A weekend in Gravata

We had a wonderful opportunity to get away for the weekend and headed to a friend's place in Gravata.  Gravata is west of Recife - about an hour inland.  It's also a slightly higher altitude so it's a bit cooler - a sweater was very nice in the evening.

The countryside was beautiful on the drive in and the place we stayed just fantastic.  It is a family's vacation weekend home and had all sorts of wonderful amenities.

You could tell that the family has had many wonderful weekends - it's set up for some great relaxing

There was a large pond with a paddle boat that the kids enjoyed.

And the beautiful porch with hammocks to read in.

A swimming pool for the hot days

and a billiards room.

 And a cool old car collection to check out.

 We had some wonderful walks in the town of Gravata -

lots of artisan shops and beautiful pieces of art.

We also drove up to the high point and were able to look at the whole region.

And found a beautiful cemetery. 

N. got some good cooking time with her grandmother T.

There was a large chameleon that crossed the path by the house.

And a parrot that lived in the tree outside the kitchen.

And one time, the pond erupted in lots of soap bubbles that we had to drive through - Goldy (our car) got a nice bubble bath!

We got to ride horses.  

We also played lots of card games.

A wonderful weekend - I would say the only draw back was the mosquitoes that came out at night.  Note to self - next time bring more bug spray!

Fenearte and Bahian food

Every year during July, Recife hosts Fenearte.  It's a wonderful artisan and craft fair that takes over the whole convention center. 











It goes on for 2 weeks and hosts artisans from the State of Pernambuco, as well as other regions in Brazil.  It is a wonderful place to see so much regional artwork and crafts.












We had a chance to check it out with K.'s family when they were visiting.

There were also modern pieces of art - often dealing with re-use and recycling.

And of course we checked out the food court where T. and I got to try so food from the State of Bahia.

This is a stuffed sandwich type of thing made with masa like dough fried in palm oil.  

It's then stuffed with shrimp and other things - pretty yummy!

A Day at Porto de Galinhas

The first weekend K.'s family was here we headed to Porto de Galinhas.  It's a beach town about an hour south of Recife.  Our local taxi driver, Apollonio, helped us organize our day.  He has a large minivan and could take all of K.'s family.  We followed along in our car. 








 Since he's so familiar with the area, he knew the good place to part and the good restaurant / beach stretch to spend the day.  We had a great time.

Porto de Galinhas is known for it's natural coral pools that are just off the beach.  During low tide, there are deep pools in the coral that fill with fish.  So many people head out there and feed the fish that they are now trained and will follow you as you walk along the sides of the pool.  It's absolutely beautiful.

And there also the usual vendors along the beach selling anything you might want.

 There was kite flying.

Playing in the sand.

Some people got their hair braided

and some people got tattoos.

O. and Cousin J. with their tattoos.

N. and Cousin E. with their braids.