Day 7 & 8 in Brazil (Dec. 23 & 24)

As I recall, we had a rather low key day on Josh's birthday - following all of the excitement of the previous 3 days! Oh, now I remember! Josh, Debora, Thomas, Dan and I went Christmas shopping in the afternoon, as we all had drawn names for a 'Secret Santa' gift to be exchanged at Nino and Landa's on Christmas Day. What an adventure! That evening we ate at a Churrascaria (sp?) - pretty late, to celebrate Josh's birthday. Then Nicola, Josh, Debora, Thomas, Dan and I headed to Guarajá. Neusa and Cibele came out the next day. Before they got there, Nicola took us to a restaurant down by the beach that served a fabulous seafood meal - calamari, squid, plus numerous other 'fishes' that I didn't know existed! Most of it was pretty good, if you could get past the appearance...and as usual, when you figured you couldn't eat a bite more they brought out dessert! But the grand finale of any good meal is cafe! I think we tricked Dan into trying it once, but that was it. I think only the Italians drink it stronger. I believe the long walk around the development was to wear off that 'lunch' in preparation for the Christmas Eve dinner we had at Nino's and Landa's later that evening. And I mean later. It took a little over an hour, and a ride on a ferry, to get to their apartment in Bertioga. What a warm welcome into their "beach house" - half of the ground floor apartment in a high-rise. Wow! What a view of the ocean from their balcony(?). This 'balcony' ran the entire depth of the building and was a wonderful area for a party. When we arrived, the electricity was out for a good portion of the development, so we had our pre-dinner conversation/drinks by candlelight. How romantic! We could hear the waves crashing in the darkness, but we weren't there early enough to go for a walk on the beach. We had to save that for the following day, when we returned. Oh wait, we didn't leave until after midnight, so technically, we were there twice in one day! But that is another posting....