...and the living is easy

Ah, what a wonderful vacation we are having here in Monte Verde. It is a charming little town of about 7,000 people, that swells to about 12,000 on the weekends. To the left is the entrance to the city. I thought I would hate the weekends, but I find it fascinating to see how the town comes to life and so many more stores open on Saturday and Sunday. There are even traffic jams on the one main street. On the right you can see main street and me indulging in chocolate covered strawberries!
Most other streets are dirt and many run up into the mountains. We have taken some treks up into the mountain... and our poor car and my poor nerves. But the view is well worth it. To the left is the gateway into the mountains. Isn´t it cool? Here is a view on the right with João taking in the sights at the top. Actually we never made it to the top, as you have to hike up. We tried hiking, but I am too old and fat and you can see in the photo to the left, I just pooped up with the steep upward climb. Actually I might have insisted, but my poor Achilles tendons really starting hurting and my knee as well, and I didn´t want to ruin the rest of my vacation trying to do what I am not in shape to do. But it has been fun seeing something beautiful everyday. I have had a riot just photographing the flowers and trees here. There is something new to do every day. One day we took the trail from the airport to the city and to our suprise it was not a bad hike at all. And it seemed we were in some kind of primeval forest, with 200 year old pine trees. It was a very quiet experience.
Last Thursday was Sweetheart´s Day here in Brazil and the Baptist Church here had a fabulous banquet. I have never seen so much wonderful food in my life. They invited us and so we had a great time. The folks here are so very
friendly. We have made so many new friends. When can go into the restaurants here and call the waiters and owners by their first name. We have made friends with about 15 people at the church as well. That has been a plus we just didn´t expect here.
We both continue our reading and our writing, and I continue sketching. As the book recommends copying some old masters, I decided to try my hand at a Picasso, finally working up the courage to add some color to my work. See the results! Not great, but a lot of fun to work on with my new colored pencils.
I am sure I have bored you with my easy living details, but hope you at least enjoyed the photos. I close out my entry by sharing this last photo of me with the flowers up on a mountaintop, just give you a feel of the beauty here.