in San Francisco for all it´s twisting, turning hairpins and sharp gradient. I´m thankful our brakes are reliable.
With surfing out the picture and no banks wanting to accept my card I enjoy a much needed break mostly spent on various beaches. Notably Itamabuca, where the river meets the sea. `Red Beach´ is another, where the crusty sand is like demerara sugar, resting in clumps, crunching underfoot like hot golden snow. These are just two of the 74 beaches and 15 islands along the gorgeous stretch of coastline in and around Ubatuba.
Here I spend 5 days learning Portuguese, eating the delicious Açai and reestablishing a sensible diet, away from the Atkins´ orgy and small farms´ worth of cows I must have devoured so far. Concerned over a lack of vitamins, I consume a variety of fruit based Caipirinhias.
As I lay on a surfing beach near Ubatuba, some 3hrs bus ride away from the tourist feeding frenzy of Rio, resting and nursing my injuries, I reflect on the short but action packed last few days. If and when I return to Rio, I will walk the well trodden tourist path and take part in more sedate activities.
Hangliding perhaps..
Sao Paulo – Campinas – Rio
Wasting no time after landing, I search out the bus terminal and take the first bus to Campinas, one hours ride north of the huge city of Sao Paulo.
Here I spend one and a half days with some old Brazilian friends sleeping occasionally, drinking tequila regularly and getting ideas for my travels in Brazil and tips for the forthcoming Carnaval.
London – Sao Paulo
Leaving England turned out to be harder than expected..
Not for the farewells, nervous anticipation and general emotion of it all. That was fine. The problem was physical – not with me but with the plane.
I arrived at Heathrow in good time, found the British Airways desk, checked in, found my seat on the plane and waited patiently.
Then I waited patiently some more.
Then some more..
And then a bit more..
6 long hours later, the problem is solved and we get ready to take off, taxiing up the runway and gathering speed.
The plane erupts into a chorus of cheers.
This was short lived when we suddenly we stop and are informed that the technical problem has returned and so the flight will be cancelled and rearranged for the following day.
Nobody cheers.
test
The rare British snowy landscape has been and gone, lasting only 2.5 days. These two days were enough to cause chaos for everyone except schoolchildren, who relish the possibility of a day off school with the chance to make snowmen and throw snowballs at anyone within range.
It’s a funny situation that the British spend so much time talking about it yet whenever any real weather with any oomph comes to this fair isle, we have no idea what to do and descend into a state of national panic and general flapping about! At least it gives us the opportunity to do what we are best at. Talking even more about the weather. On Thursday, Great Britain set a new world record for the most utterings of the word “snow” – smashing the old record with a staggering 100 billion* mentions of the word in a 24 hour period.
* – this is an approximate figure. I lost count at 12 and estimated the final figure.
I said goodbye to another house this week, the second in a 7 day period. This time it was the family home, lived in for an impressive 25+ years and where most of my childhood years were spent.
The snowfall did allow for some decent parting shots of the house, to remember it by.
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