I woke up in Vila Velha, a city I didn’t even suspect existed a couple of weeks ago; next to Vitória, the capital city of Espírito Santo, a state I only had vaguely heard about.
Exploring a new place is a treat for travellers. Sure, it’s scary and confusing but it’s also super exciting, kind of like starting a new life from scratch.
Life starts with coffee. Just as well, I remembered there was a padaria around the corner.
“Hi, Juliette!”
Wait, what? Oh yeah, I was asked to introduce myself the night before when I bought bread… Observations #1 on Vila Velha—people are friendly and apparently, there are no out-of-state (let alone foreign) tourists around.
I headed to Praia do Canto because the beach is always the easy option when you’re not sure where you’re going. I mean, if you spot something blue, it’s the ocean, ta-da!
Except it wasn’t exactly beach weather. It wasn’t cold, although colder than in the Nordeste, but it was very, very cloudy.
I started walking along the beach.
It started raining.
The beach was almost empty but the few people I passed or saw didn’t seem to mind the rain. Observation #2, Vitória may be a rainy place. I suspected as much because it was cloudy on all the pictures I found online—taken by real people, not the tourism industry…
I kept on walking, passing a few beach restaurants and fishermen standing behind giant buckets or angry-looking crabs—the “fuck, they’re going to eat us for dinner” version, not the cute “eh, take a picture of me on this amazing beach” version I saw in the Nordeste.
Okay, this was probably Praia dos Pescadores. Next up, Praia de Itapoã—Brazil is one, long beach…
I turned around pretty fast, though. Not only it was raining harder but it didn’t feel super safe. The beach and sidewalks were empty with run-down buildings on the side. This is the hardest part of exploring new city, knowing where it’s safe to go and when it’s not. Maybe I was just paranoid, but no point in taking too much risk.
Observation #3, streets are quite empty in Vila Velha. Nothing wrong with them, mind you—mostly condos, the usual mix of residential buildings and shops, but very few people in the street. In fact, I couldn’t really find a gathering point. Every city has one—a street full of bars, a busy mall, the waterfront, an open-air market… Where do people hang out in Vila Velha?
Observation #4, people are friendly and super helpful around here. Not that people aren’t friendly in other parts of Brazil, and maybe this is just an “okay, let’s entertain the fool who obviously has no idea how things work around here,” but everyone is chatty, proud to live here and forthcoming with tips—I should spend about a year or two here if I go through the long list of “must go” paces. There is no such thing as a simple transaction, I pretty much have to introduce myself everywhere.
The rain eventually stopped and I found out the northern tip of Praia da Costa is busier than the rest of the beach. I enjoyed the atmosphere then went grocery shopping.
Observation #5, prices are weird here. Some stuff is super cheap and other weirdly expensive. For instance, I only paid 45 reais ($9) for the long taxi ride from the airport, crossing the bridge to a different city, but Coke is almost 6 reais for a can when it’s often 4-5 reais in other parts of Brazil. Yogurt and cheese are also more expensive, but bakeries and comida por kilo isn’t. On the plus side, there are about one million padarias around, each with a selection of bread, groceries, dessert, comida por kilo lunch, etc.
Observations #6, Vitória and Vila Velha are old cities with old buildings and old apartment. I’m lucky, my Airbnb is one of the few renovated apartments I found, but I have the old air-con model again. “Oh, the Rio de Janeiro air con units!” Feng noted. They manage to be both noisy and cool off absolutely nothing. Many parts of the Nordeste boast new, modern condos with updated appliances, I was spoiled.
Observation #7, it’s very humid and not breezy at all here. Nothing dries. I used to dry towels using the (efficient) air con for a couple of hours in the Nordeste, but I can see everyone around hangs laundry on balconies and I swear I’ve been seeing the same clothes drying for days. “Do you have a hairdryer?” Feng asked me. “Nope, but I used the old fan hack,” I replied.
It’s fine, I can adapt. Plus, I have a long list of must-see places and plenty of time to figure things out.
