A weekend in Gravata

We had a wonderful opportunity to get away for the weekend and headed to a friend's place in Gravata.  Gravata is west of Recife - about an hour inland.  It's also a slightly higher altitude so it's a bit cooler - a sweater was very nice in the evening.

The countryside was beautiful on the drive in and the place we stayed just fantastic.  It is a family's vacation weekend home and had all sorts of wonderful amenities.

You could tell that the family has had many wonderful weekends - it's set up for some great relaxing

There was a large pond with a paddle boat that the kids enjoyed.

And the beautiful porch with hammocks to read in.

A swimming pool for the hot days

and a billiards room.

 And a cool old car collection to check out.

 We had some wonderful walks in the town of Gravata -

lots of artisan shops and beautiful pieces of art.

We also drove up to the high point and were able to look at the whole region.

And found a beautiful cemetery. 

N. got some good cooking time with her grandmother T.

There was a large chameleon that crossed the path by the house.

And a parrot that lived in the tree outside the kitchen.

And one time, the pond erupted in lots of soap bubbles that we had to drive through - Goldy (our car) got a nice bubble bath!

We got to ride horses.  

We also played lots of card games.

A wonderful weekend - I would say the only draw back was the mosquitoes that came out at night.  Note to self - next time bring more bug spray!