Originally posted on Multiply (diegodotta.multiply.com), the photo blog I later called “Veio a passeio ou a trabalho?” (“Here on vacation or on business?”). The words came back from the Wayback Machine and the photos from my own backup of the Multiply export, a selection from each album. The text is translated from the original Portuguese.
The South Coast of Santa Catarina
25 February 2006
To escape Carnival and still enjoy the long holiday, we decided to “plan” a trip with the main goal of visiting the canyons on the border between RS and SC.
The planning stayed in theory, because this was our worst planned trip, or rather, a complete absence of planning, partly my fault and partly the gang’s. I actually suggested we leave the map behind on purpose, for more excitement, hehehehe… luckily they didn’t fall for it.
We left (me, Raquel, Cassio and Camila) very early on Saturday (Feb 25) and came back exhausted on Wednesday (Mar 1). We went through lots of places and skipped many others, but it was really cool, we had a lot of fun…
Criciúma
February 2006
Continuing our escape, after spending a whole day getting lost on the way to Tubarão, we woke up early and headed to two little towns near Criciúma, Treviso and Nova Veneza. We wanted to eat Italian food, see the region and enjoy some waterfalls, but it went really badly. The towns were ghost towns, we didn’t find a single waterfall, we wasted the whole morning and ended up having coxinha and risoles for lunch at Angeloni (a supermarket).
Actually it was pretty cool, we ended up at the foot of the canyons, and we had no idea they’d be there to welcome us so early in the trip. It made us really anxious to see them from the top.
That’s when we decided not to waste any more time anywhere else and to head straight for the canyons, without long stops.
In the next album we’ll be there.
Aparados da Serra
February 2006
We finally reached the canyons everyone had been waiting for.
The place is impressive, I’d never seen anything so amazing. Getting there isn’t easy, but it’s very worth it.
We got to town and there were no rooms left in the hotels and pousadas, so we begged the locals for a room, and Maria, a tourism agent, helped us. We stayed at an older lady’s house. It wasn’t anything special, but we were freezing and tired.
We recommend it to everyone, the place is worth it, but watch the time, because in the afternoon the weather closes in and it gets hard to see anything.
Gramado and Canela
February 2006
The text of this album didn’t survive, only the photos. It was the stop between the canyons and the Buddhist center.
The Buddhist Center
February 2006
Very close to Gramado is the town of Três Coroas, and that’s where you’ll find an incredible Buddhist Center. The place is impressive, with statues, paintings, buildings, people and all sorts of things that are hard to find anywhere else in Brazil.
We couldn’t go into one of the main buildings because a spiritual retreat was going on, but on the other hand we got to hear the ritual, and the sound coming out of one of the halls was really unusual, like something out of a movie.
We really recommend this place, it’s a nice outing and the people welcome visitors very well. They even show a film so you can learn more about Buddhism.
Torres, RS
March 2006
On the way home we decided to go through Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, to see the famous cliffs on the beach.
We were already pretty tired and dying to get home, since the trip was a bit rushed and quite exhausting. But it was very worth it. In 5 days we managed to visit amazing places and get into fun and unexpected situations, and as always, it all worked out.
