Day 1 – Friday (15/11/2013)
We left Rio de Janeiro around 1pm and hit the road towards Nova Friburgo. This was a special holiday, with a wedding for some college friends and a meeting with over 20 friends at the 2 hotels we had booked in the city. We took the route that goes through Teresópolis and arrived there after 3 hours, a good amount of time considering that holidays in Rio are always chaotic.
We stopped on the road to admire the Dedo de Deus, a famous rock formation in Serra Fluminense.
We arrived hungry and without much knowledge of the city, since we hadn't looked at the hotel map and didn't have a GPS. Luckily, we ended up in the city's main square, Praça Presidente Getúlio Vargas. We saw several snack stands and they looked so appetizing that we decided to stop there.
But we followed the advice of our friend who is from Nova Friburgo and went to the best Japanese restaurant in town, Tunney (http://www.tunneyrestaurante.com.br/), but unfortunately it was closed. We decided to go back to the square and have a snack there, since we had already booked a fondue buffet with our friends for around 8 pm, which helped us to stave off our hunger.
Our Hosting
We left the square and went to our hotel, recommended by the bride and groom. We stayed at Mount Everest, which is very close to the square where we were staying and very close to the city's cable car. We found the location to be great and the cost-benefit to be fair. Simple, cheap, and tidy.
We left the car and bags at the hotel and walked to the cable car area, as it was very busy with the 9th Flower Festival. Several stands with shops, food stalls and many tables with chairs outdoors, with a very pleasant climate.
From there we went to the fondue restaurant, highly recommended by my friend from Nova Friburgo, Oca Maloca (http://www.ocamaloca.com.br/) . The buffet per person costs R$$65 and was very well served. There was meat, chicken, cheese and then chocolate, with several delicious fruits. We chose to go there because we needed a large table for more than 20 people, but I read that the fondue buffet at Le Bon Bec (http://www.lebonbec.com.br/ ) is also very good.
Day 2 – Saturday (11/16/2013)
Our friends' long-awaited wedding day! What happiness and anticipation…
We met our friends in the breakfast room and were greeted by lots of cakes and delicious snacks. Nothing like a hotel breakfast, right?
After breakfast, we started to decide where to go in the afternoon. We had to be back at the hotel by 5pm to get ready for the wedding, so we decided to visit a waterfall in Nova Friburgo, in the Cascatinha neighborhood, inside the Juarez Frotté Municipal Park. (put the Zero Grau restaurant in your GPS and it will be easy to get to)
We spoke to the hotel receptionist and even stopped by the city's Tourism Center, located in Praça Presidente Getúlio Vargas, and everyone told us to go to Lumiar, because that's where the best waterfalls in the region are. We were afraid that we would be pressed for time, because it would take us 1 hour to get to Lumiar and 1 hour to get back, so we ended up staying in the city.
We got there in less than 30 minutes, thanks to the GPS, and the trail took less than 10 minutes, which was perfect timing for us. We spent a few hours there relaxing and chatting, with very few people around.
We left there and went to have lunch at the restaurant that my mother-in-law recommended in Muri, Viva Rô (http://www.vivaro.com.br/). We got there and, unfortunately, it was packed, but we were the first in line. We decided to wait and after waiting in line for half an hour, we finally got in. To our surprise, we opened the menu and, boom: the restaurant DOES NOT ACCEPT CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS! Now the question that everyone wants to ask: Why didn't the woman who took our names to put on the waiting list tell us beforehand? What the hell?
We left there angry and hungry and decided to go and visit Le Bon Bec (http://www.lebonbec.com.br/ ), which was close by and we were able to reserve a table for everyone (we got the phone number from Google). The restaurant was relatively empty and the menu was delicious, with lots of fish, meat and pasta options. We ordered several starters and then the main courses. They were all delicious. The service was amazing too.
It was just the right time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the long-awaited wedding. What a beautiful event! We ended the day with a flourish.
Day 3 – Sunday (17/11/2013)
We woke up with a huge hangover and had a great time at the hotel breakfast. We definitely lost money. We did check out and we went to buy lingerie on the road that leads to Lumiar, a little off the road to Teresópolis. Several cute and cheap little shops.
Amazing: GOOD set of bra and panties for less than R$30! Several panties for R$4, R$5…I had a blast! I recommend the Tiê store (http://www.tielingerie.com.br/site_2013/). Try to pop over there 😉
Summary: I found the city to be very tidy, with a pleasant atmosphere and great prices for lingerie. The restaurants we went to were wonderful in every way, especially the service. It's so nice to be well served, right? I was almost forgetting how good it is, given that in Rio that's so rare. The waterfalls I saw on the websites look very interesting, so I recommend visiting Lumiar. Anyway, if you want to visit the waterfalls in Nova Friburgo, you can go to Cascatinha or Cão Sentado (a 1-hour steep climb). See more information here:
