Ilha Grande: Yet Another Island Paradise

After a long week of conferencing (four days), we cut out on Friday to go to Ilha Grande. Aside: For those who care, my talk went fine on Thursday. I completely forgot how to describe the light output variation due to non-radial pulsations, but I stammered something out that was right and continued. I also attended a Young Astronomers Lunch and met a senior astronomer who seemed impressed by me. I was impressed by her and all of the helpful things she had to say.

Moving on...

After a walk, a metro ride, a taxi ride, a bus ride, another taxi ride, and a ferry ride got me to the beautiful Ilha Grande. It is a lovely island off the coast of Brazil that can be best described a

s paradise.

We found a hotel and walked around the little town to find dinner. The next day we w

ent on a boat tour to go sit on beaches, swim, and snorkel. While snorkeling, I found a fish that changed color as it swam next to different parts of the coral reef.

After doing that all day, we wandered around town, and I ate the best meal I've had here: street food. I had a Blue Lagoon drink (I went snorkeling in the Blue Lagoon earlier, so I thought it was appropriate). It was limes crushed with sugar, some blue alcohol that I can't spell the name of and am too lazy to look up, and vodka. It tasted like candy, very strong candy, but I think it's my new favorite drink (yes, it has displaced the vodka and cranberry, which also tastes like candy). It was recommended to try it with a base of lemonade and less vodka. I think I might enjoy it more that way...

Also on the menu was chicken-on-a-stick, covered in breadcrumbs, as recommended by the vendor, and slathered with garlic sauce, also upon recommendation. It was delicious. I also had a dessert that was three strawberries covered in fudge then covered in a chocolate shell. So good. I then followed that by a scoop of hazelnut and a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. My stomach was thrilled. I could have done without the drink, but I couldn't find a non-alcoholic drink vendor on the street.

OK, so...lots of sun, fish, boats, and food for that day. The next day, we took another boat to a prime surfing beach. I sat around in the sand and jumped in the waves most of the day. We also walked through a bit of rain forest, which was painful because it was steep, and I had on a backpack. My knees were not thrilled with me.

After that it was time to say goodbye to Ilha Grande. Before I said my goodbye...I got another strawberry dessert! Oh, gluttony...

We took a speed boat back to Brazil as the sun set and a van to the door of our hotel. This was so much a better decision than how we got to the island...

This week I will be going to a soccer match in what I'm told is the world's largest stadium, going to observatory tours, going to see Jesus on the hill, going to another famous hill, and going to markets to shop. There will be a little bit of conference in there, too.