The Top 12 Things I Learned on My Latest Trip to Brazil

1.) Beautiful, beautiful scenery!  This view is from a restaurant overlooking the Bay of Paraty.  To get to this magnificent lunch spot on the bluff, we took a 30-minute boat ride from the town.

2.) Christmas is the time to visit São Paulo.  Normally a city of over 11 million people, most of those people leave the city for the holidays which makes it a wonderful time to visit - absolutely no traffic congestion!

3.) São Paulo has numerous beautiful parks and we walked, hiked and climbed through a few of them.  Unusual animals we saw in one of the "wild" parks included capybaras, monkeys, iguanas and black crickets.

4.) Bring your own "Kleenex."  I had to use toilet paper for cosmetic purposes and everything else for which we normally use tissues.

5.) Delicious tiny coffee expressos were served everywhere - in homes, hotel lobbies, gas stations and restaurants.  I don't usually drink much coffee, but those little cups were fun to drink.

6.) Graffiti on nearly every building and wall in the city of  São Paulo.  The vandals seem to pounce on any clean wall or new building.

7.) Signs in many restrooms (including the international terminal at GRU) asking that you do not put toilet paper in the toilets as the plumbing is old and cannot take it.  They keep small covered trashcans next to the toilets.

8.) Weather is moderate.  It feels great and windows are always open, unless it's raining.

9.) The people speak Portuguese and I don’t.  Thank goodness we were with hosts who spoke both Portuguese and English.  I couldn’t even pronounce the words correctly.  You certainly can’t try to use English or Spanish pronounciations as you will be wrong every time.  Some of the English menus were quite comical as it seems they were having as much trouble with English as I was with Portuguese.  I think "Espagueteal Suck" is supposed to mean "spaghetti!"

10.) Hubcap hills and right angle turns.  The roads down to the coast were two-lane and cars were bumper-to-bumper.  The roads seemed to go straight down with complete right angle turns to slow you down.  There were hundreds of hubcaps lining the roads at these turns.

11.) A busload of Columbians - Actually a busload of any nationality usually means disaster.  The Columbians had rented out the whole top floor of our hotel in Campos do Jordão which meant that all of us guests on the first floor were kept awake most of the night.

12.) The toll roads in the state of São Paulo didn't seem too crowded until we got to the only fuel, food and bathroom stop on the road.  The "Roasted Chicken Express" (English name) was so crowded I couldn't believe it.  Cars just had to circle around the whole property waiting for another car to pull out for a parking place.  And, this was not even considered a crowded day!

Christmas at the Broadmoor

What a magical place.  The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is the perfect place for holidays.  The grounds are beautiful and the service impeccable.  I wanted to try something different for Christmas this year... some place where I could relax and enjoy the holiday with the rest of the family.  No cooking, cleaning, entertaining, wrapping endless mounds of presents, spending days decorating and baking... i.e., I was ready for a luxurious treat.  We invited our adult children and their families and two of them were able to join us.  Even though Kendall was briefly disappointed that there was no snow, the grounds were beautiful with hundreds of lighted trees.

 There were cozy seating areas everywhere and it was wonderful to be able to sit and visit by a fire.

 There was an enchanted display of gingerbread houses which we all enjoyed.

 On Christmas Eve we walked over to the Summit building for the Broadmoor Christmas Show.

 Cocktails before dinner.  We were then escorted to our table for dinner and to watch the very musical show.  Santa even made an appearance which made it truly special.

 Christmas morning dawned bright and beautiful and we woke to this spectacular view from our room.  As we got up, we found a mound of presents in the corner of the room.  Santa Claus had found us in Colorado!

 Under a brilliant blue sky on Christmas Day, we took a brisk hike in the Garden of the Gods.  It is a city-owned park and open 365 days a year.

 Christmas night we went to dinner at The Cliff House in Manitou Springs.  It was a delightful surprise to be able to eat in the fireplace room.

Making memories for our families and/or friends is important to us "beautiful older women!"

EarPlanes

We made three separate trips during the past week and by the end of the first journey I came down with a sore throat which quickly turned into a cold. During the next two expeditions I was coughing and sneezing. Landings became especially painful. The first leg of our most recent flight was on a regional jet and we flew through a number of storms which made for quite a bumpy ride and created a wonderful opportunity for me to suffer with extreme ear discomfort upon our landing in Detroit. While in the airport waiting for our flight back to Dallas, I spotted a box of EarPlanes and decided to try them. You insert them into your ears at least an hour before landing and they regulate the pressure. I loved them! They helped so much that I plan to stock up so that I will have them for any future flights. They have a child's size, too. If you suffer from ear discomfort when flying, I would highly recommend that you try the EarPlanes. It looks like you can get them at drug stores or on-line.