Berlin Festival 2009

Another one gone by: I may proudly claim to have attended every Berlin Festival there ever was and all 3 locations. Favorite: Postbahnhof, 2007. Unfortunately the area was closed for events. Tempelhof is not too bad if one likes concrete and historic sites. Anyhow, it was great fun - the highlight apart from Deichkind, our 3-D-glasses mission and Lebkuchenschnaps was being taken up to the roof of the airport at 6 a.m.!

Austrian Treasures

Our little Erasmus trip lead us to Linz, where we enjoyed the perfect Schweinsbraten with Knödel created by Gatsch and then ventured up to the roofs for some Höhenrausch challenges. To recover from that we went to the beautiful Wolfgangsee in Salzkammergut, where we basically had more Knödel, Kasnockn and Bauernjausn. Apart from eating we also visited Salzburg for a day. Then there was more eating in the house of Petra's parents, where her father had a Barbecue ready for us.

On my way back to Berlin I stopped over for a night in Angela's (La Alemana) house, where we had a lovely Barbecue. She now has a little daughter, Theresa, who is 5 months old. David is already 3 years old.

Arriving in Berlin after a 10 hours (!) trip from Munich (it normally takes 5 hours, but I got stuck in 4 major traffic jams) I went to the office opening party of my translation agency, and we had - guess what, a really tasty Barbecue.
So, now you know what we do here all summer ;)

Click on the album below to see more pictures of our culinary trip:

Austrian Erasmus Reunion 2009

Surfing in Graz

One might not believe it - there is actually a surf spot in the center of Graz!
And it doesn't look bad at all :)





For information: this is the river Mur and the spot is under the Radetzkybrücke. Surf reports to be found here: www.murbreak.at

Mutzl

I can't resist, I have to post on our new cat - she is soo cute. She just arrived one morning at my parents' house and was very hungry. We fed her and she thanked us by presenting us with a dead mouse. Since no-one claimed ownership, we kept her. Now we have dead mice and birds all over the place. She still has no name, but doesn't really need one since she only comes when she feels like it or when she thinks there will be food (which is most of the time).

She can sleep in rather strange positions:





An here she is live and in Technicolor:

Wedding Bells in Sardinia

Antoine and Daniela invited and we followed the invitation (of course)! The wedding took place in Sardinia, so what more do you need - sun, beach, food and more food and even more food, party, meeting old friends, making new friends, Chinese clothes stores, ancient ruins, ice-cream, and - ahem - rain.
Yeah, unfortunately the 31st of May was a bit rainy but we nevertheless partied as if there were no tomorrow.

This holiday also marks the foundation of the Piggy Club (particulars on request, or find out yourself in the Web album below).

Thank you Antoine and Daniela for the greatest & most fun wedding I have ever been to!

Sardinia Wedding trip

Climbing up some rocks

Since I am spending a couple of months in Austria I feel obliged to try out the local sport of the masses (at least it seems to me that everyone is crazy about it) - rock climbing. So yesterday my experienced tutors and me set out for Hirzmannsperre, a 45 mins picturesque drive from Graz.

There I learned that first of all one person has to do the unpopular lead climbing. Geli climbed up leaving behind her a trail of hooks that held the rope (which, I'm sure, have a proper name). My task was to collect them again on my way up. Even though I spent a considerable amount of time of my childhood climbing around in treetops I wasn't sure if I was up for the task.

The first go was kind of weird but from the second on I forgot all about height and slipping and falling. On my 5 trips up I got all the hooks, looked into an empty bird's nest and the bruises on knees and elbows serve as proof of my dedication. It's great fun, definitely an experience to (hopefully) be repeated soon!

Thanks to tutors Anita and Geli, and Karin for companionship!

Hirzmannsperre April 2009

Madrid is Erasmus

Now its over, the long awaited fiesta de anniversario 10 años de Erasmus. Petra's organization was perfect in every respect - and she even made the impossible possible: ordering a weekend of sun and summer temperatures almost in November! This is how we love Spain - fiesta, copas, sol y amigos.

A big cheers to Petra and muchas gracias a todos para venir!
Que no pasen 10 años hasta que nos reunimos otra vez.

