August 25,

Well, the stars were covered with the clouds,except for the four stars that were peaking out in openings. I still think the retractable roof is a really cool idea. Anyway, we were up and ready for the day by 0800. We had our Javas and some items that were here – ½ of a bag of cheese bread balls that we cooked up in an air fryer and a small loaf of a kind of coffee cake, chocolate chip and carrot – think of carrot cake. It worked for me. Jeff was undecided on it. But he definitely doesn’t like the cheese balls here in Brazil. We also had some coconut yogurt. While we were eating I saw two Toco toucans fly into a bare tree! There have been lots of different bird calls all around our place up here. The place is located on the ridge of a hill looking down onto Pouso Alto.

Around 1000, we went out. We were going out to explore, go to a cheese farm, and get me some coffee beans. On the way to the farm the roads kept getting smaller, but Google got us there. The way there is also part of the Estrada Real circuit, that we have loosely been following. We passed by an abandoned railroad track (knew it was not in use as there were trees going in between the rails!) We arrived at the cheese farm, Queijaria Cinquenta Produto Artesanal, by 1030 and were greeted by a large white dog followed shortly by the owner, Leandro. He explained that his place is named after the old stretch of train track we just saw. His farm is at the 50 km mark of the railway. He then gave us a tour starting out stating that he and his wife, “Lou- she’s the production manager,” came from Rio and have been in operation for 8 yrs. First he led us to the production area, adding they use 600 L (158 gallons) of milk/day! We saw his wife in her element here. Leandro then took us down into the holding/aging area for the Parmesan-type cheese they do. It is aged six months minimum. He said some people special order it aged for one to two years!

Then we went back to the staging area for the tasting. He presented four kinds of cheeses: a Brazilian, labeled Sereno; a Brie-type, labeled Brisa and a winner of gold medal at a fair; a Camembert-type, labeled Geada; and a Parmesan-type, labeled Estacao. He also had some Manteiga-butter that we tried. They all were fantastic! We bought one each of the Sereno, Geada and the Estacao cheeses. Leandro made some coffee and I had a small cup – pleasantly surprised how well the coffee went with the cheese! We spent 134 BRL, or $26.56 and thanked Leandro, who spoke English well.

Moving on, the next stop was in São Sebastião do Rio Verde and stopped at Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião (church), going inside. It was not large, but it had a fantastic dark, wood ceiling with an outline of a cross in a lighter colored wood and some good stained-glass windows. We then drove to São Lourenço (per recommendation by Leandro) to Unique Cafe, Specialty Coffee Factory. They did coffee tours and so much more. I just went to their coffee selection, translated and chose one called Tiger, described as “notes of chocolate, hazelnut, citric acidity, creamy body, long finish of bittersweet chocolate and toasted caramel.” Wow, it was great!! By the time I finished, had them grind it and bought it – I was triple caffeinated! Actually, I was jittery and had been having some acid reflex since my second cup of Joe at the cheese farm! Definitely over my limit of caffeine!!

We drove back to Pousa Alta and stopped at the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição. It was even smaller but still had good stained-glass. We can see the church from our place and hear the clock striking the hour.

We left, went to the store, and arrived back at our place shortly. I iced my knee and we called it, as now I was crashing – the caffeine was vacating my system! We had supper of a salad, some cheese (not what we had bought at the farm), and crackers. I managed to stay up until 2200. It was a great day!