Parati, Brazil 4-13-07

We spent this past weekend in Paraty with 8 other couples.  We walked, shopped, ate and enjoyed Saturday on a boat cruising the ocean and bays near Paraty.  It was wonderful swimming in the ocean, seeing the beautiful coastline and visiting with friends.  Paraty, also spelled Parati, is a lovely colonial town, 125 miles from Rio de Janeiro on Ilha Grande Bay, Brazil's southeastern coast. It lies on the border between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states. It's a favorite with Brazilians and visitors who want to get away from it all in an historic town, laze on one of the many beaches, and indulge in a restful vacation. In the 1700's when the mines of Minas Gerais were pouring out gold, the perfect bay of Paraty was a busy port, the second most important in Brazil during the Ciclo de Ouro, or Golden Century. It was a hard overland trip, though, and when a new road was built to another port in Espiritu Santo state, Paraty was all but forgotten. This stage of oblivion or neglect is what kept so many of the colonial buildings pretty much as they were when the last gold-laden ship sailed for Portugal. Old town, the historic center is a national historic monument. Closed to vehicles, the streets and buildings are preserved.