Check out the sun and the big grins:

Madrid Erasmus-Weekend

Big and small waves in Moliets

Since moving house turned into such a lengthy and demanding project I decided to go on a spontaneous surfing holiday to get my sanity back. I booked the last pre-season course with Wavetours - my very favorite agency for surf camps (actually, the only one I went on camps with and I wasn't disappointed :)

I'm not going to elaborate on my 12 hour car trip from Berlin to Frankfurt from where I flew out to Biarritz (involving a massive traffic jam, car breaking down and abandonment from most of my Mitfahrzentrale-passengers).

So I arrived at the camp that was advertised as "the party camp" in Moliets. But due to the early season the place was pretty quiet, so was the camp, which (luckily) consisted of only around 17 participants (aged from 16 to 40, a good mix from banker to piercer). After the first days in the water partying wasn't quite on my agenda anyway due to aching body parts and early rising for (voluntary) pre-breakfast surfing.

For 2 days the waves were small and fun (I have to say, I kind of missed the challenge) but the weather was rainy and cold, later in the week the sun came out but the waves turned shitty (too much of a challenge, at least for me). Nevertheless, I had a great time and absolutely didn't want to leave the sea, waves, camp, being outside in exchange for sitting in hot, stuffy offices. Adjustment period not over yet, still dreaming about falling off my board and getting washed to the beach...

...as pictured in the following album:

Moliets Surfcamp June 2008

Translation - Editing - Proofreading Services

Time for some self-promotion:
I am offering freelance translation services for the languages
English / German / Spanish.

Please refer potential customers to my website: http://mt.translation.googlepages.com/translation


Successful referrers may choose to be rewarded with one of the following options:

- Shiatsu massage
- homemade dinner
- tour of Berlin nightlife
- a tasting of Michi's killer cocktails

Oscar Winner Glen Hansard in his youth :)

A friend of mine, the photographer Philip Rogan, took these pictures 15 years ago when we were lucky to be invited to the Frames recording studio:



You can order lovely prints of this picture from Phil to hang up in your Frames shrine ;)

If this sparked your interest in Philip's work, check out





and buy loads of his gorgeous pictures!

Easter skiing in Austria - yeah!

I wasn't tempted to add anything here since my last big trip (going back and forth between Berlin and Stainz doesn't quite live up to the 'around the world' theme) but since my friend asked me to add the above information to my blog (wow, all this ownership does make me feel guilty of neglect now...), I might just as well add my latest Picasa webalbum here - check out the pictures of the great, fun, exhilarating, exhausting and amazing as always USI skiing camp:

Dienten Skicamp III

I really have to propagate the legendary USI ski trips (USI = University Sports Institute of Vienna) here, even though I probably shouldn't since it is already hard to get a place in the popular ones, but - hey, it is one of the best experiences that a winter sports fan can have! Quoting a comment I heard various times during the camp: "It really bugs me that I didn't discover USI ski trips earlier!"

It works like that: if you study or studied at Vienna University (any subject, you don't have to be one of these sports students, but you should be fairly fit :) you can sign up for a course of your choice at the beginning of the semester (or you study the "Restplätze" list for last minute spaces).

Usually USI books a whole hotel and there can be up to 160 people in one camp - not scary but fun, since you won't go skiing with more than 10 people per group, and it makes for even better après-ski parties! Plus, it is never ever a problem going by yourself, and you can ski at your preferred level (both points usually the biggest obstacles for having a great skiing holiday). One thing to watch out for: a lot courses don't cater for beginners, make sure to find out before booking, else you might have to pay extra for tuition at a local skiing school.

And lastly, apart from being a great group experience, having really competent and fun skiing instructors (kudos to the USI team, they are the best! :) - these trips are a whole lot cheaper than any other conventional ski trip you may find!

Closing with the most popular quote on Dienten Skicamp III 2007:
Bam Oida!

Other cultures... my observations on Brazilian peculiarities

All in all I have to say, Brazilians are great people and in many respects they are more cultured and better-mannered than most Europeans. They are open, polite and eager to help. I have not seen one Brazilian losing his temper or being stressed out or unfriendly in my time over there. They love to talk and are genuinely interested in the people they meet (and they love meeting people). I always felt safe and welcome wherever I went (and if I accidentally was about to step into a favela district people would stop me immediately and tell me not to go any further). And they have a great sense of humor. I guess, if you are as poor as most of them are, social relations and laughter make life easier. In a way, I think, they have a richer life than many of us.

