Hello from Santos!: 2015

25-en reggel az az igazi friss hegyi levego fogadott minket, es mivel elozo ejjel esett az eso, a levego is lehullt olyan 17 fokra. Be is kapcsoltuk a kis radiatort a szobaban (itt radiator, otthon ventillator, milyen jo:-)
A vendeghaz mellett, egy kulon kis epuletben volt az ebedlo, es bufereggelit kinaltak. Mivel a brazilok nagyon edesszajuak, ez latszott is a kinalaton, volt tobbfele kuglof, csokitorta es panettoni. Sos pekarubol csak zsomle es pao de queijo (sajtos zsomle) volt, ezen kivul sajt es sonka. Gyumolcsokbol banan, papaja, szolo, sargadinnye es szilva kozul lehetett valasztani.
Nemcsak a hely, de a szallovendegek is az europaiakra emlekeztettek, ugyanis nyoma sem volt a brazil hangoskodasnak, mindenki csendben evett, meg a tarsalgast is a minimumra vettek.

Mivel meg elozoleg megigertuk Caionak, hogy kiprobalhatja a minigolfot, utban hazafele meg megalltunk ott egy fel orara. Az autopalyan szerencsere nem volt nagy forgalom, igy kenyelmesen tudtunk lefele jonni, es vihar is elkerult ezuttal minket. A fulem azert rendesen be volt dugulva a szintkulonbsegtol. Mivel olyan szep napos ido volt aznap reggel is, igy csak megalltunk egy parkoloban, hogy egy sorozat kilatos kepet keszitsunk, aztan irany haza. Kicsit aggodtam a macska miatt, hogy, hogy fogja viselni az egyedulletet, de mikor hazaertunk kiderult, hogy kutyabaja. Szerintem ataludta azt a harom napot amig nem voltunk otthon, mert nem csinalt meg csak rendetlenseget sem.

A kovetkezo uticelunk most del fele lesz, illetve nagyon szeretnenk megnezni a Foz do Iguacu-t, az Iguacu vizesest. Ez utobbit repulovel vagy tavolsagi busszal lehet elerni, de egyebkent most megprobalunk olyan helyeket meglatogatni, amelyek kocsival par ora alatt elerhetoek.

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We woke up for a real fresh mountain air on the 25th Dec as it was raining during the night and the temperature fell to 17 degrees. We had to switch on the small radiator the hotel provided. Funny, we had to use the heater there and the fan at home, what a big contrast!

The dining area was in a separate building next to the guest house where buffet breakfast was offered. Brazilians have a sweet tooth hence mainly sweet pastries were on the table. We could choose from several types of bundt cake as well as chocolate cake and panettoni. For those who were not a fan of sweet things they could choose simple roll or pao de quejo (cheese roll) with ham and cheese.
Not only the place but the guests reminded me to Europeans as there was no sign of that loud Brazilians this time. Everybody was eating in silence and had minimum conversation.

As previously we promised Caio that he could try the minigolf in the town, after leaving the hotel we spent some time there.

On the way home the traffic was perfect, no sign of traffic jam, so we could come down slowly and still had time to stop to take some pictures of the view.Okay, my ears were pretty blocked but it was bearable.

I was just worried about the cat whether she was okay for 3 days at home alone, but as it turned out, everything was all right, she was just fine. I think she slept through the days as she even didn`t make any mess.

Our next destination for a trip will be to southward and also, we would like to visit the Foz do Iguacu, the Iguacu Waterfall. It can be reached by airplane or coach but otherwise we would like to see places where the distance can be overcome by few hours drive.

reggeli / breakfast

minigolf

kilato hazafele menet / view point on the way home

es az autopalya Santos fele / and the motorway to Santos

December 23-an delutan erkeztunk meg a varosba es egyenesen a vendeghazhoz mentunk becsekkolni. Gyonyoru, napsuteses ido volt, 25 fok, ami eppen tiz fokkal volt kevesebb, mint Santosban. Ahogy kapaszkodtunk fel az autoval a kanyargos hegyi utakon, ugy lett nekem egyre "ismerosebb" a taj. A rengeteg zold es a magas fenyofak szegelyezte uton mintha Matrahazat elhagyva Kekes fele tartottunk volna. Sokszor emlitem ezt a Matraval valo parhuzamot, de csak azert, mert tenyleg regen voltunk mar otthon, a Matraban pedig meg annal is regebben, tehat a tengerpartos, forro, sulthalszagu Santos utan ez most olyan hazai erzes jellegu kirandulas volt.

