6-Week Dispatch: Florianopolis

Newton had to go to China, Japan and Korea. I began the interim time till we were to meet up in Texas by visiting our Brit/Aussie-Dutch friends, Samantha, Rob and little Lila. They were previously from Natal and are now living in the beautiful southern Brazilian city of Florianapolis. It is literally an island. This is in the state of Santa Catarina, which was settled largely by Germans and Portuguese and is famous for its Oktoberfest. I was visiting in May, when late fall means a cooling down for the coming winter.

 

 

Samantha and Rob are amazing new parents to their Cupie, Lila…sorry, but I can never get over her striking resemblance to a classic Kewpie doll (homage to both spellings)! 

 

 

 

 

Samantha never misses a chance for a well-turned phrase of wicked British humor, and Rob never misses a chance to be there for his girl and his dogs.

At this moment in time I was trying to calm down and take a breather from the horrors of having workmen destroy my house with their shoddy work methods. “Floripa,” as Florianopolis is affectionately called, looks like a neat little German town, only tropical.  The lovely house that Sam and Rob are renting has never seen shoddy workmanship. Ahhhhhh…I was already relaxing and resting up for the weeks of travel ahead just by way of square corners, precise painting, the beautifully crafted front door, and the intricate workmanship on the built-in’s in Rob’s office:

Besides having about the best sushi in the world - prepared by a Korean chef; the best oysters in the world at a restaurant called ‘Ostradamus;’ incredible fish stew, and English tea with milk on cool mornings…we also hired a boat that followed the lovely canal all the way to the ocean.

Here is Samantha, looking smashing as a mother, and “LilaBoat,” as Sam likes to call Lila, even when she is not on a boat. Rob is about 10 feet tall.

Soon after I departed for the USA, they went on a scouting trip to Spain. This was where they met and lived before moving to Brazil, and to where they are returning soon to continue their real estate business.

I just have to include a follow-up photo Sam posted on Facebook with a typical quip:

“Poor Lila being subjected to her first Vegemite experience. They are both covered in rancid brown goo. Moral to the story: Never breed with an Aussie.”

Thanks for the relaxation, great company, and deliciousness, You Three! My next stop: New Jersey.

Love,

Sandy