There were a few peculiarities that I found rather amusing and I’ll try to describe them in the following post. When I said, their life seems to be richer, I would especially refer to their extraordinary ability to “fall in love” within what seems to be minutes. As a foreigner you face the constant dilemma: should I be polite and reply to this strange guy’s question (which is in 99% of the cases: “Vocé é de onde?” - Where are you from? without being bothered by any previous introduction) or will this give him the impression I’m interested in him and I won’t be able to get rid of him for the next 20 mins or so.

Nothing to worry about if you’re looking to improve your Portuguese by having a nice conversation or you are looking for a date, a guide or some other kind of information but a bit tedious when you really need to go somewhere or just want to do your sightseeing alone. I have not figured out how Brazilian girls deal with it.

One might guess that Brazilians are only that over-enthusiastic when it comes to tourists and therefore declare their deep affection (usually followed by a certain kind of invitation or in some cases accompanied by a marriage proposal) after only half an hour of friendly conversation.

But I have questioned my friend Miau on this and he said that indeed Brazilians don’t need too much time to pair up. Usually it can be accomplished in one evening. The recipe is as simple as effective (North-European men, listen and learn! At least to parts of it :)

Men: see a girl they like (girls: if you are foreigners, the chance that a Brazilian guy will like you lies around 99%), approach her, ask her to dance, or in absence of music either where she’s from or what’s her name. Make some compliments. If reaction not entirely negative attempt to kiss. If girl still says “no” after more than 10 attempts consider – but don’t understand why - she might not be interested.
If girl sticks around, make sure other equally interested Brazilians don’t have a chance to get near her. Every male that she might strike up a conversation with is considered a serious rival and has to be treated with utmost jealousy. Take her home.

Girls: see a guy you like, look at him for more than 2 seconds, wait.



A real different habit and offensive to European ears is the constant hissing and whistling in order to attract attention. Advice: get used to it, it is as polite as saying “excuse me” or “hello” in our country.

What is harder to get used to is the fact that the use of handkerchiefs seems to be entirely unknown in this country. The Brazilians have 2 methods to rid themselves of snot (and they all seem to suffer from constant colds): either blow their nose the “Styrian way” (with 2 fingers and straight to the ground) or, more frequent, pull everything up with as much noise as possible. Also, noisy spitting (men only) is totally acceptable.

Another thing that can be slightly annoying is their idea of service in clothes stores. Basically, the moment you come near the shop’s entrance a shop assistant will assault you, show you items you don’t want to see, question you (not only what you’re looking for but also “What’s your name?”, “Where are you from?”) and basically does not let you do what you came in for – look around in peace.

Sometimes Brazilians seem to like communicating so much that they don’t notice the “little signs” we Europeans have to show that we would like to be left alone or are not interested. Also, they seem to like talking so much that they often forget to listen (at least that happened to me quite a lot - I would be telling a story and instead of some kind of comment or reaction the other person would just start talking about something completely different – in most cases ask “Vocé é de onde?”)

It surprises me that they don’t learn foreign languages better since they like talking to people so much. English is really hard for them, they say, but I suspect they were also a bit lazy at school. Like the Spanish they like to mutilate English words and often it took me forever to understand what, for example, a “heive” is (to spare you the time: it is a “rave” party). They have the tendency to attach an [e] at the end of foreign words, like “internetsche” or (my favorite one) “hippi hoppie”. Try to figure out the dish of the day on the right side:



This guy did not know about the blunder on his T-shirt until we told him:



But not only English ortography is a problem, also their own language has some difficulties (ice cream is “sorvete”):




With music styles they have a different categorization system. I have to say, I met quite a few Brazilians with an excellent taste in music. Some beach barracas in the South had the most up-to-date electronic compilations and even in remote Jeri they played some house and techno in the “clube”. What I cannot comprehend, however, is their unrivalled love for a local music style called “Forro”. Whenever a Brazilian overenthusiastically tells about a Forro-Party that night that everybody will go to the foreigners shrink back in horror. I would describe this kind of music as unpleasant noise with a dance rhythm beyond definition. I have a suspicion why Brazilians love Forro so much: it is danced similarly to Lambada. And since they are so “romantic” it takes more than this tuneless soundpollution to ruin their enthusiasm.

