Serra Gaúcha!

Gramado, Canela and Nova Petrópolis.

On Friday morning we headed for the Serra Gaucha, the first stop. Nova Petrópolis, a city of German colonization.
We visited the Living Labyrinth, beautiful and well-kept!

I saw a beautiful orange flower in the middle of a sea of pink flowers, and I remember the feeling! As I was newly single, there were still some doubts in my mind! I felt like this, identical to the flower, it was one of those simple ones you see around, but it stood out among the others, an orange Maria Sem Vergonha, in the middle of several roses and a little lost...
We walked around a bit, got to know the place, played like children in the Living Labyrinth and, for a change, took lots of photos! I took one that I loved, it was an orange flower, this time I wasn't alone but with several friends.

Its color caught my eye, it was orange and that's what makes it so sharp, but it was very vibrant and cheerful, giving the place a special air.
Time was ticking away and we had to race against it, the sun was almost up and my stomach would start complaining, we had a long way to go!!!
A few kilometers later, we arrived at the Immigrant Park, a huge place where there is a beautiful replica of a German village, inspired by the time of their arrival in the state, the first half of the last century, we saw the clothes, the money, the houses, everything was really delicate!!!

Beautiful, beautiful... and with it the weather, "windy" and by the time we saw it, it was more than lunchtime.
We ate there, delicious food...ahhhhhhh I love to eat! Pedro had a Chopp and I was a bit of a drinker, for those of you who know me, you know I hardly drink.

The clock was ticking. We should run! We wanted to enjoy the day in Canela and Gramado, so we rushed to continue climbing the mountains.
What a beautiful little town... every moment there was something to appreciate, strategic stops, we stopped at a viewpoint in the middle of the road, to look out over the valley and thus delay our arrival at the final destination.
Aeee finally we arrived in Gramadoooo, we drove around a bit, a quick tour to get to know the place and then we left for Canela, we stopped at Mundo a Vapor, took some photos and finally we went to the hostel, left our bags and left !!! Eba, eba maratona "conhecer tudoaomesmotempoagora" we went to Aldeia do Papai Noel in the middle of February, right? But isn't Christmas in December? It doesn't matter, we went to visit Santa! For a change, the place was very well looked after, full of plants, trees, animals and even artificial snow!

I had a lot of fun, I looked like a very happy child, I rode the suspended train, where you could see the whole village from above, I hung myself outside, I stepped in the "snow", it was like a foam that melted all my feet and sandals, I hung a wish on the wishing tree.... Ahhh I walked through the woods, while your wolf isn't coming, I saw your Santa's room, talked to him, made wishes for this Christmas and everything! It was really nice, I went back to my childhood and then we left. We walked around to see the lakes there and took some silly photos.
A shower to bring us back to reality, some tidier clothes and off we went from Canela to Gramado to get some dinner - after all, we needed to eat, right? We went to the Café Colonial, which was like a breakfast/brunch buffet, with lots of cakes, cheeses, a wonderful Apfelstrudel, juices, wines and much more!!! Really very good!!! Fed up, off we went to night boladona?!!! It was the middle of summer and the city was DEAD! The best we could find was a slightly busy street with a few restaurants open and two caricaturists standing next to each other.
I chose one and sat down for him to draw me, then my friend ventured over and we had a good laugh at the caricatures.
It was close to midnight and what was left open was closing... little by little... the city really doesn't work much out of season.
We went back to the hostel and it was a beautiful night! I stopped for a while and watched, thinking about life and taking stock of everything! But then they called me to come in and in a few minutes I was out!!! The next day we had breakfast and hurried to the Alpenpark.

It's a place for adventure tourism, very cool! We went sledging, like a rollercoaster in the middle of the forest, I went down a few times... it felt like we were going to fly, there were parts that were really fast, I loved it.
Then I went abseiling and zip lining!!!

I'M DEAD scared of heights, but for real, I even get vertigo! But I'm of the theory that we must face our fears, and we can lose great chances by hiding behind them!
On this adventure I discovered that I love zip-lining, I thought it was really cool!!!! Going down the slope just hanging by the boudrie, very nice, tasty and different and even though it's high all the time... I LOVED it, while the abseil I found quite dull and boring... it was in a wooden "tower" built, I don't know I found it a bit boring... lol
I also saw a 4D movie theater, the idea is great, there are smells and sensations of falling and so on... very cool, they just missed out on the story, which was dull.
The day was almost over, but there were still a few sights to see, so we rushed to the Caracol Waterfall! A huge waterfall!

With a splendid green landscape all around! We were amazed by such beauty, took a thousand photos and decided to go down to the foot of the waterfall. We went down 927 DEGREES!
It was a lot of stairs and I got very tired going down, imagine going up? I couldn't imagine! We stayed down there for a while, puffed out our chests and plucked up the courage to go up! Oh my! The staircase was still "hollow", you could barely see the steps, they made it that way so we could see the ground and enjoy the scenery, but I have vertigo and I was stuck to the handrail because of it. It made me nervous to see how high up we were! The climb was horrible enough, imagine it with vertigo, damn it! We finally arrived, huffing and puffing, with a thousand liters less in our bodies, thirsty and very red! But theoretically in one piece, after a few liters of water we continued the marathon.
Now we're off to Mini Mundo!

A world of small replicas of real architectural works, displayed on sets that form a small city in motion. I really felt big, tiny as I am... I managed to feel giant!!! Very cute, the miniatures were perfect, we spent a few hours of our day there! But it was worth it, a place not to be missed!
The day was ending and we had to run. We were still going to go to the chocolate factory and leave for São Leopoldo!
We arrived at the factory and MY GOD!!! What a wonderful smell! We saw how chocolate is made, there was a chocolate museum with giant statues made of chocolate... A DREAM... Not to mention that at the end there was a store, hmmm delicious!

We ate a bit, then sat down and ordered a snack with hot chocolate lol... The camera had run out of battery =( and we didn't manage to take a single photo, so this magical place was just a mental memory...
It was late afternoon and the sun was saying goodbye, giving way to the moonlight.
My friends drove to São Léo and I drooled a lot in the back seat, I didn't even feel the journey because of that, it seemed like only a few minutes.
Guess what I did when we arrived in São Léo? I slept a lot! My body was starting to ask for help.
We woke up and went to Porto Alegre, took the train and near the market, T.J. picked us up to go to his parents' house, where there was a wonderful barbecue!!! We spent the day playing FOOTBALL and in the SWIMMING POOL!!! what a treat! Not to mention that I was finally eating the typical Gaucho barbecue.
I drank mate and played a lot with the thousand dogs there, the place was like a farm, very beautiful by the way, we spent the day there and then went home!

The next day I packed my suitcases and got everything ready, as I was leaving for Rio the following morning =p
My last day in Rio Grande do Sul was light, after lunch we went to T.J.'s house to watch a movie, we saw Batman!
I hadn't seen this one yet, and I fell in love with the Joker! Very good, but I was saddened by the actor's death.
Life goes on, we ate PIZZA nhamm what a delight!!!! They had chimarrão, aghrt bitter stuff and then we went to a bar. Aeee goodbye... I hate goodbyes.

The trip to the South was getting closer and closer to being over! We left the bar, I went home... I slept feeling nostalgic and the next morning I rushed to the airport, with lots of good memories in my head and a much calmer heart!
I waited for a while in the departure lounge with my friend and we headed for Rio!

Another trip is over... and we've missed it a lot for a change.