New Year

Well, New Year Brazil style. We weren't sure what to expect, so we made sure we had quite a big lunch in case getting food later proved to be tricky. That was a good move.

We wandered out at about 8pm to see what the score was and found the place completely deserted. Not a single shop, bar or restaurant was open. Going back to the hotel, we asked the people there whether this was normal and the reply was in the affirmative. The next beach along would be a bit busier, we were told. After a brief siesta we toddled off to see what "a bit busier" meant.

It meant that there were a reasonable number of people (not thronging crowds, but a steady stream of people) walking to the centre of the beach area to watch the fireworks that would be going off at midnight. We walked all the way up to the centre, bought a beer from the ubiquitous bloke with a polystyrene box and walked back to our hotel where our complimentary little bottle of fizz was chilling in the fridge.

We went to the roof of the hotel and were slowly joined by other guests. There were probably thirty of us up there at midnight. As midnight fell, we were treated to several firework displays. The Iate clube (that's Yacht club to me and you); Ilha do Frado; Ilha do Boi (2); Praia do Camburi and Vila Velha. The last two were by far the biggest and were obscured by geography. The Ilha do Frado one went on for about 45 mins and then started again at 1am. It was pretty.

There was a song sung at midnight, not Auld Lang Syne, and there were muted "Happy New Year"s (Feliz Anno Novo). The two guys next to me shook my hand, but that was about it. I'm sure that the beach party was in full swing, but we were taken by surprise as to quite how quiet the night was.

Just after 1am we left the folks on the roof (who knows, maybe they were waiting for us to leave to start the party proper!) and went to bed. A quiet New Year by any standard.

On New Year's day we moved back to the Comfort hotel and checked into a lovely no smoking room with a lovely view of the beach. T couldn't sleep properly due to the smell of smoke. The ash tray in this room didn't have a no smoking sign!