I also found it interesting that almost anything that is not Forro, Techno or “Hippi Hoppie” is called “Reggae”. So an evening of Reggae music can just as well be an indie rock band or a singer songwriter presenting his work. Also, be prepared: Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is experiencing a great revival(?) there at the moment. You might not want to pack it on your ipod.

Brazilians love electronics and technology. Most of them are quite good with computers even if they cannot affort one, but internet cafes are rather cheap and omnipresent and they spend a lot of time in them (as we all know, the perfect match for their passions is Orkut, the online community). Most of them cannot even affort a watch but every house has to have an enormous satellite dish. In the most remote areas you will see this weird combination of poverty and modern technology...



But with all this craving for modernity there is still a strong connection to religion. “Deus é fiel” (God is faithful) is the most common “graffiti” to be found on houses, hot dog stalls and front windows of omnibuses.

There could be much more to tell, all these amusing situations and anecdotes but I will leave that to personal conversation (come and visit me in Berlin and I’ll tell you all about it :) I hope I did not offend any Brazilians with this post – it was not my intention. If I got anything wrong, I’m open for criticism and corrections, just let me know!

With this I close my Brazilian travel diary, I hope you liked it (quite a few people already told me they only looked at the pictures. Next time I won’t put up any, so you’re forced to read! ;)
Let me know your comments, thoughts and of course, if you’re going to Brazil!

A quick stopover in São Luis and back to Salvador

São Luis is famous for its historic center, which has been declared Unesco World Heritage site. The colonial buildings are painted in pastel colors or have facades made of colourful tiles. Unfortunately a lot of the colonial buildings are empty and in a state of decay. Apart from the evenings, where there was live music in the street and lots of people partying the historic center is rather quiet, there are hardly any restaurants or shops, on Sunday night it was difficult to find anything open for dinner.

But close by is the mercado central and a big shopping street with loads of clothes and shoe stores. I spent Saturday shopping for presents and found great stuff. Sunday I spent on the beach. It is not a really nice beach, the water is rather dirty plus loads of girls bleach their body hair right on the beach (there are even vendors walking around selling the mix for bleaching) and wash off the bleach in the sea. I first couldn’t figure out what the girls were doing, I thought they were all using sunblock.

I was happy to be back in Salvador and tia Rejane. I only stayed one day and did my last shopping. I tried to see the Bomfim church, where people supposedly have been healed of diseases and loads of crutches and other things they left behind decorate the church interior. It took me almost 2 hours to get there (the public bus system in Salvador is comparable to the one in Dublin) and when I finally got there I found the church closed (advice: don’t go there on a Monday!).

The next morning I went to Praia do Forte to say good-bye to my friend Miau. We had a nice farewell BBQ with fish that his whole family (and most of the people in his street) joined.


Unfortunately I ate a part of a fish that you’re not supposed to eat (it was very bitter, Miau said it was the fish’s testicles) and I got a bad stomach pain that lasted all the next day and night. So my flight back wasn’t exactly enjoyable but now I’m back a few days already and well again!

Away from the world – to Lençoís Maranhenses

The most remote part of my trip also lead me to the most beautiful places. To leave Jeri and NOT go back to Fortaleza is an adventure in itself. My plan was to continue north to see the dunes of the national park Lençoís Maranhenses. If you don’t rent a private jeep (very expensive) a trip of 7 hours takes you approx. 2 days, if you manage to get there at all. For me it would not have been possible if coincidence hadn’t brought together our group of 7, each of us from a different country. So, this is how it’s done:

Take a Toyota from Jeri to Camocim, then a van from Camocim to Parnaíba, then a bus from Parnaíba to Tutoía (you leave at 6.30 am and arrive around 6 pm, with some hours of stopovers). So in the evening there were 5 of us “stranded” in Tutoía. An Israeli girl and me and a group of a Spanish girl, a French and a Belgium guy.

You need to stay over night in Tutoía and now the tricky part starts. To get anywhere you need to find a jeep going you way and negotiate a price. Luckily the Belgium guy had already negotiated a brilliant deal before the rest of us had even gotten up for breakfast. He found a driver who was ready to take us as far as Caburé, a small fishing town across the river from the national park for a reasonable price.

