Friday 20th April 2012

Friday 20 th April No 14
Today is our rest day, so we had an option to ride 300kls and see the country side of Petropolis or tour the city by foot and see many palaces  and museums,
As we had sat in the traffic all day yesterday we decide yo see the city on foot.

We set out on our tour with Renato at 9am again Erica was poorly must have been the ice cream not the alcohol .first we visited Albert Santos-Dumont who was a Brazilian aviation pioneer.he designed and built  and flew the first practical dirigibles.He was the first person to fly a around the Eiffel tower on the 19 th October 1901  even before the wright brothers got off the ground.There is dispute still going on to who was the the first to fly unaided.
He also made the fist European public flight of an airplane on 3rd Oct 1906.
He also invented of the wristwatch.
After our fill of all this history ,we moved onto the Princess  Izabella palace who used a gold quill to sign the law to liberate the slaves in Brazil  in 1888
Then we learnt that the city was the summer residence of the Brazilian Emperors and aristocrats of the 19 th century ,and was the official capital of state of Rio De Janeiro between 1894and 1903
Walking through the little market square we find little trinkets but we cant buy anything due the size of our panniers which are chockablock.

Stopped a little restaurant which was fast Italian food,you could pick what you wanted and watch it being cooked in front of you it was a great concept,Vic and I went healthy and had a grande salad..

Erica was still a little poorly and went back for a nap.

After a great lunch we headed back to the hotel to have a nanna nap, but before we got there we stopped a wonderful chocolate shoppe and had a taste of many pieces yummy so we bought some so much for our healthy lunch.
We now have a sugar lift and sit by the pool and drink two bottles of red wine to finish off the afternoon.
Dinner time we go to cafe around the corner and have the special of the evening and of course another bottle of red wine
Tomorrows ride is another 300klm to Angra dos Reis this is supposed to be the best motorcycling road in Brazil Phenomenal ride it says in the brochure  will let you know
Oh I forgot to mention, the toilet systems are not the best here, and you put all the used toilet paper in a bin supplied.Erica says she can't cope with this Bruno and Nina just grunt and get on with it. But this Brazil.