Becsekkolas utan lementunk szetnezi a belvarosban, megneztuk azokat a helyes kis svajci mintara epult hazakat es kerestunk egy helyet ahol megvacsoraztunk. Ez mondjuk nem volt konnyu, mivel a legtobb hely (az olcsobbak) akkorra mar mind bezartak es csak a draga, puccos ettermek voltak nyitva. Ugy vettem eszre, hogy az arak csak a vendeglatoipari egysegeknel voltak elszallva, az ajandekboltok es a helyi kis boltok ugyanannyiert arultak mint Santosban. Azert vegul csak talaltunk egy csaladi kisvendeglot, ahol eppen mi voltunk az utolso vendegek, igy nem kellett szendvicseket gyartani meg az este folyaman. Vacsora utan mentunk is egybol vissza a szallasra, este pedig elveztuk a csondet es a sovenytujak gyantas, nedves illatat.

Masnapra negy program volt betervezve. Eloszor a 2025 meteren levo kilatohelyet, a Pico do Itapeva-t celoztuk meg ami egyebkent Brazilia legmagasabb pontja is egyben. Meredek hegyi ut vezetett fel a kilatohoz, es ahogy kozeledtunk a csucshoz, mar akkor lattuk, hogy gyanusan sotet felhok gyulekeznek folottunk es lon, eppen amikor felertunk, egy oriasi vihar csapott le rank es kabe fel oraig az orrunkig sem lattunk a paratol, nemhogy a kilatasban gyonyorkodtunk volna. Szerencsere, jo fel ora elteltevel a vihar elvonult es az eg is kitisztult annyira, hogy a kilatas tokeletes legyen a fotozashoz, meg a gyonyorkodeshez is. A hegyrol be lehetett latni az egesz Paraiba volgyet es az alattunk elterulo het varost.

Lefele jovet megalltunk egy pihenohelyen, hogy lefotozzuk a Home Green Home Hotelt, ami egy erdovel korulvett, hegyoldalban felepitett, lelegzetelallitoan elegans hotel, es tisztara ugy nez ki, mint a Feketerdo Klinika nyitokepe, vagyis meg attol is szebb.

A kovetkezo allomas, a Ducha de Prata, vagyis egy mini vizeses volt, itt csak rovid idot toltottunk - eppen annyit amig ittunk egy kavet.

Kavezas utan ugy dontottunk visszamegyunk a varosba es kisvonatozunk egyet. Tobb vonalon is jar a kisvasut, mi arra valtottunk jegyet, ami a varoson visz keresztul. Sajnos arra a vonalra, ami az erdobe is bemegy nem kaptunk jegyet, igy amig az indulasra vartunk elmentunk vizibiciklizni a kozeli kis tohoz. A to mellett volt a libego is, ami a Morro do Elefante-ra vitt fol, de mivel onallo ulesek voltak, Caio pedig tul alacsony volt, hogy egyedul utazzon (meg nincs 140cm), olbe pedig nem lehetett venni, igy a libegozos program ezuttal kimaradt.

Nem tudom ki, hogy all a tundermesekkel, en mindig is a rajzfilmekert voltam oda. Mint tipikus "Disney-generacio", imadtam a Hamupipoket, a Hofeherket, a 101 kiskutyat, valamint a Micimackot. Magyar mesek kozul is a rajzolt mesek jottek be jobban, es nem voltam oda se a babfilmekert, se a mesejatekokert. Valahogy nyomasztott mind a ketto, a mesejatekok meg kifejezetten ijesztoek voltak neha.
Ezt csak azert emlitettem meg, mert a vonatozas utan a kovetkezo latnivalo egy mesepark volt, a Parque Floresta Encantada, ahol kulonbozo mesehosok hazikojat lehetett megtekinteni. A hazikok gyerekmeretuek voltak es volt ott Hofeherke es a het torpe haza, a gonosz boszorkany haza, az angyalkak haza, a babak haza, valamit a gonosz mesehosok es a Telapo haza is helyet kapott.

