Category Archives: travels

Mom is 90th!!

05 Monday May 2025

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Hello from Brazil.  My mom turned 90 years old on May 1st.  Since the trip to the US has become too much for her, Michael and I traveled to Brazil to take her to Argentina for a few days.

In Brazil, casinos are illegal, and the closet casino is in Argentina, near Iguaçu Falls. She loves slot machines, so I chose a hotel that has a casino on the premises.

This was a very short trip, only 4 days, as I didn’t know if she would be okay.  Her problem is her back and hip.  She needs a hip replacement, but at 90 years old with a heart condition and other issues, it is not safe to operate.  At this point is all about pain management.

We drove 2 hours from our home in the suburbs of Sao Paulo to the airport.  Then it was just one hour and fifteen minutes plane ride.  We traveled to an airport in the Brazilian side of the border, and the hotel came to meet us there. We crossed the border by car.

We stayed at the Iguazu Grand Hotel in Misiones, Argentina. Everything about the hotel was great, specially all the staff. On mom’s they brought her a cake at breakfast and they all sang, along with the other guests.  She was over the moon.  The cake was delicious.

Since it was a short trip my mother decided to mostly stay at the hotel.  We just took a trip to the Triple Frontier – 3 borders comprising of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguai. There is a gorgeous view there and some little stores.

Michael went to see the Iguaçu Falls and he also went to the Bird Zoo.  Since arriving home, mom regrets not going to see the falls and the Zoo.  Next time…

Azul Airlines, very fast flight.

Iguazu Grad Hotel

Iguazu Grad Hotel

Iguazu Grad Hotel

Iguazu Grad Hotel

There are slot machines in 3 currencies: Argentinian Peso, Brazilian Real and US Dollar.

There are slot machines in 3 currencies: Argentinian Peso, Brazilian Real and US Dollar.

Argentina is the best place to eat meat. Thie is chicken fried steak. It was to die for.

Argentina is the best place to eat meat. This is chicken fried steak. It was to die for. We had other beef dishes, but I didn’t remember to take pictures.

Best drink ever: Rum, passion-fruit, lime and mint.

Best drink ever: Rum, passion-fruit, lime and mint.

3 Frontiers: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguai

3 Frontiers: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguai

 

Progress: we finally have a couch

23 Wednesday Apr 2025

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Last weekend we went to a follow up with my dental surgeon.  According to him, all is going well.    I was hoping it would look and feel better, but I know not to have too many expectations when it comes to my teeth.

The surgeon is located a couple of hours away, and it is not too far from some casinos.  Since I like casinos, we always stop by one of them.

This time we went to the Hard Rock in Hollywood.  The guitar shaped building is so cool. We had a great meal at their restaurant.  I had a flat smashed burger with burger and caramelized onions.  It was delicious. Michael had the impossible burger, since he doesn’t eat meat.  He enjoyed his as well.

To drink I had a cosmopolitan.  I had to stop and congratulate the bartender.  It is the best one I have had since my nights in New York City. Michael had a Bahama Mama and it was equally delicious.

We are finally seeing a lot progress in our building renovation.  This renovation started in March last year.  We bought it in June, but didn’t move in until September.  We didn’t expect to last this long and cost this much.  The cost is still increasing as at every turn there is a new costly discovery, and more assessments.

We finally have a couch.  Since we moved in, Michael and I decided we wouldn’t really get any furniture or spend any money until the construction was finished.  But there were things we needed to do.  We got a cheap bedroom set, an Amazon one that we put it together ourselves, and a couple of TVs.

As you can see in the pictures, the TV is sitting on Tupperware. We are still debating if we are going to have it on the wall or on a rack. The rug is an extra one I had in NY.  This couch has made us so happy.  It signal to us that this project is almost done, if feels like a huge step forward.

We also had contractors to do part of the tiles to match the part that it was damaged with the construction.  To do the entire floor, it would be costly and too much disturbance.  We also had the walls and floors painted.  We just left the second bedroom out, it has a wall painted with flowers, so I will leave that as is for now.

Once the building is complete than we will work on decoration and the rest of furniture.  With that being said, we don’t want a lot, we want simple and minimal.  We want it to be practical and comfortable for us.

 

 

Snake and Birds

16 Wednesday Apr 2025

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Today a saw a snake on the beach.