On the way out of town we also picked up a couple that I knew from Jeri, an Irish guy and his Turkish girlfriend. We convinced them to join our group and do the same route.

As far as Paulino Neves we were still a public transport jeep but after that all the locals got off and we had our personal driver/guide. We drove through a beautiful, deserted landscape, visited “pequeno Lençoís", went for a swim, it was a great drive.



We arrived in Caburé by mid-afternoon, just in time for a great seafood lunch. Caburé is a fishing village built on sand – a few huts, a couple of pousadas, electricity comes from generators, it really feels like the end of the world and it is beautiful.



We spent the night there, it was the most romantic place and so totally peaceful and quiet. The next morning a little boat we hired took us over to the national park where we did a hike to various lagoons. It was all amazing, white sand, huge dunes, beautiful lagoons – just check out the pictures!

Dune country - Natal, Jeri, Maranhao

Jericoacora – a place to stay

I’ve already heard of the effect that Jericoacora (“Jeri”) has on people, most come for a couple of days and end up staying weeks. It’s hard to say what it is about this place, maybe because it’s quite a trip getting there (you first travel 6 hours by bus from Fortaleza and then change to an open truck-type vehicle that takes you the last 1 ½ hours to Jeri along tiny dirt roads, beaches and across dunes).

The town or rather village is about the same size as Stainz, my hometown, with a population of 2000, lies beside a huge white sand dune and is built on sand. There are no concrete roads, everything is sand, and the only means of transport are buggies, “Toyotas” (apparently Toyota has the monopoly on 4WD vehicles in the region), trucks, motorbikes or horses. But anything you need (except maybe a cash machine) is in walking distance anyway.

The beach itself isn’t the most beautiful but it has definitely something. There is a point break with small waves for beginners and longboarders but the main water sports are windsurfing and kite surfing. But you actually don’t see many people on the beach during the day and you sometimes wonder if there are any tourists at all in the place. In the early evening they all come creeping out of their hammocks or wherever else they chilled during the day, and the first real activity is climbing the dune to watch the sunset.



This ritual is repeated every day, followed by watching capoeira on the beach until it gets dark and time for dinner and some more chilling out.



Nightlife starts late in Jeri, don’t even try to show up before midnight, you’ll be bored. It centers around 2-3 bars/clubs at the beach end of the main street and a number of drink carts that sell freshly made coctails. Everybody ends up there, tourists, locals, hippies and street vendors and after 2 days you virtually know everybody (and you know why there is hardly anyone to be seen on the beach or in town during the day).

I did resist the temptation to laze around and was actually quite active during the day, due to the fact that I discovered a little surf beach nearby and I was able to rent a board from a local surfer for 4 days cheaply. On this beach I made my transition to shortboard (6 ft and pointy), I loved it. How easy it suddenly was to get across the oncoming waves and to drop into waves! For the first time I felt that what I’m doing there can actually be considered surfing. Besides, there were only locals on that beach and I was proud that I didn’t stick out as the tourist who’s in everybody’s way, we actually caught waves together and had great fun!

I did slack however with taking pictures of all the new friends I found there, which I regret a little now. I also managed to embarrass myself in front of everybody on my last evening. I rented out a horse to do a sunset ride across the dunes and along the beach. It was absolutely beautiful, I think I never rode a horse in such a spectacular setting.



The guys in my group were a bunch of Israeli’s, however, who apparently believed the only way to go is full speed. So we were galloping for a full hour. The horses seemed to be used to it, my bum however wasn’t. At the end we passed by the dune where everybody just descended from watching the sunset. I wanted to make a little show of myself and elegantly gallop by the crowd. The horse sensed that the stable was near and decided it’s time to go home as fast as possible. It started to run like crazy and me already being tired out and I lost my stirrups and balance and got thrown off into the sand. Behind me a crowd of at least 80 people.

I hit the sand hard with my lower back and for a moment thought I can’t get up anymore. When I got back to my pousada an area as large as a dinner plate was completely swollen up. Now I’m still sporting a massive blue bruise but I was very lucky in a way – I could have hit my head or broken something. Anyway, when I limped to the cocktail stalls later in the evening to have one against the pain, all the vendors along the street burst out laughing, I didn’t stop to ask why.

