Olinda's Birthday

The last couple days at Porto de Galinhas were unreal.. The weather was fantastic, the surf was small, but ridable at the mid to high tide. We found pure açai at this amazing stand in the center of the port town. The feel in the town is very mellow beach with great infrastructure including a beautiful terraced walkway with great shopping, açai, dining, surf shops, dive shops, and self service sorbet places. All very clean. The tide is a big factor there because at low tide it is full of tidal pools, all different depths. The pools further out are about 12 feet deep, and totally protected by the outer reefs. The colors are outrageous. The Pausada we stayed at was in an incredible lush garden with a beautiful shaded pool, wireless access, tons of cats and dogs around, Air, and wonderful cafe da Mana! Highly recommended: http://www.pousadaportoverde.com.br/
Returning to Olinda, we got a ride with our favorite taxi driver, Tony, from Olinda. We had to stop on the way for gas, and it was interesting for me because we filled up with Natural Gas. His Fiat SUV takes regular gas, alcool, or natural gas. He converted it from a flex car for R$3000. It is amazing all the options we have here for fuel. We have been seeing a ton of bio diesel, alcool (ethanol) is super popular and a lot cheaper than gas R$1.50/L vs R$2.50 for regular gas. It pretty interesting that Brazil is not in a recession now as well! The prices are approx. the same for consumer goods as they were 2 and 3 years ago!
We had planned to be in Olinda for her Birthday party which was a mini Carnival. We had an absolute blast checking out the blocos including an all women Maracatu bloco. Que Beleza! Later we went out to eat at Ofincina do Sabor, and had another incredible pumpkin stuffed with Portuguese housemade sausage this time. The espresso after the meal is served with Italian porcelain, and also served with it is a nice size cinnamon stick to stir your sugar! In the ultra clean bathrooms, disposable toothbrushes are offered!