Lagoa and Barra da Lagoa

Happy anniversary, Florianopolis!

On March 23 Santa Catarina´s capital celebrated another anniversary. The city is 284 years old and we commemorated with Floripa´s best: going to the beach. Since the kids were out of school, we all went to Lagoa da Conceicao (the island´s biggest lagoon) and Barra da Lagoa, on the eastern coast of the island. Here are some pictures of these two pieces of paradise:

View from Lagoa´s Hill of Lagoa da Conceicao and Joaquina beach further in the back.

A quiet day at Lagoa da Conceicao.

Rendeiras.

An artesan doing "Renda de Bilro", a very popular art in Florianopolis. It´s been in our culture for a couple of hundreds of years and it used to be passed from mother to daughter. Back then, the men were fishermen and the women used to stay behind, waiting from them, doing "rendas" and socializing.

But with the industrialization, the art started to die. Now the piece of "rendas" and the "rendeiras" (the artisan women) are along the Rendeiras Avenue in Lagoa for tourist to see. It takes too long and too much effort to do a piece of this art, therefore it is not worthy for the women to sell them. Too bad, because it is a beautiful art and huge part of the island´s customes.

Vitor and Carol enjoying this beautiful day!

FROM WIKIPEDIA:
It is a district located within a large lagoon of the same name near the centre of Florianopolis. The area has a small town centre, with a medical clinic, post office, pharmacies, supermarkets, boutique stores and specialty shops. The town gets particularly crowded during the Brazilian summer vacation month of January and February.

Still the lagoon, seeing the other side.

After Lagoa, we drove by Mole Beach, famous for its good surfing conditions. Down the hill we encountered Barra da Lagoa Beach. This is a more calm one, perfect for families. There are a variety of shops and restaurants and this beach gets pretty busy on weekend and holidays.

The Canal da Barra is a channel connecting the lagoon to the ocean.

Pleasure fishing with "tarafa", a net to catch fish.

This is still a very popular practise on the island.

Althought today was the first autumm day in Brazil, the temperatures were high: almost 30 degrees.

Pousadas are the cheapest way to stay here. They are like hostels, generally owned by local families. The prices go from $20 to $100 a night and the places normally serve breakfast. Great deals!

Another fishermen using a rod.

Another view from the Canal (channel).