Brasil Trip 2010 - The Cruise

And now for the super-blog. We went on an 8 day - 7 night cruise with Ernie's parents for the week of Christmas. We had to get to Santos, the port city, to catch the boat. Our Sunday morning started off with an early bus ride from the Guarulhos airport to Congonhas airport. Mom and Dad Spoelhof picked us up there in the van ride they had hired from a friend. We drove about 2 hours more to Santos and started the crazy, crazy chore of getting on the boat. There were literally thousands of people in the terminal trying to get on their boats.

It was extremely disorganized and took us about 4 hours to get on the boat. We knew it would be worth it (especially since we were SO hungry and couldn't wait for lunch! 

 In our room.

 Our balcony

 on the upper deck. We spent a lot of time here in days to come sitting in the sun!

We had lunch and an emergency drill before we could set off. And a few views of Santos. See how the houses are built on stilts?

 We spent some time getting accustomed to the boat. We were given ID cards that we also used to buy things on the ship. We had to pay for all our drinks and any food or drinks that weren't at the restaurants or buffet. There was a dress code for dinner each night ranging from casual to gala. A program for each day was dropped off in our room so we would know what was going on. We were really tired after dinner and weren't able to make it to the 10:30pm show after a long day of bus and van rides. So we went to bed early, eager to rest up for the cruising adventures!

The next morning we met for breakfast at our restaurant, La Carvalla (you are assigned to a restaurant). The boat was Italian, so the names of places on the boat were Italian. We changed into our bathing suits and headed up to the pool!

 After pool time we decided to check out the gym. It was so hard to work out on a moving boat. The ground kept moving and it was almost impossible to stay on the treadmill. It was nice to get some exercise for the first time on the trip either way. After the gym we showered and dressed for the Captain's Gala.

 Since we were all dressed up we took some pictures around the boat.

 There were dance lessons every night at 9:15pm after dinner so we decided to give it a try. This night was Forró, a traditional couples dance to folk music (Ernie always compares it to country line dancing). Many of the capoeira batizados have Forró, so it was fun to get a lesson.

 After dance lessons was the Captain's Welcome cocktail and show at Teatro del Opera. There was a show there every night. First we toasted to the captain.

After the toast, we had a dance and singing show called "Carillon."

The next day we were scheduled to arrive in Punta Del Este, Urugauy. I went to the gym and the four of us met for breakfast. We got our disembarking numbers and waiting a LONG LONG time to get off the boat. I thought we would just walk right off, but we weren't at a port. We had to wait for our number to be called then take a small boat to the pier to get on shore.

 Here's our ride.

 What a view!

 We made it. So happy to be on land!

 We decided to walk to the Paseo de las Americas first to see the "Hand in the Sand." On our way we took pictures with this cool totem.

 The hand in the sand was so cool. I felt just like I was on LOST and pretended it was a four-toed foot.

 After the hand, we went to a great market to buy gifts and magnets (our traveling tradition). We didn't have long on shore, so we took a quick walk to see 2 other sites: The Parish Church

 and the Lighthouse. It was constructed in 1860, with the purpose of guiding navigation in the Atlantic Ocean and the River Plate.

 It was a quick trip, but we were so happy for it as we headed back to the boat.

We got back on board for dinner and Merengue lessons! Then we had an "ICONS" show. The dancers and singers performed to the Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

The next day, Wednesday, was our arrival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After breakfast we got off the boat (this time much faster because we were at an official port) and onto a bus for a 3 hour tour of the city. The tour was in Portuguese, but Ernie did an amazing job of translating. We decided to sit on opposite sides of the bus from Mom and Dad so we could get both sides for pictures.

We saw so many things, I will attempt to do justice with a recap and pictures.

 Look familiar? It should. The "Argentine Big Ben" was a gift from the British for building the Retiro railway station.

 There are so many taxis in Buenos Aires.

 Apparently, dog walking is the way to go. You can earn about $100 per dog-up to 8 dogs at a time!!

 People are very much into fitness. You can meet in the park for free personal training sessions from trainers!

