Petropolis & the mountains

I needed a break from Rio for a while, as I felt like I was stagnating. I’d seen everything I wanted to see and had ants in my pants. The plans mentioned in my previous post were kind of still developing at this stage, so didn’t have a clear idea of what my moves were. All I knew was that I wanted to get out of Rio, with the possibility of being in Rio for Carnival. So I went to Petropolis (1 hour by bus north of Rio).

Day 1:
I took the bus from Adriana’s house to the rodoviaria. It was stinking hot and the bus I took, didn’t have AC! Asking directions in my broken Portuguese got me on a bus in 10min. It seems all the long distance busses have AC & a toilet. As we started to climb into the mountains I realised that the weather would be much different in Petropolis, as there were clouds hanging over the mountains. A nice break from Rio’s heat, I thought.

Petropolis is the city where the rich people used to live during the summer. Today, accommodation is not cheap in the city’s centre. So I was aiming for the cheapest hotel, closest to the historic centre. On the local bus to the city’s centre, I asked a local lady to tell me when we were at a fairly central Plaza. From there I would walk to the hotel I had in mind. Not a bad strategy, unless it starts to rain hard just as you have to get off the bus. And there was no proper bus stop where I was getting off, so no cover from the rain. But I made it to a shelter a short distance off. With my backpack’s rain cover in place, I set off looking for a bed.

After sorting out my room and leaving my stuff there, I went looking for a local hangout to get a beer (wasn’t very hungry at this time). I ended up in a small place on the outskirts of the centre and within minuets the locals were chatting to me. They were friendly and we were having a chat. Me in my broken Portuguese and the ones of them who could, in a combination of broken English and Portuguese. A hot girl had come in and was drinking a beer, alone. At some point, one of the guys dragged her into the conversation. She didn’t seem very interested at first, but later all of us were having a nice chat. Her name was Alisandra and hardly spoke a word of English. At one point I got the great idea of using Google Translate to communicate, which worked well until the internet died. Damn. Before leaving she told me that she has a bar in Correas (pronounced “Ko-hey-as”) and that I should come around the next night.
By this time the guys I had met had left (one old guys was trying to chat up Alisandra, the other just disappeared), but two ladies appeared on the scene. Vivian (a lawyer) and Laura (who had a small restaurant 5 doors down and invited me around the next day).
Knowing some locals, it was time to go home. I wanted to get an early start & go to Itaipava the next day, followed by Terresopolis the next.

Day 2:
Petropolis is a nice town with beautiful buildings and big channels that run through the town. It wasn’t raining the next day, so this time I could enjoy the sites. I packed in all the touristy places in during the morning. I’ve seen many museums and cathedrals in my life, so these weren’t on top of my list. The most interesting was the summer home of Santos Dumont which according to Brazil, was the first person to fly. He was an inventor, but with a love for aviation. He designed his own home with a couple of nicely thought out details. Like stairs that are cut with a curve to prevent him from hitting his shins when using them and his dinner table with a cut-out on the right side to make serving by a waiter easier (his house is directly across from what used to be the hotel, so he had no kitchen). He also had the first hot & cold shower in South America.

After all the sights, I had to check out of the hotel. So I took my backpack to Laura’s restaurant and had lunch. Nice people. First her daughter and then son, kept me company while I ate. Both of them speak a bit of English, while Laura does not. Tummy full, I set off for Itaipava which is supposed to be a nice place. Not going to have a girl control my travels, I was going to sleep in Itaipava and in Terresopolis (a good start to walk in the close by nature reserve) the next.

Itaipava didn’t have much that impressed me. One long road running though it, with shops either side. Nothing that really tickled me. It was getting a bit late (5pm) and I had a decision to make. Push on the Terresopolis or head back to the safety of Petropolis? I like a challenge. Terresopolis it would be. One thing I should mention. Terresopolis is about 90min away from Itaipava.

Terresopolis sustained a lot of damage from the recent floods. I knew this, but the city didn’t look too bad while driving through it. Just didn’t have a good feeling about the place. I saw two Pousadas (house converted to a hotel) on my way in, but by the time I arrived at the rodoviaria (bus station) it was dark, any sign of information was closed and I seriously looked like a tourist. Easy pickings for any thief. Having to think quick on my feet as the last bus going back to Petropolis was leaving in 10min. I had a quick look around and summed this place up as trouble. Back on the bus, pissed off with myself, I was heading back to the same place where I had slept the previous night.

Day 3:
Having done some thinking and soul searching on the bus last night, I was not going to rush any more. Slept late, have some coffee on a plaza, lunch at Laura’s again. Today was Friday so a trip to Alisandra’s bar would be nice. I took a bus to Correas and started the hunt. I wasn’t sure what the bar’s name was, didn’t know where it was and didn’t have Alisandra’s number. It appears that I enjoy doing this adventure stuff :) Fortunately Laura gave me some directions to where she thought the bar was. I was sure some bar owners would know Alisandra. Everyone knows a hot, female bar owner. The first bar I asked knew what place I was talking about.

Alisandra was not, but had apparently told Anna (the bar lady) about me :) Anna told me to wait and that Alisandra would be along shortly. Once again the people were friendly. Behind me was sitting Edgard & his wife, Carmen. Edgard was a retired notary and the three of us had a great time. I told them about my trip, which Edgard translated to others listening. Alisandra did eventually arrive, but since she had a boyfriend and couldn’t really speak English I kept my attention with the current group.

Edgard and Carmen wanted to go to bed early as both had class the next day, language classes if I can remember correctly. But by now we were on a role. Leandro, a labour lawyer friend of Edgard arrived later. Eventually it was just Leandro and me left. By this time the party was getting some real momentum., but knowing that I had to catch a bus back to Petropolis I called it quits at 00:00. Leandro was also leaving and was kind enough to give me a lift…to the door of my hotel.

Day 4:
Feeling a bit worse for wear, I dragged myself out of bed to breakfast. COFFEE!!! I couldn’t hang around too long as I had to get to Rio for the Carnival rehearsals. So I packed my bags and headed for the rodoviaria with happy memories of new friends

Locals I met on my first night. A little crazy!

Sights in Petropolis: Carriages – garden of the Imperial Museum – Outside the Imperial Museum (it was closed when I was there)

An eye specialist in town – a residence – one of the channels (these must’ve been full during the flood)

House of Santos Dumont: Front – back (see the “observatory”) – designer stairs – 14 Bis (the plane in which Santos Dumont flew

Before my trek (day2) – there are lots of stray dogs in town – lunch in Itaipava - Laura