When people ask what we did there, the answer is, not much really.
Mostly my fondest memories of Gramado was the hotel and small town charm.
If you want to experience the best hotel service of your life, for an affordable price, look no further than Varandas Das Bromelias.
The whole hotel felt like the owner was given an opportunity to create his/her dream hotel. It featured random delicious food everywhere, and the hotel also sold boutique glassware that the owner created. Caiqian is now inspired to take up creative glassfusing, and we will both forever be spoiled by the free cakes and champagne the hotel supplied.
If you want to experience the best hotel service of your life, for an affordable price, look no further than Varandas Das Bromelias.
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| Varanda Das Bromelias Boutique Hotel |
The whole hotel felt like the owner was given an opportunity to create his/her dream hotel. It featured random delicious food everywhere, and the hotel also sold boutique glassware that the owner created. Caiqian is now inspired to take up creative glassfusing, and we will both forever be spoiled by the free cakes and champagne the hotel supplied.
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   Free food, everywhere! |
At the recommendation of the hotel desk clerk, we went to a fondue place, Petit Clos, our first night. It wasn't as good as our Swiss fondue experience, but there was quite the selection of sauces to dip from (14 by my count).
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 Petit Clos |
When we came back, we were in for a surprise. Another hidden benefit of our hotel was the special setting that they setup on the first night!
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   First night at the hotel surprise. |
The following morning we got to see the mess in the light of day. Fortunately, we didn't have to clean it, we simply went downstairs to enjoy the best breakfast brunch this world has ever seen! Keep in mind when you see the pictures below, there are only 17 rooms in the hotel, and maybe half of those were being used. More food for us!
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    Best Morning Ever |
Another lesson Gramado taught me was the deliciousness of "creamy cheese" like Requeijão, which somehow takes the best qualities of cheese and butter.
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| Requeijão (n thblue bowl to the right) is amazing |
We couldn't spend our whole stay in the hotel however. Caiqian and I did plenty of exploring around the rest of the town.
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  Walking Around Gramado (look at the wool seat coverings!) |
One finding that we didn't expect is that everyone in Gramado has fur covering any and every seat around town, which was super comfortable. Caiqian and I decided to benchmark this genius idea, and brought some back for our new house!
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 Caiqian and I got seat cushions from Artesano Sul Brasil |
One question we had about Brazil is if there were many restaurants like Fogo de Chao in the United States. In retrospect, the answer seems to be that most restaurants in South America are like those in the United Sates. That said, we did go to a churrascaria like Fogo de Chao named El Corbero. One thing to note is that you shouldn't leave food on your plate. Caiqian and I were shocked more than once when we had our plates taken from us despite there being plenty of food scraps left on the plates. Eat quick, or don't eat at all!
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   El Corbero |
If there was one "attraction" we did in Gramado, it would have to be seeing Mini Mundo, essentially a large mini scale model collection of cities in Germany.
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| Mini Mundo |
One neat thing was that the descriptions on the signs gave us an opportunity to test out google translate phone app which translates the photo. Hooray for modern technology!
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| Google Translate in action |
Overall the mini sculptures were very detailed, but would we come again? No.
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    Mini Mundo Sculptures |
But you know what? This was our honeymoon, and we enjoyed relaxing, we had time for adventures in Buenos Aires (our next city).
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| My Favorite Exhibit |
On our last night we got to experience the joy of complimentary transportation to our last restaurant, La Table D'Or Mediterranee. This restaurant was "fancy", but I think the real takeaway that blew me and Caiqian's minds was when they served soup in a cup. It made so much sense, why didn't we think of that?
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     La Table D'Or Mediterranee |
Well that's enough of Gramado. It was overall very relaxing, and the hotel will remain our best hotel experience for decades to come, I'm sure. Next up, the adventurous bustle of Buenos Aires!
