After a mess up with our bus tickets, Angie and I finally left the Rio bus staion at 6pm. The journey was fine but long - there was a lot ofholiday weekend traffic and road works, and we finalyl arrived at Paraty bus station at 11.45! We grabbed a taxi, went to our pousada and went ot bed.

On Saturday, after a fairly lazy start and a leisurely breakfast we went for a wander around thehistorical centre. There were quite a lot of people around, with horse and carts doing tours. We walked to the three main churches and got our bearings, then to the jetty to investigate the boats. There were lots of them, but some that were packed with people  that looked rather uncomfortable. We wandered some more, and visited the very popular Supermercado Carlão which had an ATM. We were then heading for the museum when we got sidetracked and went to the very nice "Sabor Mer" restaurant for beer for Angie and caipivodka for me and some rather large shrimp balls.

After our relaxing moment, we made it to the museum, via a few shops. I had been twice already so I left Angie to listen to the audio recordings whilst I returned to the pousada as I had some homework to do for my masters course. Once I had finished I waited for Angie to return, and waited, and watied, and finally she came back after getting lost! We sat for a while then decided it was time for a drink. First we headed to a very nice shop where I bought a large papier mache frog that I had first seen 18 months ago with Nishi and Julia. It is really fabulous so I was glad to get it this time.

We found a bar where we could sit and watch the world go by whilst sharing a bottle of wine. We listened to a strange selection of music and then saw a procession go by. We were not sure what the procession was for but the long weekend was in honour of Our Lady of Remedios so maybe it was for her. After the wine we went to Cafe Margarida for dinner.

Unfortunately, it turned out that our pousada was on a lively street so I was awoken at 4am by some revellers who were very loud, a cockerel who seemed to think he needed to start early in order to encourage the sun to rise, a dripping shower next door, several cars and then a lively group of early risers from the pousada across the road who were off on a trip.

After breakfast (more bread and cake) we headed to the jetty to select our boat for the day. We were looking for a boat that was not too big, not too many people and definitely had no babies or guitars. We didn't do too badly - we chose the Escuna Moana which ahd no babies or guitars but sadly was joined by a group of about 15 very loud Brazilians. We set off and sailed through the light rain to our first stop - praia vermelho. As were leaving the harbour area we saw lots of dolphins playing in the water but they seemed to know when I put my camera down and they chose these moments to leap out and play.

When we arrived at the beach, the rain had stopped so most people got off the boat to go to the beach or for a swim. Angie and I stayed on the boat to enjoy a moment or two of peace. After 40 minutes it was time for everyone to return to the boat, then we set off for our next stop - praia da lula. Sadly at this point the stereo was turned on. At praia da lula the rain was falling once more so, again, Angie and I stayed on the boat though there was not much peace this time. Our lunch stop was at Ilha Pescaria and we had a large and tasty lunch of fish, rice and salad, followed by a rather strong caipivodka. One the way back to Paraty we called in at Tartaruga Bay and saw a few turtles swimming around.

We returned to the jetty feeling very relaxed, went to a ceramics shop and bought pots. Very beautiful and not too big to carry home on the bus. We returned to our hotel via one of the ice cream places then had a power nap before venturing into town once more. We walked back to the jetty because we wanted to see the lovely floodlit view of Santa Rita church but sadly there were no floodlights so we settled for a gin and tonic in a very peaceful bar near the waterfront, before going to a Provence inspired restaurant for dinner.

After a more peaceful night, we awoke on Monday morning, packed our bags, then went to the bus station so Angie could check the buses for later. We stumbled across another procession - this time it seemed the whole town was out, schools, clubs, even firemen and ambulances with sirens on full, all accompanied by a small marching band.

Once Angie was reassured about the buses we went back into the old town to investigate more shops. We walked down what one guide named the most beautiful street in the old town which was full of colour from a range of flowers. It was very rpetty and led us nicely to an Indian shop for Angie to buy some baskets.

We went to the main square so Angie could go inside the church, then back to the cafe from the previous day for a farewell drink. We sat almopst in the car park and enjoyed the sunshine, then headed back to the seafood restaurant for more oversized shrimp balls for lunch. Finally it was time to gather our belongings, go to the bus station, then sit on the bus for several hours, heading back to Rio along with an awful lot of other people. The view along the costa verde was really beautiful - sheltered bays, small islands covered in trees, boats bobbing on the waves. From there on however, the view was of traffic in front and behind us. Not quite so picturesque.