I am terrified of snakes, even if it is just a tad larger than a worm.  This finding makes me afraid of my morning walks and of going in the water.

I am not sure it had been in the dune vegetation and just wondered off too far, or perhaps a bird was carrying it and dropped it.

Since I heard the story of the hawk that dropped a snake on a woman and then both started attacking her, I am always aware of birds above me. 

“Even snakes are afraid of snakes.” — Steven Wright

After a few more minutes walking I encountered all these birds.  I am surprised they didn’t notice the snake.

 

Bike upgrade for Christmas

15 Tuesday Apr 2025

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Last Christmas Michael upgraded my Huffy bike from Walmart to a Specialized from the local bike shop.

He wanted a different color but the only one available was black, and he wanted to make sure I had it for Christmas.

I love it! Classic and understated 🙂

The difference is amazing, it rides so smooth.  I also love the accessories that Michael added: the mirror and the lights. And let’s not forget the bright yellow helmet!

I am a lucky girl!

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle

New wheels

New wheels- classic black

 

My black and blue beauty

My  old beauty is for when my sister comes to town.

Sunset Bike Rides

14 Monday Apr 2025

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I am blessed to start my day with walks on the beach, and to end it with bike rides along the Indian River.

I love discovering new neighborhoods and seeing all the different styles of houses, there are old Florida styles alongside very modern new homes.

But the best part of my evening rides are the sunsets at the Melbourne Beach Pier on the Indian River.

It is just spectacular!!

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.

One walk at a time

11 Friday Apr 2025

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I have started taking daily walks before going to work.  It has become a good routine that has improved my day.  It makes me feel even more blessed to be able to have this contact with nature first thing in the morning.

On the first day I saw some garbage and other items left behind by the beach goers and decided to pick it up and throw in the trash bin.

In the following days I started taking a bag with me to help with the garbage collection. For the first few days I threw everything out. But the last couple of days I decided to keep some of the children’s toys.  See the 2 pictures below.

The items I find the most are:

  • Children’s plastic toys
  • Hair ties
  • Bottles, cans, bottle caps, plastic cups and straws
  • Suntan lotion bottles
  • Food and candy wrappers
  • Socks (I found 3 pairs in 2 days)

Today I decided to take 2 bags, one for real garbage and one for toys.  Guess what?

Nothing was found, except for a couple of bottle caps.  I am happy to see the beach clean. Today is Friday, I am guessing the beach is the worst after the weekend. I will report back after Monday’s walk.

Wishing everyone a blessed weekend! 

Birthday weekend – beach, massage, shopping, eating, gambling, and loads of fun

08 Tuesday Apr 2025

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The weekend before last I turned 59. 59!!!! I can’t believe I am 59. I don’t feel 59. But then again, what is 59 supposed to feel like?

The scary part is that 60 is just around the corner… and I have so much to do. Will I have time to do it all?

But, getting back to last weekend, my identical sister flew from NY to Florida so we could spend our birthday together.

I was excited to see her and for her to see my new place.

She arrived on Thursday night. On Friday we walked on the beach, went for a quick bike ride, then I took her to see my new office. Then we went to get massages, but they only had space for only 1 person, so I let her have the massage while I waited.

After that we went to a pizza place for a quick bite.  Then we went to Ross stores I had never been there before because of my growing dislike of shopping.  I don’t like going, but once there it was enjoyable, and my sister bought a bunch of stuff.  It was very similar to Marshalls.

After Ross we were going to Bealls, but my sister had no more room in her carry on so we skipped it.  We went back home and rested for a little bit, before getting ready for dinner.

For dinner we went to Estampa Gaucha, a Brazilian steakhouse. The meats were divine, but the salad bar and the sides were just okay. We had the typical Brazilian drinks, caipirinhas, and they were good.

On the Saturday we decided to take a casino cruise, Victory Casino Cruise. I was curious about it and figure it could be fun, since my sister is a fan of slots machines as well.

It was better than I expected. I won, my sister lost, but we all had fun.  The waters were choppy, so was a bit shaky at times.  I saw a young not feeling well and gave him a Dramamine pill.  I saw him a couple of times after that and he was very grateful.

After arriving at the port, on the way home we stopped at a Mexican restaurant called Tiny Turtle. We enjoyed our meal, and then went to Fat Donkey next door for ice cream, which was delicious.