Dune country - Natal, Jeri, Maranhao

Natal - Com Emoção

In Natal I went on my first great dune adventure. That is, I booked a buggy tour "com emoção", which means you basically are looking for a near-death experience.

First we went along the beach to Genipabu, where got ourselves in the mood climbing donkeys, camels and an early-morning beer for courage. From that onwards everything was "com emoção". Our driver tried as well as he could to almost make the buggy topple over, racing up steep dune walls turning almost on 2 wheels just to go full speed back down and other tricks, us 3 girls hanging on the back rail screaming our heads off - it was great!

The other adventures offered on the way, like the "Tiroleza" that drops you down a dune into a lake attached to some kind of climbing gear and the "sand sledge" that sends you full speed into a pool of water, were mild in comparison (even though we ordered them all "com emoção" of course).

It was a great day, except at the end we got caught in the rain (again). I returned to my hostel, er castle (the HI Hostel in Natal, something else...):



The same night I caught a bus to Fortaleza arriving in the morning and continued on to Jericoacora after only a few hours stopover (which I spent wisely in an internet-cafe near Fortaleza bus station, as I was told by a fellow traveler that internet in Jeri is exorbitantly expensive).

See some more pics of our buggy ride here:

Dune country - Natal, Jeri, Maranhao

Partying in Recife, recovering in Porto de Galinhas & Praia da Pipa

What a change it was to be suddenly in a city with loads of people partying in the streets as opposed to the rather quiet little beach towns! Terça Negra ("Black Tuesday") is a free party taking place every Tuesday in the center of Recife with live music, mainly Afro-Brazilian and Reggae. And everywhere really good-looking Afro-Brazilians!

I met up with some people from the hostel and some locals who took us along to another even better party, a Reggae party with a couple of live bands, one playing out on the street and the other one in something like an underground club, I think it was called "Garagem". At the end of the night we again had invested all of our money (except the taxi fare) in beer and in caipirinha, so I have to say, it was quite a good night out!

The punishment followed - slow and lasting... since consuming these lovely caipirinhas with the apparently not so lovely icecubes in a local bar, I´m back on my diet of coconut water, bananas and crackers - for a whole week already.

So my visit to Porto de Galinhas was nice but I wasn´t at my best, as was the weather. I stayed in an albergue that was recommended to me, Casa de Alberto, which was cheap but a little strange. I was lucky, however, there were 2 guys working there who were also into surfing (and - to my surprise - also advanced beginners) and we had a couple of great sessions. I successfully surfed a rather big wave on a rather short board (6'1"). One day we even got up at 5 a.m. to catch good waves!

The main attraction of Porto de Galinhas are the "piscinas naturais" - natural pools in the coral that are visible at low tide. People walk around the coral (I don't know if that's a good thing) and snorkel in the pools. Loads of fish remain in each pool and when you snorkel it is as if you were in a massive aquarium.



2 days ago I moved on to Praia da Pipa, which is already in another state, Natal. It is a beautiful beautiful place and quite developed (loads of expensive boutiques but also relaxed and with a great nightlife). It is the first place on this trip that actually has a lot of other European tourists around.

The beach that impressed me the most, Baía dos Golfinhos, is surrounded by red cliffs and you can swim with dolphins!! They are all over the place and come as close as 1 meter.

The next beach, Praia do Madeiro, has the most perfect, small beginner waves I've ever seen. They are easy to catch, straight lines and roll in slowly. When I saw them I immediately rented a longboard, caught loads of looong looong rides and was for once one of the better surfers on the beach :)



My second day in Praia da Pipa was the most beautiful and hottest day of my whole trip. Now I can imagine what it's like in summer here! To make up for it, the weather was truly shitty the day before and after.

My beach days are already counted - I'm heading to the city of Natal next to do a crazy buggy ride in the dunes (they take you to the "Wall of Death" and the "Vertical Descent"), then I'm staying in Jericoacora for a few days, a place that many people told me is absolutely great, and my last bigger excursion will be to the Parque Nacional Lençoís Maranhenses, a massive expanse of sand dunes. From nearby São Luis I will fly back into Salvador on June 4th and back to Europe on June 6th.

