Monday, April 29, 2019
8:55 AM

My neighborhood

I lived in a beautiful neighborhood of Riberaon da ilha in the south of the island of Florianopolis. Riberaon begins in what's called alto-Riberaon which is where another fellow Sintra had her homestay. It would usually take around ten minutes by bus for Sintra to get to my house since I lived a little down the road of alto-Riberoaon. My best part about my neighborhood was a place called "freguesia do Riberaon". Aligned with colonial style colorful houses and the mesmerizing view of the ocean bay is what made it so special. That's also where I found my happy place and probably my favorite beach in the whole of Island. I came to Brazil without having known how to swim, the ocean bay became a wholesome place where I could swim without having to worry about the otherwise gigantic waves that had the ability to swallow people within seconds of stepping in the ocean. That's also the reason why Florianopolis is the surf capital including another small town of Garopaba in the state of Santa Catarina. 

Freguesia also had small café restaurants including one popular place of Brigadeiros- a famous Brazilian dessert, often cramped with people who want to relax and have some café de tarde (afternoon coffee). My neighborhood is also known for its oyester farms and fishing culture therefore having one of the priciest oyester restaurant on the island called "Ostradamus". Once with my host family I stopped at a popular restaurant by the beach called "Macqueca da ilha" and ordered some hot pastel de camarãon (shrimp pastels) with hot Mexican sauce. I've been a fan of those pastels ever since that day.

The far down south you go, Riberaon becomes another neighborhood of Caieira da Barra do sul. At the very end of this line of neighborhood, there is a famous trail that ends up in a magnificently beautiful beach. The trail itself is called "Trilha do nos fragados". I did this trail with my family during one of my last days in Brazil. I believe that if one ever visits Florianopolis and doesn't come to this part of the Island, they are surely missing out on something very special