The Michigan Wedding and The Brazilian Honeymoon

Well, we’re back.  From Michigan, from Brazil and the whirlwind that was our wedding and honeymoon. 

First, the wedding:

Despite Maureen’s contraction of a bug that I got in (I think) Mexico, the week before the wedding went off hitch-less.  The amazing amount of time and energy that Mo and her family put into preparation was evident in the final product — We [almost] didn’t forget at thing.  Centerpieces, favors, decorations, place cards, boutonnieres, bouquets and special touches were headed up by Sandy, Steve, Mo, Jerry and Meaghan — You’d never guess that our wedding was a “budget wedding” by any stretch of the imagination.

Mo arrived the Tuesday before the shindig and I got in early Friday morning — Both of us had our requisite bachelor/bachelorette parties that night.  Nothing too wild.  For me…  Many thanks go to Priest for heading up my night and to Cass for Mo’s.  The two parties eventually merged in the wee hours of the morning (much to a few ladies disdain) but very little damage was done because we had…

The rehearsal luncheon the next day: Noon found us at Twin Lakes to go through the emotions.  This turned out to be quite the college reunion since Amy & Billy, Meaghan & Jerry, Mike Thompson, Cassandra and us two hadn’t all been in the same place in over seven years.  It was hard to get much done with the laughing, hugging and catching up but we eventually found ourselves at Kruse & Muer in Rochester for lunch which, I must say, was an unabashed success.  Witness: Mike’s return love affair with their ’sperm bread’, my niece Mina’s crush on Mike and Jerry and inappropriate pictures drawn on their paper tablecloths.  My parents were mortified.

The wedding took place outside was early next morning and, aside from memorizing the vows, I didn’t have any butterflies.  My groomsmen, er, groomspeople were exemplary — They took care of business in so many different ways.  The bridesmaids were beautiful (and, fine, they were smart too) and helped Maureen look ethereal.  She was a vision coming down the staircase.  The weather was perfect for Michigan at the end of September so we took a bunch of pictures outside and then the wedding party took golf carts to the course for some fun shots – We’ll be getting those back in the next couple of weeks and will share the best of them.

The reception was everything we wanted it to be — Friends from college, high school and other parts of life, family and waitstaff all rejoicing in our ‘not-living-in-sin-anymoredness’.  Our great friend, Billy, played MC and DJ; someone said that we couldn’t pull off an iTunes wedding but, with a couple of hours of careful playlist construction, the music turned out perfect.  Brunch instead of lunch or dinner, pie instead of cake and a wedding afterparty at Mo’s ‘rents place because we couldn’t get enough of our friends and family. 

Simply perfect.  A humongous thank you to everyone involved, everyone who shared in drinking, dancing & being merry and especially to Sandy & Steve for the amazing amount of time they committed to the PhilMo project.

After a brief jaunt back to Los Angeles (with a kidnapped Thom in tow) and LA reception at Tangier we headed to…

BRAZIL

Landed in Rio de Janeiro and jumped in a car to Paraty; a coastal village that used to be a larger port in the early 20th century but is now a vacation spot.  Cobblestone streets, sailboats on the dock and shops and restaurants on every block.  It was charming and serene.  We took a boat around some of the islands and beaches up the coast and a bike ride up a mountain to find some waterfalls but only found pouring rain that made us turn around.  Overall, a peaceful, relaxing few days.

We had to catch a plane from Rio to Manaus (north and inland — on the Amazon River) and spent a night in a hotel on the Copacabana beach.  Nice but brief.  Once in Manaus we boarded a ferry and took a three and a half hour trip up the Amazon to the Ariau Amazon Tower hotel and were greeted with monkeys.  The little bastards were all over the place with their cuteness, little hand-feet and awesome tails.

Absolutely our favorite part of the trip; the stay at the hotel included hiking through the rainforest, swimming with pink dolphins (Botos), visiting a native village, fishing for pirahna , buffets, drinking caipirinhas (made from cachaça) and lounging in hammocks.  Check out the pictures for examples of all of the above.  Highly recommended.

Alas, we had to leave after four days and found ourselves back in Rio.  Very nice but isn’t too much more impressive than the beaches here in California…  Los Angelenos and Floridians might find it less compelling than those of you who are a bit more landlocked and less tropical.  We met up with Tiago Iorc for lunch on Saturday — A rising pop musician in Brazil and JOT fan.  You can check out some videos of him covering Bad For Business and How Much It Hurts.  He and his manager and friend, Bruno, were gracious and talkative with great senses of humor.  We talked about being a musician in South America and spoke of collaborations and giving each other a helping hand in our respective countries.

The rest of the day we spent lounging on the beach, sipping coconut water from coconuts, losing my sunglasses, dining out and having our last round of delicious caipirinhas.  Sunday saw us stretching our legs  and wandering around town; off the beaten path a bit until we had to leave for the airport. 

Nearly twenty hours of traveling in one form or another takes it toll but we were rewarded with Thom’s smile to pick us up from the airport and Isabel shaking her butt uncontrollably when we walked in the door.  Our sleep schedules still aren’t right and we have to keep taking Malaria pills until Halloween to ensure we don’t harbor the parasite (lovely image, huh?) but it’s a small price to pay for an extraordinary couple of weeks.

Some keys to traveling in Brazil: 

• Learn key Portuguese phrases before landing in South America — Very few people speak much English.  Even in tourist spots they might not be able to relate to you
• Drink water when you can and keep a bottle with you to fill when it’s available.  Most of the tap water is filtered but my contain bacteria that us northern hemisphere folks can’t handle
• While we didn’t encounter any situations that made us feel unsafe, keep an eye on your stuff and your surroundings.  Also, know where your passport is at all times — You’ll have a hard time replacing it if it’s stolen or misplaced.  Make photocopies and, if possible, scan it and email to yourself.
• Partake in as much of the culture as you can.  We encountered a lot of Italian restaurants and, as good as they were, we would’ve liked to have more of a genuine, Brazilian cuisine

Check out about 100 Brazil photos on flickr.com here:  Phil & Mo’s Brazilian Adventure.  Wedding photos will be posted when available.

Rehearsal/Wedding photos courtesy of Mike, Cass, Amy and others — Thanks for grabbing ‘em.  I had my hands full.