Vonzodasomat a rajzolt mesek es a mesejatekok kozotti kulonbseggel kapcsolatban azert irtam le, mert ez a park inkabb egy mesejatek szinhelyere hajazott, es ennek megfeleloen nekem a szor felallt a hatamon tole, koszonhetoen a hangszorobol jatszott karacsonyi korus zenenek, a hazikok dohos szaganak, meg hogy rajtunk kivul egy arva lelek nem volt a parkban. A Telapo hazaban (ahol amugy felhomaly volt es szinten furcsa, dohos szag) a fabol keszult hintaszek echte egy horrorfilm diszlete is lehetett volna, mar csak az Annabelle nevu baba hianyzott onnan a tulfestett, vicsori szajaval.
Azert par kepet itt is ellottem, de az igazi atmoszferat ott lehetett igazan atelni.

A Szentestet bent toltottuk a belvarosban setalva, az alig tobb, mint 20 fokban. Habar a hotelben azt mondtak, ilyenkor teli van a varos az ott nyaralokkal, meg karacsonyi show-t rendeznek a foteren, ilyet nem lattunk, igy vacsora utan vissza is mentunk a szallasra.

Ejfelre ertunk kabe vissza, es a fiuk mar aludtak mikor en meg a Diotorot neztem a teveben, de az ejfeli misere mar engem is elnyomott az alom.

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We arrived to Campos do Jordao in the afternoon of 23rd Dec and drove straight to the guest house to check in. It was a beautiful, sunny weather on that day, 25 degrees, which was exactly ten degrees less than in Santos. As the car climbed up the winding mountain roads, the landscape was getting more and more familiar to me as it reminded me to Matra Hills in Hungary due to the abundance of greenery and tall pine trees lined the road.

After check in, we went to the city centre to look around and see those cute Swiss-inspired style houses as well as the shopping mall. It was already late afternoon so we started to search a place where could have had dinner but it was not so easy as by that time most of the restaurants were closed, only the expensive, fancy ones were open.
Finally we found a friendly family tavern where prices were acceptable so we didn't have to make sandwiches for the evening. After dinner we returned back to the guest house and enjoyed the silence and the wet, resinous smell of the air.

Four programs were scheduled for the next day. First, we went to visit Pico de Itapeva, a viewing point at 2,025 metres high which is the highest point of Brazil. Steep mountain road lead up to the viewing point and on the way up we saw suspicious, dark clouds above us and there you go, as soon as we arrived a huge thunderstorm began and for half an hour we didn`t see a thing due to the fog, not that the view we came to see.
Fortunately half an hour later the storm passed and the sky got clear so we could take pictures and enjoy the view of Paraiba valley and seven cities beneath.
On the back to the town we stopped the car at a rest area to take pictures of Home Green Home Hotel which was built on the hillside and is a stunningly elegant hotel. It was just amazing.

Our next stop was the Ducha de Prata, which is a mini waterfall. We didn`t spend much time there just until we had a coffee then we headed back to the town to try the little train which was crossing the town. While we were waiting for departure, we went to try the pedal boat which was nearby the train station. We also wanted to take a ride with the chairlift up to Elephants Hill but Caio was too short to sit alone in the chair and was not allowed to sit on our lap. So we skipped this program this time.

Before I start writing about the next attraction I have to tell that I am a big cartoon fan, would say typically from that Disney generation who grew up watching Cinderella, Snow white, 101 Dalmatas and Winnie-the-pooh. I never liked puppets and TV tales, they somehow depressurized me.
The next place we visited, the Parque Floresta Encantada or Fantasyland, though was built on the theme of fairy tales located in a small valley near town.
It had eight small forest houses with cartoon characters from popular tales. It could have been enchanted but actually it wasn't. The whole park had a weird, creepy atmosphere, what`s more, we were the only ones in the park at that time which made the place even more frightening. The little houses were cute but I I could not think about those horror movies where dolls were involved. Santa`s house with the swinging chair was so creepy for example that only horror movie star Annabelle doll was missing with her over painted grin on her face.

We spent Christmas Eve in the town walking, then had a dinner before we returned to the guest house.
We were watching The Nutcracker Ballet on TV but by the beginning of the Midnight Mass we all fell asleep.

Pico do Itapeva