If you want to see where we're staying in Natal...

Combine being in a beach town - and for the World Cup - and it should be easy to understand why I've not been online much to post updates. Add to it that the only internet access we have is on the roof of the 30-story condo building we're staying in, which is not the most convenient. 

The beach is about a mile from our place, which we found through airbnb. First, the place... Corias de Ponte Negra. 

The photo above is from the main street that leads to the beach area...it's pretty quiet during the day, but a couple of the side streets turn lively at night with people setting up food tents to cater to those leaving the dozen or so bars, some of which use the street as their outdoor patio. Our place is the one on the left with the yellow decor. The other day we saw little monkeys on the wall on the left, but we mostly have been surprised by the number of stray cats. 

There's 24-hour security in this really nice complex, which has well cared for landscaping, a neat pool, and with at least one tennis and volley ball court. The view to the east (ocean) is pretty spectacular... 

There are little shops and markets on some streets down there. We've put some miles on our feet checking things out. We've not yet found anything threatening, though the unfamiliarity does give us more comfort walking in groups. Kieran snapped this photo as we were walking back to the place. 

Behind us we have a soccer stadium for the local team called ABC Natal. We hear and see them practicing every morning. 

Inside, on the 22nd floor, is the place. It appears to us as a nice middle-class type condo, and it's served is purposes in giving a place to crash. Perhaps not the most comfortable at times because it doesn't have air conditioning, and we've had a couple of pretty warm and muggy nights. And despite at times having a nice breeze blow through, there's really only one big window - and with the torrential rains that seem to pop out of nowhere, you have to keep the windows closed otherwise. 

That couch has been Curtis's bed for the week. Some days when the sun has been blaring we have early wake ups, because even with the window open and curtains closed, it's too hot to sleep. 

The place has three bedrooms, one with a full size bed and two others with twin-sized trundle beds. Clint and Ashley have one of these rooms, Brett has another, and this is the 'room' that me and Kieran are sharing. I've taken the tiny lower bed. 

The kitchen is fine. We went to the grocery story the first day thinking we'd be cooking more, but aside from one spaghetti dinner and a couple of breakfasts, it's been mostly used to make coffee, ham and cheese sandwiches, and hold our beers and dozens of bottles of water. 

Behind the kitchen is a laundry room. We did a load of a laundry the other day, and since they don't have a dryer, we hung our clothes, which took two full days to dry (see above, not much breeze / muggy).

The roof is fantastic, which although doesn't have a finished pool, does have a fitness room but more importantly Internet access and amazing views.