Floripa is a beautiful island in the southern part of Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina. The whole island is considered the city, I think (I could be wrong), but like most places there are regions and neighborhoods. We stayed with our friends, Gabriel and Juliana, in Lagoa, near a beautiful lake.

They had an amazing house. It was like staying in an idyllic garden–there were no less than 5 hammocks (and not the weird woven kind that you have to sacrifice your safety to get into; these were properly good hammocks). Plus, you often got the sweet dog, Olie, along with the hammock which made the experience even better. This is the first time Garett discovered he actually likes hammocks.

To me, Gabriel and Juliana are pretty perfect as far as humans go. Look at them! I can honestly say they were some of the best hosts we’ve ever had. They love their island and their home and they were so excited to share it with us.

Here are some images of the beaches–Floripa has the benefit of both mountains and beaches, plus a lake. So if you like any of those things, it’s a good place to be. I love the sweep of the dramatic sky.

Floripa is famous for its fishing and particularly its oysters. The middle picture is an oyster trap–we had a fun time trying to figure out how exactly the oysters made their way into the trap. How exactly do they swim? If you have a good eye or know your history–or maybe you’ve been there like Barbara and Nancy–you’ll see the tiles on the restaurant are very similar to the tiles on the buildings in Lisbon and other cities in Portugal. This side of the island looks quite a bit like Portugal.

When trees reach a certain size, you can’t help but imagine they are somehow sentient. This is a beautiful fig tree (different from our fig trees in the US) that has been around since 1871. People love it so much you can see all the poles (struts?) that have been added to keep it stable. Look at all the branches–it’s so amazing!

Some food pictures–as an aside did you know these always get the most views?–the one on the left is a seafood stew that Garett loved so much. And on the right we have açai! It’s kind of like an açai sorbet that we put some granola in. I had it two days in a row because it was so delicious. I even tried to get it at the São Paulo airport, but they didn’t have any which is outrageous. Pizza Hut had a chocolate dessert pizza (a real thing), but there was no açai?

We were excited to visit the old bridge that connects Floripa to the mainland–check out the jump! There is another bridge for cars now, so this one is for pedestrians and bikes. We were surprised at exactly how much the bridge swayed. I know that it’s a feature not a bug, but it was significant sway-age. We felt like we were drunk.

I want to thank a million times our friends, Gabriel and Juliana, for their generosity, for spending so much time with us, and for taking us to all their favorite places. There was interesting conversation, delicious food, and beautiful places; all the things you’d want in a visit to a new country with friends. Thank you!