On a day like this...

Waking up in a beautiful mansion in Buzios, Rio de Janeiro state, meant greeting the sun and blue skies, which came as a great welcome after the non-stop tropical winter rain of the day before (which possibly also came as a welcome in some respect, it's possible). It meant heading out to explore the beaches, the rocks and the crashing waves, with a gorgeous line of houses on the opposite shore adorning our one billion photos in all this gorgeousness. And waving around Brazillian beach towels, because why wouldn't we, especially on a day like this.

And when you return after a decadent day such as this one, what's better than getting into the pool at the beautiful house where you're staying and being handed a beer to drink up? Now that's one of those days when you think later, I wish I could re-live that again! One could say that I'm painting a pretty and yet shallow picture, but admit it, everyone should be allowed a day like that once in a while to reminisce about, right?

I remember that night we dressed up and took photos around the house in modellesque (am I making up a word?) poses. And it was that night that we watched little Vinícius, Fernanda's nephew and co-owner of the mansion, performing another of his Michael Jackson hits, which had us laughing and entertained to tears. There were quite a few, things are starting to get a bit blurry, but I will never forget his 'Thriller' and the way he tried singing, but few of the actual lyrics came out correctly. But he had the rhythm and the moves down, allright!

The night before, you could still feel the rain in the air, but that evening, we could head out in our short skirts, as is tradition in Brazil, without fearing the chill factor. Was it that night that we looked around at that little market in the center, around the taxi stand, and where I bought those flashy earrings that I never really wear, because of their weight and amount of jingling? But they're a crystal green colour, and I thought, wow check that out, they match my eyes...

I believe we've quite adorned the streets at the Rua das Pedras that night, and Chez Michou where we stopped again for crépes and Brahmas, and that little street samba party (which, it turns out, took place the second night in Buzios, not the first, yep things are getting a bit blurry in my mind but nothing that a few (hundred billion) photos shouldn't be able to resolve).

Oh, there we are, in the photo on the very left, with Fernanda, practicing our samba moves. And it was actually Fernanda who taught me the correct way to dance samba... who knows what I'd been trying to do with my feet before (though I'm not saying I danced it entirely correctly after this either, but I was getting there).

That was quite a day and a trip indeed that, despite little things here and there that have blurred a little, has been seared in my memory since.