The Brel Chronicles

We knew it would eventually happen: the transition from vacation to travel. We are currently sailing on an old-school wooden tall ship, along the coast of Brazil. Adventure: yes; luxury: not so much.

After getting her own sea-sickness under control (thanks transdermal patch), Mel quickly assumed the role of Mother to the pukers. We’re sure this has nothing to do with the fact that she could, in fact, be the mother to some of the 19 year-olds on the ship. Thanks to a Costco purchase of Dramamine, she had everyone under control mid-way through the initial 12 hour sail on the Atlantic.

The cast of characters on our ship does not disappoint. Our faves - 2 brits on their gap year after high school, who we’ve nick-named Bill and Ted (though Cheech and Chong was a close second).

We should also point out that we are not just passengers on this ship – but act as a pseudo-crew when it’s time to hoist the sails. To be honest, the whole thing is a lot of work, and I’m not sure why we don’t just have some remote control that we can use to manoeuvre the sails. Surely that exists somewhere? An Easy button perhaps?

It’s funny how the brochure neglected to mention that we would all be sleeping in the same room, in bunk beds. Thankfully, the ship only has 9 passengers this week, so the amount of noise and disgusting sounds/smells being emitted isn’t entirely unbearable. We opt to sleep on deck, under the stars, whenever we can.

The miniature bathrooms onboard are yet another interesting part of the adventure. You basically need to collect a bucket water from the sea prior to doing your business and force the flush. Mel realized after the first day on board that limiting consumption of liquids in order to minimize bathroom use is probably not a good long-term strategy.

The food onboard is surprisingly good, though we think our cook may have a weakness for pot – and not the kind that she’s cooking rice in.

All in all, we have enjoyed our first 3 days on the ship, though a shower would be a welcome luxury right now. And Mel is dying to shave her legs.

Soccer Brazil-style

While Brazil may have more Catholics than anywhere else in the world, the real religion here is football – not the NFL kind, but soccer. So of course, we had to take in a game at the world-famous Maracana Football Stadium. Matches here are among the most exciting in the world – not just because of the quality of the players, but because of the fans. Hours of endless chanting, smoke bombs, flares and samba drums are just some of the ways the 90,000 fans show their support.

We watched Fluminense, one of Rio’s top teams, slaughter the Arsenals, bitter rivals from Argentina, 6-0. We were pleased to be on the winning end of the slaughter – and pleased not to have ‘beer bottles, cups full of urine and dead chickens’ hurled at us. That last quote is a warning, directly from our Lonely Planet guide.

Seriously, these guys take being a soccer fan to a level unheard of in North America. We could only imagine Canadians getting this excited, if, for example, the Leafs came back from last place to win the Stanley Cup in triple overtime, with Gretzyky, Bobby Orr and Rocket Richard leading the charge, after the Leafs have somehow already won the World Series and the Superbowl. Oh yea, and the 1976 Canadian team….

Here are some fun videos of the game. If they don’t work, the video server may be down (it was when I loaded them but assume it will be back soon.)

It is 39 degrees under a hot, hot sun. Perfectly tanned and toned bodies in string bikinis surround us. Miles of white sand beach stretch before us. We sip caipirnhas while listening to ... [Continue reading this entry]