The Blue Lagoon

Today, our day off, we decided to make a daytime visit to the large "lagoon" (a salt-water lake) on the south side. We headed off to cross "under" the mountain in front of our house (via two tunnels) and there we were. I have actually only been there one other time (although I've driven by hundreds of times). We had just a great time. It is often described as a huge mirror, reflecting the mountains of the city. It is just that. They have managed to make it a very nice tourist area with lots of outdoor restaurants, where we ate some great fish ( a la Cleopatra). On the walking/biking/skating trail around the lake you get a 360 degree view of the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado. If you look carefully, you can it in the background behind João.
After lunch, we met Elly and Bernardo (he is Elly's boyfriend, obviously) to go biking. Elly chickened out, since it had been 10 years since she had been biking! So they walked the path and João and I biked back and forth. We thought about doing a whole turn around the lake, but the kids were walking and we hadn't biked in almost two years.
Surprisingly, we all held up quite well. João and I didn't even get trembly legged. But then we only biked for 40 minutes and not even uphill. I didn't want to stress my ankles too much, either.
After all that effort, we figured we deserved some nice ice cream, so we enjoyed some (with a hot caramelized banana on top).
Since it had rained here yesterday, the weather was just wonderful. Not too hot and a nice bright blue sky. When we left, night was beginning to close in on us and Elly and I both felt chilly with the breeze coming in off the lake. It was a great way to spend our afternoon.
When we came home we stopped to see Marilene and Franklin and Bia, where I shared Easter Eggs with them. That is fun to do. Yesterday I took chocolates into the church staff (not a small task with about 17 people involved). Tomorrow I will be sharing with the workers in our apartment building (about 10).
I am especially looking forward to Sunday. We have three services at church. We have the 6:30AM, 10AM and 7PM. At the 7PM service we have a cantata with 200 participants (between choir, orchestra and drama). I can hardly wait to see "He Lives". I know it will be a terrific day because He is Risen. Yes, He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.