Villa in Sau Paulo

Finding an authentic place to stay with our family during holidays, is one of my top priority since some time. After we got kids, we hardly ever choose hotels, as they give us sort of claustrophobic feeling and are such a unpersonal place to stay. I always spend a lot of time searching for the best possible accommodation within our budget. Airbnb is a platform that I’m starting my searching path. If you are lucky, you can find treasures, like the one I’m showing you today. This Saõ Paulo villa is created by an architect Paulo and hidden in a very nice residential area of the city. Worth the walk around too! 

I’m not going to show you a lot, as I think it is a house with a soul and the pictures can’t do its justices….. Paulo rebuilt two old buildings, connecting them with a charming patio and a large kitchen on the ground floor. I really like the combination of the raw concrete, the unpolished large wood elements with greenery sort of over growing it all. The outside jungle is present inside thanks to using large glass panels, and this creates such a unique feeling when you are around. The villa is decorated with plenty of objects and furniture which we absolutely love, and we felt so well and comfortable, as it was almost our house….well, we could keep dreaming, right?  

If you ever going to visit Saõ Paulo, you can find the villa here: Airbnb - Villa Sau Paulo

please send greetings to Paulo from us. Obrigado! one day we will be back! 

picture credits: Rafa-kids - Arek Seredyn

Brazil with kids - part 1 - Olá Rio!

It is exactly a week ago since we came back from our wonderful family trip to Brazil. It will be difficult to show you all, probably absolutely impossible so I will try to do it just step by step, to give you a glimpse. As Brazil is such a huge country, we did not want to be too ambitious and decided to stay around Rio and the South Coast. I will start with a little impression from the marvelous city of Rio…well, can you imagine a city with gorgeous beaches, mountains around it, a lake in the middle and between all this powerful landscape there are different districts, each with his own vibe and atmosphere. Well, that’s not all, imagine it is warm there almost year round and the sky is so blue. I don’t know any other place like that…We decided to stay at Ipanema district, just 2 minutes from the beach, the restaurants, the best ice cream ( what do you think about ginger ones? we got it at Milk frutas Cafe ), and yellow taxis, which become for us the easiest way to travel around…

We took it very slow and decided that one attraction per day is enough for us and for our boys. What are our favorite spots? Botanical Garden! walking in a jungle of greenery, then a trip to Sugarloaf mountain to see the sunset, we joined a food tour ( highly recommended! ) - called Eat Rio. Tom was a wonderful host and we had a chance to visit the local market, try plenty of fruits and juices, and also walk around colorful streets of Lapa…and at the evening we run on the Ipanema beach! I really love walking around the colorful Centro of Rio. The mix of architecture and people is just so fascinating!  We have a feeling that stories about the danger in Brazil are exaggerated. We experience this country as welcomed, warm and very friendly for our family, as people talked and try to connect with us, even we didn’t understand single world! Of course, you will also see the poor and tougher parts of the city, but I think it is good to show that to kids too, and talk about it. The world is not a perfect place, but it doesn’t make it any less fascinating….to be continued…