Friday, June 19, 2015

Monte Siao | Brazil

As the weeks ticked down until the end of school, and my travel date, I got more and more restless in the city. So, we packed up the little red fox and headed to Monte Siao, a small town across the border in the state of Minas. They are known for their knit sweaters and hand-crafted pottery. We enjoyed the vibrant blue skies while wandering around town. Best of all, we finally got some real dishes for Felipe's house!





Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Punta Del Este | Uruguay

We drove to Punta Del Este without a plan and were greeted with deep blue skies, intriguing architecture, and empty beaches! If you have the time, there are a number of quaint coastal towns worth stopping at between Montevideo and Punta Del Este. We roughly followed this guide to a Uruguayan road trip and weren't disappointed. Even though many of the restaurants and shops were closed due to the winter season, we still enjoyed a leisurely day at the beach.


On a side note, did you know it´s illegal in the country of Uruguay for a restaurant to provide salt on the table except for at the patron's request? It was passed as a health initiave from the new president because supposedly, when you see the salt, you´re more likely to use it. We still asked for it at every meal.


Monday, June 1, 2015

Colonia del Sacramento | Uruguay

Earlier in the semester, my mom called to tell me that she was going on a mission trip with Amazon Outreach. As we were talking, I put together the pieces and figured out that her trip was on the tail end of a long weekend here in Brazil which meant that we were able to coordinate a long weekend getaway to Brazil´s much smaller neighbor to the south, Uruguay!

We based ourselves in Montevideo and rented a car to roadtrip most of the length of the country. Our first day was spent in a small historical town called Colonia. While there wasn´t exactly a lot to do I very much enjoyed two things about the day: driving in zero traffic on an open highway and meandering the cobble stoned streets around old town. As a weekend escape from São Paulo, it was the perfect place!