nicole_3


 * __Diary Entry 3:__**

From Porto Alegre i got on a plane and my next stop was to the state of Santa Catarina to the city of Blumenau. The main reason for travelling to this city is Oktoberfest. Yes, i know that Oktoberfest is in Munich, but the city of Blumenau also has their own. The party began in 1983 and attracts thousands of people from the whole country. I arrived here on a Wednesday, which turns out to be a good thing as every Wednesdays and Sundays there is a traditional parade in Rua XV de Novembro and every night at Vila Germanica people gather to party. The party goes until 1am on weekdays and until 6am on the weekends. Blumenau is known as the beer capital of Brazil and most of the best and biggest local breweries have stands in the party and delicious food, such as the stuffed potatoes. Many languages are spoken in Santa Catarina, such as portugues, old german, italian, polisch and japanese. The people of Blumenau are very hospitable and the tourism industry has grown substantially over the last few years. Therefore there are many visitors centres, making it easy for an Australian to have a fantastic stay without the language barriers and cultural differences making it difficult to navigate my way around the city and the event. I hear that its not only a good time to come to Santa Catarina in October, as throughout the year the state is animated with various ethnic, religious and cultural festivities that reaffirm the happy and relaxed manner of the people from Santa Catarina. __**Rua XV de Novembro (Main street in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil during Oktoberfest**__

References:
- http://wikitravel.org/en/Blumenau - http://www.sc.gov.br/conteudo/santacatarina/turismo/contrasts/festivals.html - Photo from [|www.flickr.com]