Sao Pedro/Lumiar trip - a great weekend getaway

A few weekends ago, we drove to Lumiar and Sao Pedro in Novo Friburgo.  It is a lovely little mountain town area that is only about a 2 1/2 hour drive.  

We did go a longer route so that we could fit in a visit to the Geneve Goat Farm.  This goat farm supplies all the nice french restaurants with their goat cheese.  It was my favorite part of our trip!  There have a nature walk, a play area for children (or kids, ha!), a tour that includes feeding and petting the goats and watching them prepare the goat cheese.  

nature walk

feeding the goats

goat cheese!

We also had lunch at the restaurant there.  It was amazing!  Lots of goat cheese and the vegetables are grown right there on the farm.

duck breast with apple puree

filet mignon and mushroom risotto

vegetable crepe (with goat cheese of course)

After lunch it was on to Lumiar/Sao Pedro.  We loved this area!  It was beautiful and green and peaceful.  We hiked and walked around town.  We saw waterfalls and beautiful landscapes. We had some great food (and beer). It was just a great, relaxing family weekend.

bananas

We stayed at this amazing little pousda (inn) in Sao Pedro.  It is only about a year old so everything is new and wonderful.  The rooms are huge with a fireplace in each (ours had a big jacuzzi in it).  It also has a movie room, a game room, a very helpful, friendly staff, a good restaurant and there is a natural spring just next door to it.  

View from the breakfast room at our hotel

The last night, we walked into to the little town area for dinner.  It just so happened that there was a spring festival that night.  There was a clown/magician that put on an excellent show.  There was musicians playing on the street.  It seems as if the whole town came out for it.  It was just wonderful! 

live music at the spring festival

Waiting for the magic show to start

It is such a short distance and easy drive to this area.  It is perfect for a weekend away from Rio. I'd love to return for another weekend before we leave Brazil, but who knows?  So many places to visit and so little time!

Weekend in Beautiful Buzios

Knowing we had a long weekend coming up, we decided to check out Buzios, a small beach town that has been called Brazil's St Tropez.  It lived up to every wonderful thing I had heard about the place!  We had such an amazing time there that I'm hoping we will be able to go back again before we leave.

The hotel (pousada) we stayed in was perfect for us.  It is very kid-friendly which is important to me.  This place has a kids pool, a playground, an art room, planned kids activities throughout the day, and a wonderful staff.  Besides being kid-friendly, it is just plain awesome!  It has a beautiful pool, a turkish bath, jacuzzi, gym and a nice pool bar.  Each room has a balcony/patio with a huge hammock (ours also had a jacuzzi tub). The hotel also provides beach chairs and umbrellas that you can carry to the beach which is just two blocks away. Oh yes, and they give you a welcome caipirinha or fresh squeezed juice upon arrival.  Bliss! I guess I should admit that I actually liked the caipirinha!  I have said in the past (frequently) that I am not a fan of this drink but the one at the hotel was really good.

hotel pool and jacuzzi

The hammock...one of Reagan's favorite things about the hotel

She finds friends wherever we go...

We spent our time on the beach, at the hotel pool and downtown Buzios on Rua de Pedras.  Buzios is made up of seventeen different beaches, each with their own character.  We were next to Geriba beach with is the largest (a little less than 2 miles long).  It was stunningly beautiful!  Clean, beautiful blue water with soft waves.  It was not too crowded (probably because of the cold front here now, highs only in the 80s) but there were enough people there so as not to feel empty.

Beach in the evening, near Rua de Pedras

Rua de Pedras

Rua de Pedras is the main street in Buzios where most of the action is - restaurants, shops, bars, waterfront view, coffee, ice cream, etc.. We had dinner in this area each night of our stay.  One night,  we had moqueca (a Brazilian fish stew popular throughout the country) and it was great!  It was full of seafood and cooked in a coconut milk sauce.  It was served in a giant caldron that was supposedly for 2, but could have easily of fed 4 with leftovers.  

Posing with a statue 

Rolling around in the sand.  I don't really understand why this is fun

Taking a break from walking around to play in the arcade

Reagan at dinner - showing off the marbles she got with her arcade tickets