Sunday, January 22, 2006

Pictures from the trip to Morretes, Antonina, and Paranagua

This past Wednesday we took a trip to Morretes on the Serra Verde train. It was incredibly nice and the scenery was amazing. This is another posting where the pictures will have to do all the talking. We had lunch at a restaurant in Morretes that served Barreado (info can be found here, but it's in Portuguese. May want to run it through a translator.) It was okay, but for some reason not exactly what you would call my favorite dish in Brazil. It was a little too salty, and it was probably all that farinha (mantioc flour) that did me in. I just can't get into that stuff.
Morretes was a very nice little city. It looked like it was one of those tourist destinations that's not really a tourist destination. Very small, quiet, and very little traffic with lots of stores and shops run by the locals. I say it's a tourist destination because tons of people go there by train just to check out the little city. Everyone is walking around with their cameras and taking pictures of the little houses on the river, the little park in the middle of the city, etc etc.
In Antonina we came up to another very nice Catholic church. I didn't go inside of this one, but a few others did. We didn't have very much time here, although Rebecca and I stole some time to go where these old ruins were, probably of a church that had once been there. It was incredibly nice, and although it wasn't something spectacular, there was just something pretty awesome about being there and seeing this little bit of history. The pictures I got, and I'm sure the ones she got, were very nice.
Also, since today is Sunday and I don't think I'll be finding anywhere to watch the NFL games (I wish they made it easier for me), I might go outside and take some pictures of the house I'm living in, the neighborhood, my bedroom, etc, so everyone back home can see where I'm staying.
This weekend was the first weekend I didn't really go out (and as a group we didn't go anywhere exciting or interesting), and it may very well be the first day I've been in Brazil that I didn't drink at least one beer. So it was kind of nice to catch up on tons of sleep I haven't been getting. I've been watching a few movies (English with Portuguese subtitles), with the volume turned down, mostly so I can read the subtitles but hear the English if I need some help, and I bought this book that is all in Portuguese that I'm going to try and finish by the time I leave the country. The lack of scenic pictures from a trip this weekend will all be made up when we return from our trip to Foz de Iguazu on Sunday. Not that I'll be posting those pictures on Sunday, because I'm sure I'll be tired, but we'll return from a four-day trip from there on Sunday. If the few pictures I have seen do it any justice, then it will probably exceed my expectations x10.Anyway, onto the pictures.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usOur spot on the train. The cars of the train were multicolored which made it interesting, and we were in the 9th car (pretty close to the end), so we could see the whole thing.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usView from several hundred feet above the ground.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usScenery
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usFrom our seat at the table serving the Barreado.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usAnother.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usHow awesome would it be to live right on the bank of a river, have everything you need within a mile's walking distance without the need of a car, and be able to just jump in your canoe and go up and down the river, catching fish, getting fresh mountain water and boiling it at home, all that stuff. These people are probably some of the happiest in the world.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usShot of a park in the center of the city.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usOne more shot of the little park. It had beautiful foliage, a nice gazebo, park benches all over so everyone could sit and look at the river, look at the shops, people-watch, etc.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usIn Antonina. This was near where the ocean begins (as you can see). I took a color and a B&W shot of this picture, and thought that this example showed an incredible contrast, not only between the actual colors of the scenery, but of the run down, old side (the left half) and the beautiful imagery of the water with all of the boats on it; the more "affluent" side of the picture you could call it. Anyway, hopefully you like this one as much as I did.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usB&W of the church. Sometimes things just look better in black and white.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usThought this was a neat shot. I'm not sure what "casarão" means, but I would guess it might be a place for people to go dancing based on the paintings on the wall. But, I really have no idea.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usThis picture didn't feel as if it had much character without someone in it. So thanks to Rebecca for standing there ;-). Looking at the two, it felt as if it had much more meaning with a person standing there, looking into the ruins. Don't know why, this one just felt more powerful.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usUsing this one as comparison again to show...
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us...which one looks better (even though this one is different angle and B&W).
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usAgain, just a nice B&W shot.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usCamera sitting on top of a rock ledge outside the front of the ruins.
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usVery nice shot overlooking miles of Paranà. If you click the image to make it as big as it will go, you can see all the way out to the ocean.
Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more pictures of my adventures through this beautiful country known as Brazil.

4 comments:

Cindy said...

Hi Zack
The pictures are beautiful.
I really miss you.
Have fun!!!
Mom

Cindy said...

Hey
Just wanted to let you know that the Steelers are winning 10 to 0
against the Broncos.
Go Panthers!!
Mom

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures, Zack!

By the way, "casarão" means "big house".

Terri D. said...

Hey Zach!

Glad to see you're having tons o' fun. Your pics are awesome. Have you seen Marcos since you got there? If you see him again, tell him Terri said hi. Don't have too much fun. lol

Terri