After camping in Paraty, we were all excited to move in for three nights to a spacious three bedroom apartment in Petropolis. About two hours north of Rio, Petropolis has long been a summer escape for wealthier Cariocas (people from Rio), including the President of the country. It was noticeably cooler than Rio, particularly with rain still in the forecast. After settling into our place and taking advantage of the washing machine, we waited out the downpour before heading into town to hit up the grocery store. On the way back, we got to see the remnants of the Christmas lights in the square with lots of people posing for Instagram selfies (this seems to be a trend in the country!).
Petropolis National Park
The next day we took a taxi to the entrance of the national park where we hiked to lookouts and countless waterfalls including an empty one we could swim in and have our usual lunch of sandwiches made with Minas Gerais cheese and the ubiquitous, delicious, pao frances (french bread that was essentially fresh buns). Leaving the park we asked about bus options back to town and were assured that we could walk one kilometre down the road and pick up a bus there. A couple of kilometres later down an incredibly scenic walk we spotted a restaurant near another waterfall and decided we had to stop to enjoy the gorgeous setting.
After sampling the national (non-alcoholic) drink, guarana, we asked the staff how to get the bus. This resulted in Marieke and I (mostly Marieke with her Portugese but i had access to Google maps) trying to decipher the rapid Portugese from the two very excited staff members. A napkin drawing later and some confusion, we crossed the road in front of the restaurant to wait for the first bus that would take us to the terminal where we would switch to another bus to take us back to Petropolis. A few minutes later we were escorted to the proper waiting spot by one of the staff members, who waited with us until the bus arrived and ensured we were seated. We arrived back in Petropolis without too much trouble and after the rain of the day had subsided.
Colonial Past of Petropolis
The following day we did a (self-guided) walking tour of the town, reading every roughly translated plaque on all of the old colonial buildings and learning some unexpected facts, including the fact that apparently the walking stick had been invented in Petropolis. Who knew? Another plaque next to a large functioning clock built into the landscaping with hands pointing at flowers to represent the hour credited the town for being the birthplace of the wrist watch! We also walked by the house of the first Brazilian to successfully operate a (power) flight, which many claim was before the Wright Brothers. Petropolis is a bastion of inventions, apparently.
We even decided to splash out for the museum in town (none of us are the biggest fans of museums), but it turned out it was a Wednesday, so it was free! Which was especially great as we were getting low on cash. While almost everywhere seemed to accept credit cards, only about half the places worked with our international cards, so we needed cash pretty quick. While the museum had some beautiful rooms and furniture, the highlight was the felt slippers we were made to wear which resulted in everyone gliding through the museum as though we were on skates.
One of the colonial buildings was actually a Santander bank, which was so far the only bank we could get to work with our cards and didn’t charge exorbitant fees. Unfortunately, it had only worked the one time in Sao Paulo. When we tried again in Paraty, it had timed out, which resulted in the funds being withdrawn from my account without any cash to show for it. The same thing had happened to Marieke and Jon, so part of our time in Petropolis was being on hold with our banks to dispute the charges. We eventually were refunded and we think the problem was due to the timing of the atms running out of cash near New Year’s Eve.
Being the nicest bank building we had ever seen, we decided this Santander must be the one that would work for us. Nervous that the ATM would simply time out again, we tried a machine that said international withdrawals. No luck, although a different message than when it timed out. We were pretty frustrated at this point, but decided to ask inside the bank for help. They didn’t offer much, but suggested trying another machine. Holding our breath, just like that, we were flush again! We celebrated by having beers at the local brewery to cap off the day before heading off for Tiradentes the following morning.
