Paraty & Us

Life goes fast when we are having fun, especially when you are having loads of it....

The webalbum has been a better update than this blog I must confess, I have been quite good at uploading photos there but not much going on in terms of writing. Far too much to tell, too little time and a little 1 year old girl that has an immense amount of energy and has a fondness to keyboards and is not gentle with them... so I have delayed and delayed until I could not delay anylonger. And yes, Brisa is 1 year old already.

Quite unreal to say the least, I have hardly got used to the idea of being a mum (I still catch myself looking at Brisa and going: Who is this kid?), let alone looking after a child for an entire year successfully (we are all alive and well!) and gee, there she is clapping her hands and demanding another Happy Birthday sang to her! You gotta clap otherwise you are in deep sh#$t mate.

Just on a rapid note on what´s been going on with us before I go back to the little princess...:

We had some amazing times in Ilha Grande, it´s a superb place but Russ needed a sailors fix, finding people a bit like him you know, talk about boats all the time, speak the same language and all that jazz. So we decided to try Paraty. Ah sweet darling Paraty.... what a delightful surprise.

In my very damaged memory, Paraty was a hot, stinky and sticky place to be, historical yes, world heritage status, yes, but stinky and sticky nonetheless and with very corrupt traffic cops. Well we arrived in the winter, and by sea which mean two things: no corrupt traffic cops and no smelly stuff as it´s winter and not hot at all, I even dare say it´s rather chilly for Brazilian standards.  And the place is full of sailors of all sorts! Russ finally found his place. Do I have to mention that here as well is made some of the best cachaça (sugar cane spirit used to do caipirinhas - Russ´ favorite drink) in Brazil? Russ has found his place and it´s hard to move him from here... I have tried to convince him to go to Ubatuba, and even Ilha Bela as there is the sailing week happening there at the moment, but he said no, and we went sailing in Saco do Mamanguá for 3 days instead.... no one around, lovely sail, amazing sunny days but not hot and stary nights...

Paraty is a historical town and the locals are doing an esplendid job of maintaining it. It´s simply gorgeous. To add to it is a string of cultural events of all sorts constantly happening. In any given day or night there are all types of music floating down the streets from some pub or restaurant. Even the main street has speakers with lovely national music!

So we beg you to have a look at the photos, Russ did a good job of photographing the old town and recent events.

The bigggest of all being Brisa´s 1st birthday which we celebrated with over 30 friends and relatives from all different parts of the country. It was a memorable 4 days with lots of laugh, love and play. Brisa was an absolute star and enjoyed and was enjoyed by everyone. There are some great photos and some videos on utube.

She is now fully walking for over a month and everyone is very impressed on how she has developed. She is a funloving child with a ready toothy smile.

We now have Enzo my nephew for the next week as he is on his winter school holidays and he has declared to all that he will be a sailor like uncle Russ. Even my niece Valentina (1.9mths), as friday comes, gathers her things and start pointing to the door and saying: Rus, Bri , Ka.... it´s been just amazing spending all these time with my brother and family. We will miss them terribly...

Well, it is a fact, we will be leaving soon, going up the coast and all but we hope many people will still visit and stay with us until we leave the country around November. It will be hard but we got much to look forward to.

Ah, and Moonwalker, well he is enjoying the rest, the light breezes and gentleness of the weather, but not so much the messy kids. Russ reckons we will never go hungry as at any given moment we can find plenty of food lying somewhere onboard thanks to Brisa. We can never catch up to her mess. Russ sighs when he remembers Moonwalker on our childless days, spotless, white, smooth (not sticky and with suspitious puddles everywhere)... ce la vie mon cherrie....(I am practising for the Pacific you know....)