I don't know if I will be able to update the blog again during this trip, let's see...

I uploaded some more pictures of Recife, Porto de Galinhas and Praia da Pipa to this webalbum:

Pernambuco & Natal

O linda Olinda!

Saying good-bye from Praia do Forte and my new friend was difficult but if I want to see some more of beautiful Brazil then I´ve got to move on. I´m in Olinda today, which is 6 km north of Recife and is really charming. It has many things in abundance: churches, steep walkways, colorful little houses and tourist guides.

The guides are placed strategically at every corner of this little town and if they spot a tourist they make a run for him. It is almost impossible to convince them that you actually don´t need a guide. Although, today I went into town a second time they already seemed to know me or word had gotten around - I only got 1 offer.

I´m staying at a very special place here that I had heard about from other travellers. It is called "Casa de Hilton" (Hilton actually being the owner of the place). It does not look like anything special at first sight, but Hilton is the heart and sould of the place, which makes it very special (I´m wondering if the Lonely Planet will pick it up in their next edition, they should!)



The price is reasonable, the rooms are simple, there is no breakfast included but a well equipped kitchen, the difference to other places lies in details like the over 200 DVDs that Hilton offers (last night we sat together and watched 2 movies since it was kind of rainy), the use of the stereo sound system and CDs, the attention and good tips Hilton and the staff of the place offer and: a free 30 mins massage for every guest (I´m not joking)!

This is the address:
Casa de Hilton
Rua do Sol 77
Carmo - Olinda
casadehilton@bol.com.br
(081)3493.2379

Tonight everybody is going to a famous party that takes place every Tuesday night in the historic center of Recife, the "Terca Negra". Will tell more about it the next time I´m writing this blog!

Here are some more pictures of Olinda:

Pernambuco

Adventures in Praia do Forte

After all these tours and hiking in Lençois I thought I will take it easy for a few days on the beach in Praia do Forte (about 70 km north of Salvador), but things turned out differently :)

Praia do Forte is a popular vacation destination for people from Salvador and it also has quite a few beautiful and expensive beach villas of very rich people (which are vacant most of the year with only security guards minding the house, pool & garden - a shame!). The beach is a reef on one side that has natural pools to snorkel in and the other side is sandy and has some waves but is rather calm for swimming.

On my first day I met "Miau", a local who is a surfpro but at the moment is selling coctails and coconuts on the beach for lack of a sponsor. He is a very funny guy and we get along really well and hang out together most of the time.



We went surfing together, however we went out to the reef where his friends surfed and the waves were a little big for me. So I got trashed around, still had some fun and was proud of myself that I can hang out there in the line-up with the good sufers and not be afraid of the kind of waves that come along (a big step forward in my surf progress!). I didn't catch any waves but I at least tried. Miau's friends were joking "get that woman out of the water!"



So, if you´re visiting Praia do Forte make sure to stop by the beach by the first piscina and look out for Miau. He will help you with anything, whether you need surf lessons, a guide or just an excellent coctail!

Loads of turtles hanging around Praia do Forte - they have a project to save endangered species of sea turtles called TAMAR, which is right at the beach and really worth visiting.





On one of our walks at a more remote beach Miau and I encountered this little fellow who seemed to be a bit lost on the way to the sea:



Let´s hope he made it!



Yesterday we all went to a "Rave" together which was about 50 km away from Praia do Forte towards Salvador. It was in the garden of a house with pool, huge sound system and international DJs. It was all a bit chaotic (getting there, getting in etc.) but it was good fun in the end. I even met the nephew of Rejane in the middle of the party, he had come from Salvador. It's really funny, I know 4 people in Salvador and then meet one of them at a party!

The guy we got a lift from promised that we return around 8 a.m. in the morning but in the end he did not want to leave and we were all stuck there until noon (none of us had any money left, so the omnibus was not an option), that was a bit of a drag, but in the end we got back o.k.

Since we already knew that we won't be back from the rave all night I checked out of the rather expensive Youth hostel and left my backbag in Miau's house. I've never seen such a place before!

