Blumenau

I took this picture of Blumenau from a bridge






View from Fernando's house

I arrived here in Blumenau yesterday. My host Fernando, 26 has been very hospitable . I arrived yesterday around 4pm. He picked me up at the bus stop and took me back to this house. He lives with his parents and sister in a big house with a great view of the city.

Last night we went out for dinner. It was a Brazilian style restaurant (surprisingly) where salad is a "buffet style", and the waiters continuously bring around different types of pizza and meats. The meat is really really good! We finished off the meal with "chocolate pizza" and then went to a pub where he introduced me to a couple of friends of his (husband and wife).

Blumenau is a city of about 300 000 people with a particularly strong German heritage. The building have a European look and and feel to them. I'm told that a lot of the street names were German until WWII when they changed them to Portuguese. Although the street signs still have the old German names written underneath.

Anyway, just a short 24 hour stay here. My bus to the next city - Curitiba - leaves at 4:15pm!