 We saw many beautiful embassy on the tour. Here's the French embassy.

Avenida 9 de Julio. One of the widest roads in  the world and filled with lots of traffic.

 The Obelisk is one of Argentina's famed monuments.

This flower is solar powered and opens in the sunlight!

 This building so reminded me of Paris!

 Plaza de Mayo: Presidential palace and Spanish town hall.

 The bus stopped here for only 30 minutes, so we raced off to find the famous cafe, Cafe Tortoni.

Our second stop was in La Boca. Here is some information about it: The colours come from the brightly painted houses on the Caminito a pedestrian walk named for the tango of the same name and the waters of the Riachuelo stained by oil sludge’s. The tradition began when the hose owners didn’t have enough money to buy painting for their houses. They receive donations, and of course it was hard to find a lot of paint in the same colour. The years went by and it became a tradition to use different colours.

 Their soccer star, Maradona and Evita. (I'm not sure who the man is).

 We performed some Tango on the street.

 Tango - the real deal.

 Brasilians don't like Maradona because he is a cheater.

 If you come over to our apartment, you will see the beautiful painting we got on the street here.

 After the tour we went back to the boat to spend some quiet time at the pool. Most of the guests were still in town so it was virtually empty. We went to the card room to play cards, then rested up for our big night--a TANGO SHOW!! 

 We got a picture with Senor Tango himself!!

The show was amazing. I highly recommend looking up pictures and video online, since we weren't allowed to take any during the show.

The next two days we were back at sea on our return to Brasil. Thursday we slept in because we didn't get back from our Tango show until 3am! We forgot to make plans to meet up with Mom and Dad, and spent most of the day just barely missing each other as we tried to find each other. We did finally find them and had a fun afternoon playing cards before dinner. After dinner we had Grease Lighting dancing and an AMAZING Flamenco show!

Friday was Christmas Eve! I was really feeling the sea that day and had to take 2 naps to rest my head. Christmas Eve is a big deal in Brasil. We had a fancy dinner feast with multiple courses and a special Parade of Desserts! After dinner was Cha cha cha dance lessons, a show at the Teatro, and a Christmas choir show done by the passengers who wanted to sing!!

Fruity appetizer

 Dinner: potato souffle, veggies and steak

 They turned off all the lights in the restaurant and the waiters paraded around with Baked Alaskan that were aflame. Everyone was clapping!! Then the chefs did there own parade.

 Baked Alaskan

 aww, posing with a heart shaped cookie!

 This is what the cakes looked like!

 Our waiter, Ricy, on the right. His assistant is on the left.

 Some shots from the last show. Each show had amazing performers: juggling brothers, balancing strong men, singers, opera singers, dancers, flamenco, and those cool vegas-like acrobatic sheet dancers.

 Coral de Natal

 Brasilian tradition is to go to midnight mass, then have a huge feast afterward. We went up to the feast to take pictures, but were WAY to full from dinner to partake.

Saturday was Christmas!! We had breakfast and then opened presents. After presents we went to the pool--on CHRISTMAS! They played a really funny water balloon game, were you had to throw these really huge, awkward balloons around the pool and see how many you could make all around without popping. It was hilarious! They had events every day around the pool-games, dancing, quizzes and BINGO. We did the quiz that day-it was fun, but we didn't do too well. We even missed the question about the US state with a cactus as its symbol. I thought it was New Mexico, but it was Arizona.

After Christmas lunch it was time to get off the boat to see Ilhabela, Brasil. It was a really cute little city. There were many sites to see, great shops, and so many decorations made out of recycled materials.

 Don't know who those kids are...but look who it is there in the middle!!

 Me and the tree made from bottles!

We walked around, shopped, and stopped for an acai snack. It was going to rain, so we decided to beat the crowds and headed back to the boat. It was our final evening on board, so we showered and packed. We had our last dinner on the boat and walked around the boat to see it at night before our last show. The last show was dedicated to Italy and called "Io Canto."

Good-bye amazing cruise. We had such an amazing time!!