Unfortunately, my room was right above the restaurant, so I was woken up bright and early by the kitchen staff setting up breakfast.  On a positive note, I was the 1st to arrive breakfast and therefore the 1st to arrive at the pool, so I was able to get the best seat as witnessed by this photo…

Not a bad view, huh?

The hotel pool.

I knew that the next week ahead was going to be filled with lots of activity, thus I decided to just relax for the entire day.  Around midday I went for a stroll along the beach.  Here are some photos from the walk:

One thing that I took note of is the incredible confidence Brasilian women have.  Every single one of them, no matter age or size, exude this enviable lack of self-consciousness.  Having grown up in the States, where girls from an early age develop all sorts of issues with their bodies, it was delightful to see a culture where all bodies are celebrated.  And I could tell that the men loved it too!  I decided that I was going to try and adopt this attitude for the rest of my trip.

My 1st attempt at acting like a Brasilian woman was to get photographed in my bikini (eeek!).

The day came to and end way too quickly and before I knew it I was saying tchau to Porto and heading back to Recife for my evening flight to Rio.  I could have easily spent another week in Porto, but I was excited to finally experience Rio.  I have been wanting visit the infamous city for many, many years!

A view of downtown Recife from the airport.