December 21, 2004
Brazilian Girls of Florianopolis, Brazil
Florianópolis, the capital of the State of Santa Catarina, is located on the west coast of the Ilha (island) de Santa Catarina in southeastern Brazil. This island city is linked to the mainland by the longest suspension bridge in Brazil, the Hercilio Luz Bridge (built in 1926). The city was first settled by Spaniards in 1542, but by 1675 the Portuguese took control of the island, which was founded as Destêrro by colonists from São Paulo. The captaincy of Santa Catarina was created in 1738 to serve as an outpost in the Portuguese-Spanish territorial wars. During the 19th century a considerable immigration of non-Portuguese peoples occurred. Germans arrived as early as 1829 and came in great numbers during the 1850s, settling not only in Florianópolis, but also along the valleys in the mainland. Anita Garibaldi, wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi fought in the Farroupilha Revolution of 1839, an unsuccessful separatist rebellion in the early days of the empire. Destêrro was renamed Florianapolis in 1893 for Floriano Peixoto, a president of Brazil. Its commercial importance began to decrease in the late 19th century as the interior of the state was developed. Later other waves of immigrants from Italy, Poland, and Russia arrived in Santa Catarina to build new lives.
Today Florianópolis is a busy commercial center as well as a popular tourist destination. Industries produce metallurgical and electrical communications equipment, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and perfume. Most of the island is used as a holiday resort, with fine sandy beaches, tropical woods, surfing and snorkeling. The area around Lagoa has some of the best seafood restaurants in South America and arguably the world.
Floripa, however, is knows for it’s beaches. It has over 42 of them! With its small population (just over 300000) it does NOT have the hustle and bustle of Rio or Sao Paulo, yet there are TONS of beautiful, fair skinned Brazilian honies everywhere we went. The nightclubs, the beaches, walking down the streets, you name it. It is largely under the rader for tourists from regions OTHER than South America but you should certainly consider adding this destination to your Brazil itinerary for a spectacular get away.
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Posted by Dan at 2:10 PM | Comments (5)