Rain in Florianopolis

After a surprisngly agreeable overnight bus trip, we arrived in Florianopolis on a bright and sunny Wednesday morning. We'd heard so many good things about this place from other travellers that we were really sure we wouldn't be disappointed (lesson learned: never be sure you won't be disappointed). After checking into our 'central and well-run' hostal and having a bit of lunch, we were ready to take the island by storm. Unfortunately by this point, a storm had taken over the island (slight exaggeration but there's been lots of rain and lots of grey skies). Now Santa Catarina is an island with over 40 beautiful beaches, all relatively easily accessible... We took the Rough Guide's advice and chose to use the capital, Florianopolis, as our base. So you can imagine our delight at discovering that this city is totally unremarkable, and that Santa Catarina sans beaches is not the most thrilling holiday destination.

We were really struck by how different it is here to in Rio (our only other Brazilian point of reference so far). For a start, it's a LOT less mixed racially. There's been a fair bit of German and Italian immigration so there's a surprising amount of blonde hair and blue eyes going on. From what we've seen, (we've only been here three nights), Santa Catarina also seems really safe and efficient - cars actually stop at a red light. On the other hand, walking around town at night felt strangely eerie because the streets are so quiet, aside from the odd dog-walker. It took me 20 minutes to find somewhere to buy a bottle of beer and a Kinder Bueno, and even that was a petrol station called Star Lube. The forecourt was full of over-dressed teenagers drinking vodka and Redbull... In fact it was a bit like Sidcup highstreet on a Saturday night. Although unlike in Sidcup, the locals seem to be quite well-heeled (and the women are more high-heeled and more high maintenance).

The obvious alternative to exploring the beaches was to go drinking, but we really struggled to find much movida here in the evening. I asked a barman where it was at - 'nas praias' (at the beach). Shame we're a 45-minute bus ride from any beach (although on the plus-side, according to Rough Guide, a 45-minute bus ride from most of the beaches on the island). I knew it was bad when the highlight of my day was a very efficient experience in an internet cafe. God I was miserable...

And then the sun came out! Seriously, it was like that bit in The Wizard Of Oz when Dorothy walks out of the house and her world goes from black and white to colour. After an afternoon spent lazing around a couple of beaches, I realised what all the Floripa-fuss was about. This place definitely makes sense in the sunshine.

We were so happy we looked like this:

Come rain or shine, the hostels we've stayed in haven't failed to provide entertainment either. We've cooked in a couple of times to save some reais (see Mauro whipping up a carbonara... The first time that kitchen had seen fresh parsley methinks) and hung out with the other guests, most of whom are Argentinian (The whole island is teeming with 'em!). At the moment, there's a large contingent of prize-winning Argentine cage-fighters staying, as well as a sweet 80-year-old Brazilian lady who sits in the common room watching telenovelas and hovers around the water fountain.

We're off to Curitiba now for the night - apparently it has the highest standard living in the whole country. Let's hope it has some character too! Then tomorrow morning we're off on 'one of the world's most beautiful train journeys' to Paranagua, although that's according to the Rough Guide so I'm ready to be disappointed...