"You speak English?"; "Yes"; "I don't"…..
Eduardo and Gisele took us to Itapema for the weekend for a little bit of beach time. We started the weekend with a BBQ (excellent) late on Friday night in Eduardo's sister's beautiful flat in Itapema. I was afraid I might ruin the place just by sitting down. It looked as though it had just been styled for the cover of a magazine; immaculate furniture, white walls and the occasional full length print of a coastal scene from the region. It was a brilliant place to stay, within walking distance of the beach and with a view of the ocean if you just leaned over the balcony.
After a late start we hit the shores of Florianopolis and Ihla Santa Catarina, about an hours drive south of Itapema. I have since heard that Florianopolis is supposed to have the most beautiful women on earth. I'm not convinced. But, I digress.
We started the day with a bit of sand boarding. The lads slid down the hill on two feet most of the time, but it seemed every time I filmed Tim he managed to tumble. The stack of the day definitely went to Eduardo who managed a full flip and was still complaining about his sore neck an hour later on the beach. Gisele and I opted for the more sane/safe route of getting down the hill. On the board on our bums!
Ihla Santa Catarina has some very beautiful beaches and we could easily have spent more time here. We had a tasty lunch on the beach in our swimmers and spent some time floating in the sea, diving under the waves. We also discovered that the Brazilian GPS map is terrible and after we got lost a couple of times it was relegated to the glove box! Luckily we were traveling with two people who spoke perfect Portuguese and could ask for directions!
Ahoy me mateys! What a lovely day on Sunday, traveling on a pirate ship with a proper pirate. Apart from visiting several beaches and sliding off the slippery dip at the back of the boat into the glorious blue, Tim and I hunkered down, sharpened our competitive edge and did our best to win the first Caipirinha of the day. What great skill did we display I hear you ask? In the 13 years that the pirate has been running his ship, he has never seen a couple dance so badly and with such enthusiasm…. Yep you guessed it, Tim and I won the worst dancers contest, at one point clearing the dance floor with our bad antics. I like to think of it as a preview for the first dance at the wedding.