Beautiful Bruna, Diego and family

Porto Allegre is a beautiful city of 1.5 million people in southern Brazil. We flew in from Sao Paulo and saw the sea, a river and endless miles of green farmland surrounding the city.

At the airport, we were picked up by Bruna and her boyfriend, Diego, who spent the next couple of days and nights showing us around the town. We stayed with Bruna’s Grandmother, Gladis, in her gorgeous apartment.  

Gladis' beautiful apartment

From the moment we got off the plane, the warmth and friendship that Bruna and Diego showed us was phenomenal.

On our first night, Diego shared his love of music and mate with us. We tried the infamous mate, which I never realized was enjoyed in Brazil (I thought only in Uruguay and Argentina). Mate is a dried herb which is brewed by placing the mate in a cup (in Brazil made from a fruit and called a Cuia) and adding hot water continuously. The cup is passed from person to person until the hot water runs out. It also quite the stimulant, and seems way stronger than coffee.

Mate at the park

After we’d put our things down and freshened up at Gladis’s place, we went out to an Irish pub and had a relaxing drink and dinner and listened to a live band playing Beatles music, which was brilliant.

Dinner at APPLEBYS

Drinks on our first night

On our second day, Bruna and Diego took us to see Porto Allegre. We saw the centre of the old town, which included a few museums, the municipal building and the central square, all of which were very interesting and beautiful. We also saw an old hotel which was home to Mario Quintana for over 20 years, one of the region’s most famous writers. The hotel is now an Arts museum and Quintana’s room is kept as it was when he died.

We went to the river where the sunset was GOSTOSO.

City explorations

INTER FOR LIFE

Sunset

Afternoon in the park

Sunset by the river

We also had a beautiful dinner at Bruna’s and a beautiful lunch at Brunas’ mum’s, Claudia. We ate meat loaf and feijoada and drank massive Caipirinhas’ thanks to Diegos fantastic bar tending skills. I was hammered by 3pm and Mish was totally ready for bed after only one!!

Claudia, Diego and capirinhas

Diego teaching us to make capirinhas

Beautiful lunch by Claudia

Bruna and Diego were so generous with their time, showing us around all of Porto Allegre, having us for dinner and beautiful wine, giving us advice for our travels and teaching us about the amazing Brazilian musical scene. We built a true friendship in just 2 days, which will last a lifetime and whether we return for the World Cup in 2014 or we see Bruna, Diego and family in Sydney, we will be reciprocating their wonderful and beautiful hospitality.

Dinner on our last night

Bruna's place