On Sunday, we spent the morning at the beach, then it was time to help her pack and drive her the one and half hours to Orlando Airport.

Her flight was really delayed, she didn’t get to NY until midnight. But she had a great weekend and was happy to have been here.

We enjoyed all the food and drinks so much that we didn’t remember to take pictures.  I guess that is a good thing.

This was a laid back 59, perhaps I should start planning the 60 now!!

A little break for some snowy fun

25 Tuesday Mar 2025

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Life continues to be beautiful and chaotic.

In the midst of dental issues and audit headaches, Michael and I were able to get to our favorite skiing spot: Breckenridge. 

We were there for 5 days.  I only skied four days.  The first day I always struggle with altitude sickness. 

We had an amazing time.  There were some flight issues, but we were expecting those as we chose flights with connections.  We wanted to be able to use a small airport just 15 minutes from home.  

Every time we are in Breckenridge, we talk about buying a condo there.  That would allow us to spend more time there, and I would focus on improving my skiing. Skiing 5 days a year, or even 10 days, is not enough to see improvement.

Besides skiing, we didn’t do much. We spent some late afternoons at the hot tub and/or walking around in town.

We had some great meals. The most memorable was at Hearthstone Restaurant. We had an all-fish night. For appetizers we had pistachio crusted tuna and mahi-mahi tacos. For entrée, Michael had the salmon with a lobster sauce and I had the black cod with black rice.  To drink Michael had a beer and I had a cocktail called cornice fall (St. George citrus vodka, Domaine canton, lemon shrub and cava), absolutely delicious!

This restaurant also had an awesome view of the mountains.

We can’t wait to go back to snowy mountains!

 

Aleijadinho, Brazilian sculptor

25 Wednesday Sep 2024

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts, travels

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Antonio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho, was a famous sculptor in colonial Brazil. He got the nickname Aleijadinho, which means “little cripple” because of a degenerative disease that caused immense pain,  and his body to be deformed. He lost some fingers and his feet.

His work can be found in many churches around Ouro Preto and the neighboring towns.  The churches that I was able to visit are gorgeous.  Unfortunately, some of the main ones that I wanted to visit were closed.  

Santuario do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinho

Santuario do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinho – an UNESCO recognized construction

In front of the church there are 6 chapels, and inside each there are sculpures describing the Passion Walk. The sculpures are done by he famous Aleijadinho and his team. at Santuario do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinho

In front of the church there are 6 chapels, and inside of each there are sculptures describing the Passion of Jesus Walk.

The Last Supper by Aleijadinho, inside one of the chapels

The Last Supper by Aleijadinho, inside one of the chapels

Church of Saint Francis

Church of Saint Francis

Churches in Mariana

Churches in Mariana

Tiradentes and Ouro Preto, sights and tastes

23 Monday Sep 2024

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“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Posada Casa da Tuta

Posada Casa da Tuta

In Tiradentes we stayed at Pousada Casa da Tuta. Cozy room, delicious breakfast. I would go back there for the chocolate cake alone.

a store in Tiradentes

a store in Tiradentes

In Tiradentes we had a delicious dinner in a restaurant that I cannot remember the name. It had a back patio with a jazz group playing great Brazilian jazz. I remember most the black rice risotto that I had, with fish and vegetables.

Pousada do Arcanjo

Pousada do Arcanjo

In Ouro Preto we stayed at Pousada do Arcanjo – a historical themed bed and breakfast. Great breakfast, comfortable rooms, but I would have prefered a more central location.

Pousada do Arcanjo

Pousada do Arcanjo

We ate at Tropea Cantina Armazen https://www.opassopizzajazz.com.br/tropea and Bene Flauta http://www.benedaflauta.com.br/. Both great restaurants, but I don’t recall exactly what we had. In one Michael had pizza and I had the chicken fried steak with pasta. In the other I had cod fish cakes and salad, and I cannot remember what Michael had.

Bene da Flauta Restaurant

Bene da Flauta Restaurant

Everywhere I went I would choose a drink of passion fruit and cachaça, but at Tropea I tried a drink with gin, passion fruit and ginger foam.  It was delicious.

Tropea Restaurant

Tropea Restaurant

Downtown Ouro Preto

Downtown Ouro Preto

“We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.” ― Epicurus