Nicole & Rachel

So today was another busy day with lots of exciting things. First we got picked up by Andre and we had about a 2 hour ride to Cavanella, otherwise known as Tacaruna. As usual, almost everyone was asleep on the way there. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how because it felt like every road we were on was cobblestone but regardless, it was nap time. Tacaruna was the summer home of Gilberto Strunck. The estate was magnificent and was a collaboration masterpiece of an Oscar Niemeyer designed house along with a Burle Marx garden. While there we had to find a spot with two vantage points and sketch it. This was a hard task no one seemed to care. Everything was so peaceful and open there that we all would have been content with staying right there for the rest of the day.

However we had plans in Petropolis and we needed to stay on schedule. So we all piled back into the vans and drove to our next destination. And again, most people took another nap! They missed out though because the ride had some pretty cool views. When we got to Petropolis we went to a buffet style restaurant for lunch called Restaurante Paladar. After that great meal, if we finished early, we had the choice to visit La Casa de Santos duMonte.

This guy was an interesting fellow. He invented the airplane and the wrist watch in Brasil and based on some of the ways he designed his house, his head was in the clouds most of the time. He placed his house on the top of a steep hill and I’m not sure if there was a reason for that or not. One of the most interesting aspects of his house to me was the way the steps leading to his front door were set up. You had to step with your right foot first every time and that way you have to step into the house with your right foot… “Always put your right foot first.” Sounds weird and that’s because it is, but the steps looked really cool from the top as you see in the picture. This house wasn’t his real house it was more of a getaway home. There was no kitchen and his bedroom was a wooden chest attached to the wall…which looks really comfortable!

After that we went to the palace that had breathtaking décor. Everything was just fabulously arranged and detailed to the extreme. No pictures could be taken there except for outside but everything inside was magnificent. After that we went back to our hotel and had the rest of our day to ourselves.