My Corner

Almost two months ago now I went to a conference (VLSI-SoC 2009) in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.  Florianópolis is an island just off the mainland, about 430 miles south of São Paulo and 700 miles south of Rio de Janeiro.  Wikipedia has more information; check out Google Maps below for how the island is laid out.

I flew out Friday morning at about 10am from SLC and arrived in Floripa the next day, Saturday, at about 5pm with stops in JFK and São Paulo.  According to Delta’s Skymiles program, I traveled 6,734 miles in approximately 31 hours, or about 217 miles per hour average!

We stayed at the Jurere Beach Village, which is literally right on the beach as you can see.  If you zoom in on the map, you’ll find Jurere at the north end of the island which is more the tourist area.  My room was on the top floor looking out into the center court.  I fell asleep at nights to a cool ocean breeze ruffling the curtains and the rhythm of the incoming waves.  I woke up in the morning to sunlight streaming through the same curtains with the same breeze and waves.  Breakfast every morning was a buffet with fresh fruits, juices, breads, pastries, eggs, sausage… you name it.

I didn’t do much Saturday evening or Sunday.  Monday night I took off with some friends to downtown Floripa.  We walked along the avenue toward the bridge to the mainland for a while at sunset (pictures below) before hitting up the Churrascaria Ataliba for dinner.

Dinner was amazing. We were the first ones in the door and the Maître d’ let us go back to see the furnace and the chef. They had cards illustrating where the meat was from on the cow, and there must have been 30 different cuts of meat from beef alone, plus chicken, pork, and lamb. If you’ve ever been to a Rodizio’s or a Tucano’s, this was that same idea. They just keep bringing the meat until you say no. I got a limeade that was tart and sweet to the point of turning my mouth inside out.

After dinner we took a taxi to the nightlife area of the island called Lagoa da Conceição (a lagoon around the center-west of the island). Caught some live music from a local band for an hour or two then started to head back home. On the way home we decided to find a local taxi cause the hotel’s taxi service was ripping us off. Amlan, one of my labmates from India, decided we wouldn’t pay more than R$50 to get back to the hotel (it would have cost more like R$75-100 from the other taxi).  We flagged a guy in a little 5-seat hatchback and Amlan talked him down like a pro till he finally gave in.  I think there are some aspects of the world cultural experience I may have missed in middle-class America!

I’m particularly glad to be enjoying my continued existence post-Brazilian-taxi.  That guy drove his little hatchback like it was a Formula 1 match.  I held out hope that he was at least marginally sane.  In the end, he got us back home in little enough time that it was indeed only R$50.