The house has a width of 2 m (!) and the whole family (3 brothers, 2 sisters and the mother) lives in 1 room in the first floor that has the length of 2 1/2 beds - so that means there are 6 bunkbeds, 3 on top of each other and about 1 m space before and after and half a meter on the side. There is no kitchen (the mother runs a little local restaurant nearby, which serves as their kitchen), only a shower and a toilet curtained off. To get into this "apartment" you have to climb a small metal staircase outside that has no railings, which is rather tricky. Kind of favela style... (it is only the top part there where the whole family lives):



So, I'm going back now to see if Miau is already awake and we can go for dinner in his Ma's place (she cooks really delicious dinner, and it costs almost nothing compared to the tourist restaurants on the main street).

Tomorrow I'm going to take an overnight bus to Recife and will explore the famous Porto de Galinhas and a pretty town called Olinda.

The wonders of Chapada Diamantina

The last few days I spent in Lençois visiting different sights of the stunning national park. The park is huge (1520 sq km) and has amazing waterfalls, swimming holes, caves and weirdly shaped mountains.

Lençois is a quiet pretty little town, apparently Jimmy Page liked it so much that he built a house here. In the past the area also attracted diamond miners who searched the riverbeds for the precious stones. Now - since it has become mainly a national park it attracts loads of tourists. Well, I could not quite experience that since it is - as I mentioned before - off-season and really quiet everywhere. The good thing about it is that in youth hostels I usually have the whole dorm for myself and that I meet many more locals - mostly the ones that normally work in tourism but now have little or nothing to do and are happy to have a chat or show me around. Also, our tour groups had most of the sights for ourselves. If you want to visit the sights of the national park you need to book a "passeio" (a tour). Some people also go on 3-day-hikes with guides and camping equipment but most people just go on 1-day-trips (lazy people like me :)

The 1-day-trips I did were really exceptional: I did not expect so many highlights and beautiful and extraordinary sights and activities (o.k., I did not go for the 400 m high base-jump, just looking down a rock face that is 400 m high was enough adrenalin - for the "irish" readers: just imagine the cliffs of Moher x 4, it is scaaary...)

I booked my tours with the agency "Chapada Adventure" and I was quite happy with them.
The first trip was filled with manifold attractions: We hiked along Rio Mucugezinho, which has - like all the rivers there - a reddish color due to the iron in the water. We went swimming in the "Poço do Diavo" - a spectacular waterfall with a huge pool of dark red water, swimming in pools of that colour took me a while to get used to.

Then we went cave snorkelling in the "Gruta da Prainha", which felt like being in a suspense movie, swimming around pitch black caves with only small torches to see the way, beautifully scary.
We visited the "Gruta Azul", the first cave with mystical blue light I ever saw. It comes from a combination of minerals in the water (I've been told it is "calcario, carbonato de cálcio, magnezio" and natural sunlight), it is absolutely beautiful.



We also did a short hike up to "Pai Inácio", a weirdly shaped mountain that gives a 360 degree view of even more weirdly shaped mountains (that is the first picture on top of this post).

After that we did a 1 hour hike through an 800 m long cave, "Gruta Lapa Doce", which is full of stalactites and enormous like an oversized cathedral.
And on the way back I fell asleep in the van :)

The second tour was a hike to "Cachoiera da Fumaça". I did not expect too much, just another waterfall, and was not perpared for what we saw there - the 400 m drop that I mentioned before. Pictures cannot capture the view down that overhanging rock, I'm not afraid of hights but this was something else...



The next day I took a tour break and went to explore the surroundings of Lençois with Elisabeth, a Swedish girl, who was part of the tour group. We went to "Riberão do Meio" a waterfall that has a 30 m long natural slide, good fun! On the other side of Lençois there is the "Cachoeira Serrano" with loads of natural stone pools connected by small waterfalls, very unusual and also great fun.

The third tour took us 150 km into the national park to the "Poço Encantado". It is the most spectacular of all the blue-light caves (see the first picture of the webalbum at the end of this post). It is 60 m deep and the water is so clear and lit up by sunlight that you can actually see the ground! It is surreal and beautiful.

As the second highlight of the day we went to another blue-light cave that you are allowed to snorkel in. It is "only" 40 m deep and you can also see right down to the ground with all its strange underwater rock formations and the blue light coming in through the hole above the cave. Looks like an underwater laser show... I won't say more, just look at the pictures here:

Chapada Diamantina