Sao Paulo

When we arrived, we caught the metro to where we had agreed to meet our friends, Sach and her brother Nick. We headed back to their flat in Sao Paulo, tired, but relieved to be in the company of good friends who spoke the Portuguese language and understood the culture of their country. For the first time, we felt we could properly relax. After a few drinks and a bite to eat, we returned to the flat, to sleep in the most comfortable, luxurious bed we had slept in for months!

The next day we did some last minute Christmas shopping in one of the Sao Paulo’s impressive shopping malls and then headed back to the Matias’ house in Cotia, just outside Sao Paulo.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the pool, followed by drinks on the patio and a lovely meal with all the family. We gratefully realised that our backpacking days were on hold until we left the generous Matias’ family after New Year.

The next day, we went to a drinks party of family friends, celebrating in the traditional Christmas spirit, but also in the boiling heat. It was so strange to be almost back to normality, having normal conversations about anything other than where we were heading next and without any other backpackers around.

The run up to Christmas was spent relaxing by the pool in the morning and the afternoon usually started with a Caipiroska around Midday. The youngest son, Chris (or Capi Runner as he became known) always ensured that we had the finest Brazilian Caipiroska's. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this drink, it is made from the fresh fruit of your choice, crushed into a juice and then cocktail shaken with vodka and ice and with a spoonful of sugar. It is simply delicious!

Fantastic, late afternoon lunches with the family were always enjoyed with plenty of laughter. Between these and the evenings, the day was spent either returning to relax by the pool or enjoying a lazy siesta.

By the evening the ever generous chief barman, Paulo (or The Caip Father, as he became know) would open bottles of Proseco, beer or wine for us to enjoy before a lovely evening meal, which on occasion was a massive, sumptuous barbeque, cooked by the creative head chef, Nick. Then, after a long and always entertaining evening meal, we would relax into a film or roll into bed. We felt as though we were in heaven!

On Christmas Eve we both thought of are family and friends, but the hospitality of Paulo, Jackie, Diane, Sacha, Nick and Chris kept are spirits high. This could have easily been changed when Sam offered to reverse Sacha’s car out of the drive, managing to scrape the paint off one car and indenting another. This was not his finest hour!

In the evening the Matias’ neighbours and family friends, the Pallins, kindly invited us around for drinks. We enjoyed champagne with them, looking out of their garden onto the magnificent golf course of the condominium. Sam felt pleased and relieved not to see any of the divots he had left on the course earlier that day!

After another lovely evening meal and a few drinks we all played the traditional Matias' Christmas Eve game of charades, which had us all in hysterics and ensured that we were all in the spirit of Christmas, looking forward to the next day.

We awoke early and met the rest of the family to open our overflowing stockings, which were laden with beautiful gifts and chocolate! After this, we all passed gifts to each other from around the tree. Sam then had time for a quick Christmas day swim before getting ready for Christmas lunch. As we carried our many presents up to our room, we both felt completely indebted to the Matias’ for providing us with so many lovely and amazing gifts.

Dressed in red, to ensure that we kept with the tradition of the Matias household, we sat down for a fantastic treat of traditional, English Christmas lunch. Our plates, full of turkey, potatoes and vegetables, washed down with fine, red wine ensured the day felt like Christmas at home.

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The remaining part of the day was spent indulging in more drinks and chatting, long into the evening. After a light supper, we took part in the Matias´ family poker game. Trying our best at bluffing and imitating each other with cries of chicken or as Paulo put it “Chicken Shit”, Sam finally took the title of champion. This completed an amazing Christmas day, which will never be forgotten!

As Boxing Day passed with the same incredible hospitality, we said our goodbyes to Paulo, Jackie, Nick and Chris, who headed up to Bahia before we would join them a few days later.

On the 27th December, our great friends, Julia and Paul joined us and we had a lovely evening catching up and exchanging even more gifts!

The 28th saw Sam reach the grand old age of 27. He again felt completely spoiled by the wonderful gifts he received, his only worry being, how he would now fit them all in his rucksack!

Lunch was another memorable moment, Sacha’s, lovely Granna Diana, took us all to one of Sao Paulo’s finest restaurants, Fogo De Chao. Once sat down, we quickly realised that by turning our small, round table mats from red to green, a throng of waiters would surround us with skewers of different cuts of the most delicious meat! We all ate like kings. After a coffee, Sam was beginning to feel a little tired and then a surprise birthday cake arrived.

After the meal, we enjoyed a tour of the restaurant and saw how they cooked the meat before heading home, all feeling incredibly fat! The afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool and in the evening we enjoyed a few drinks, before packing and getting ready for our early flight to Bahia the next day.

Sam’s Comments: The hospitality of the whole family was unbelievable. I will never forget the experience, although I am glad that not too many people were on the golf course the day I played!

E-J’s Comments: Staying with the Matias’ has made our Christmas so special and we feel totally overindulged by their amazing hospitality.