On December 29th we drove to Canela (cinnamon) to see their famous waterfall. to get to the falls you had to hike down 767 steel stairs. By the time we got to the bottom this old grandma's legs had turned to spaghetti.

Curt just glided up the steps.

This is a Parana pine tree, they grow all over the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It has upturned branches that have tufted ends. It is sometimes called the candelabra tree. They harvest pine nuts from it in the winter June/July that are delicious, and look a little like a Brazil nut.

In Gramado and Canela there were wild hydrangeas growing everywhere.

It was breathtaking!

It was wonderful to get out in nature.

We felt like we recharged our batteries for sure.

We are so happy to have Danielle with us is in Brazil to celebrate Christmas. We drove up to Gramado, a German town famous for it's Christmas celebrations. We enjoyed very much having a mini vacation, strolling around the town, and seeing all of the festive decorations.

We went to a fireworks show that night called Nativetaten. The show had 4 tenors and 3 sopranos in little floating gazebos on a lake. There was a choir of 100 voices and lots of Christmas Carols and art projected on a huge screen, all celebrating Jesus' birth. Surprisingly the majority of the songs were sung in English. We enjoyed it very much!

All is merry and bright!

In Brazil, nothing says Christmas more than fireworks.