Day 15 (finally)

I procrastinated long enough that Jenny beat me to the punch...here is what we did on day 15:

We awoke in Pedro II and were picked up for a day of sight seeing - first was Gritador - a very large cliff - the view was outstanding (see pic of me with cliff edge and valley in background). If my memory is correct, the gritador name recognizes the local folk lore that when you shouted from the cliff, you could hear a response...Next was a trip to a 'hole-in-the-wall' bar which was located just outside town, off the road, through a locked gate (which we walked around/through) and where the bar was closed, but here someone has built a retaining wall (see pic of Laurie and Brenda sitting on the wall) for a nature stream and created a little lagoon - we went for a swim and just as we finished, the local's showed up and opened the bar, so of course we had to stay and have a cerveja...next was one of my favourite (maybe the most favourite) part of Brazil - the BBQ - we went to the restuarant and sat down and were served a couple of plates of salad and rice - next, the waiter brought out a three foot fork with a bunch of sausages on it and gave each person one - we all thought that would be it as there was some meat in the rice as well (note, the restuarant was located as part of a gas station and had five tables), but not to be - there were total of 6 meats on either giant forks or swords which the waiter brought around - I tried all the meats - way too much food, but really good!!! (see pic of waiter)...finally, we attended a jewellery store which hand made jewellery with local opal, a rock only found here and Australia - the layout of the workroom reminded me of a dental lab with the work stations, dremals, other small tools (see pic of workroom) - after a tour of the workroom, we went to the showroom and had a chance to buy some opals - very nice stuff. After this store, we went to a co-operative weaver store where we could buy hammock (rege in portuguese), table cloths, place mats, and coasters...the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing. that evening we met with the club and did our presentation and then went to a restuarant for more great food (and cerveja...i know, its a theme...) - see pic of club - Pedro II was very good to us and we had some great hosts...