Florianópolis is definitely not a "touristy" city in the same way that Rio is, but it's a lovely city that is also near the water and actually on a separate island from the rest of Santa Catarina State. One thing to note is that since it's not as touristy, not as many people speak English there. I was still able to get along fine with my minimal Portuguese and pretty good Spanish. Florianapolis is friendly and has an interesting history. One spot that really told a lot of the history was the Museu de Florianópolis (https://www.sesc-sc.com.br/museudeflorianopolis/portal/), which is a trilingual museum, with all written or audio/visual things in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. It was also very interactive.
Another thing I enjoyed was visiting the Beiramar Shopping Mall which is not normally my thing to do while traveling, but there were lots of nice stores and restaurants. Personal favorites were Farm Rio, a clothing store, and Madero Steak House.
My partner and I traveled to Rio de Janeiro and we had an amazing time. Brazil is one of the Blackest countries in the world and definitely in the Western Hemisphere, so there was no shortage of Black and brown people. We took a really wonderful informative tour called Little África and the Urban Quilombismo, which was an Airbnb experience (https://air.tl/4tQzE5Ja). The tour discussed African heritage, experiences of racism and intolerance, and history of enslavement in Rio de Janeiro. The host/guide Luana was so kind and helpful and very knowledgeable.
Florianópolis is definitely not a "touristy" city in the same way that Rio is, but it's a lovely city that is also near the water and actually on a separate island from the rest of Santa Catarina State. One thing to note is that since it's not as touristy, not as many people speak English there. I was still able to get along fine with my minimal Portuguese and pretty good Spanish. Florianapolis is friendly and has an interesting history. One spot that really told a lot of the history was the Museu de Florianópolis (https://www.sesc-sc.com.br/museudeflorianopolis/portal/), which is a trilingual museum, with all written or audio/visual things in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. It was also very interactive. Another thing I enjoyed was visiting the Beiramar Shopping Mall which is not normally my thing to do while traveling, but there were lots of nice stores and restaurants. Personal favorites were Farm Rio, a clothing store, and Madero Steak House.
My partner and I traveled to Rio de Janeiro and we had an amazing time. Brazil is one of the Blackest countries in the world and definitely in the Western Hemisphere, so there was no shortage of Black and brown people. We took a really wonderful informative tour called Little África and the Urban Quilombismo, which was an Airbnb experience (https://air.tl/4tQzE5Ja). The tour discussed African heritage, experiences of racism and intolerance, and history of enslavement in Rio de Janeiro. The host/guide Luana was so kind and helpful and very knowledgeable.