Bringing in the New Year in Sao Vicente

Spent New Year in Sao Vicente, a coastal town about an hour away from Sao Paulo which is very popular with Brazilian holidaymakers - it was heaving and there was a real party atmosphere!

At midnight on New Year's Eve we were on the beach with lots of other groups of people standing together on the sand watching the fireworks. Lots of them were wearing white for good luck in the New Year. Fireworks were going off from all directions – from the sea, from either side further along the beach, and from behind where the blocks of flats tower up at the edge of the beach. All you could hear was people laughing and the banging noises from the fireworks and from bombes, which are thrown to add to the atmosphere and have been going off at all times of day and night for the last few days. People were throwing white roses into the sea and jumping seven waves, again for good luck in the New Year. It was also raining – common in the summer in Brazil.

On New Year's day the sun came out and the beach was teeming with people and sunshades. We walked past the beachfront to Vila Sao Vicente, the historical part of the town, which turned out to be 4 or 5 houses on a traffic island. Sometimes the tourist sights in Brazil aren't quite what you might hope for! There's an old cathedral next to the historical centre which we sat in for a bit for some quiet time. There were quite a few other people in there, though most of them seemed to be there just to sleep.

We walked back from the historical centre to the beach, via a monument in the sea. There were crowds of people in the sea and the children in particular seemed to be having a great time. My Mum went for a paddle while I went for a swim. Although the water felt a bit cool to begin with, once in it didn't feel cold at all. It rained in the late afternoon and the beach cleared pretty quickly, though some swimmers stayed in the sea. After eating microwave meals in the apartment (the restaurants are expensive and not very good) and going to the internet cafe to send some emails (unbelievably it was open on NY's day!), Mum and I went to a bar on the beachfront for cerveja (me) and gin and tonic (mum) and were joined later on by Adriano.

Feliz ano novo!