Maresias, “opa 2009”!

  BRAZIL

 

 

It was the last day of 2008 when we arrived to Maresias (Sea Smells). We were going to spend the New Year’s Eve with another couple of friends of ours. As they were staying in the summer house of some of their friends, we ended up in this beautiful place and met some lovely people.

 

Maresias is the mecca of surf for the paulistas and a very popular destination in this period of the year. Most likely we were the only foreigners over there, although we didn’t feel like that at all…

   

Peacock in the garden

 

We were, indeed, warmly welcomed as friends by our hosts, in particular, and by all the other friends-of-friends, friends-of-friends-of-friends and so on. Brazilians have definitely the natural, sophisticated talent to make one feeling at home.

 

Entrance of Diney and Luís’s beautiful summer house

 

Weather was not perfect but the company was so. We spent wonderful days by the sea, surrounded by lush mountains and enjoying ourselves in this peaceful atmosphere. Days were long and relaxing. We started lose the sense of time. First, it was the time of the day; then, the day of the month; finally, the day of the week…

 

View from the garden

 

Against all odds, we had great days of surf in the Luisinho beach.

 

Surfing in the Luisinho beach

 

At some point we  realized hat too much time had passed since we left home and should give news to our families. As there was no mobile network available, we tried to find an internet connection.

 

For days we were looking in the surroundings for a place with 3G connection but despite all our efforts we did not succeed. Eventually, we found that the only spot with reliable 3G connection was in the garden, a couple of meters from the house where we were staying. As it was raining almost every day, we had to improvise a sustainable waterproof solution...

 

Detail of the garden	Gra’s cybercafe

 

2009 could not have started in a better way. We all dressed in white, according to the tradition the New Year’s Eve tradition, and had a pleasant candlelight dinner in the garden. The evening was warm and the sky full of stars. After the midnight fireworks, we went into the sea and jumped seven waves standing on our right feet. We ended the night in a party at some friends-of-friends-of-friends place just by the beach, drinking and dancing.

 

New Year’s Eve

We said goodbye to Brazil with a a delicious sushi in Jam warehouse, a posh restaurant of São Paulo with some live Bossa Nova sound.

Our special thanks to: Diney & Luís Gra & Bernardo Maressa & Diogo …for their warm and generous hospitality