Hello again,
We began 2026 in Miami. We arrived with Victor and Cesca to move into our new apartment for the first time. We were excited to see what our interior designer, Alexandra, had achieved and we were happily surprised. Pretty much everything had worked out as planned. Maybe the only disappointment was the couch, which was not comfortable, so that will have to be changed.
Here is a photo gallery of the new apartment, The Courts at South Beach, which is a strange name as it is not very close to South Beach!
For New Year’s Eve, the four of us went to Casa Tuo for dinner, which included champagne and a caviar starter. It was delicious. Cesca and Victor looked beautiful:
Then we went to a party at the Miami Soho House at the top of South Beach. It was very busy, of course, but fun. We had a few drinks there, then headed over to our friends Frank and Jaki’s apartment just before midnight. Their apartment has a great view and there we watched the fireworks and raised a glass to 2026.
One of my favourite stores in Miami is Best Buy, which is a big tech store, and I like to go and have a good look around. It was here that I found something I decided I really needed — the Aiper EcoSurfer S1, a solar‑powered automatic robotic pool skimmer cleaner!
For our pool in Boa Vista, the pool gets leaves and small flies floating on the surface. This little robot has a solar‑powered electric motor which drives it around the pool collecting all the debris. How fabulous. But this would cause me some trouble later!
The next big event coming up was Carol’s birthday. Initially she wanted us all to go back to St. Barts, where we were for her last birthday. But Cesca’s dog, Nina, was not allowed permission to fly, so we had to think again. Carol finally decided to try for a third time to get to Key West. It’s a very long drive from Miami. The first time we tried, we were on a big old Harley and we got halfway there, but then decided to head back. The second time we stayed on Little Palm Island for Carol’s birthday and the plan was to head on to Key West, but Cesca had the flu, so we had to head back. Hopefully we would make it this time.
Victor had rented a very nice, big Volvo and off we went. On the way we stopped at a very quaint, family‑run seafood shack‑style restaurant for a snack and a beer. Then on to Key West, we finally made it. We were staying at Sunset Key Cottages on a small island called Sunset Key, just a 10‑minute boat ride west of Key West. It was a delightful little island.
Key West is great fun: many historic old buildings mixed in with fun bars and lots of live music in the evening.
On 9 January we celebrated Carol’s birthday at the fancy hotel restaurant on the island,
...then went into town to dance the night away — or at least part of it!
The 9th of January was also important to me because it was the day that I stopped having my right arm in a sling. My movement was very limited and also very painful. I was to start gentle exercises to begin to regain the range of movement in my right shoulder. My new routine would be to watch The Deadliest Catch at 5 p.m. each day while doing my exercises. At first, I could only lift my arm about 25% of the way from hanging by my side. ☹
The next night was another big event for me — the Green Bay Packers were playing our divisional rivals, the Chicago Bears, in the NFL playoffs. I had done my research and knew which bars would be showing the game, and I got there early to get a seat. I chose the Pickles Pub!
I ended up sharing my table with a big group of Bears fans from Chicago. But it was fun, and the Packers amassed a very big half‑time lead. I did not think we could lose. I headed back to join the others at our little cottage on the island, only to find that the Packers had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory ☹.
A big task we faced back in Miami was to sort out our two large storage rooms full of beds, furniture, art and stuff. Carol had found a lady named Suhey who agreed to take on the whole task for us. We took her down to the storage units for her to assess the job. The plan is for her to sort through it all over four Sundays and sell/auction what we can, keep what we need and donate what we don’t. We were super happy that Suhey had taken on the task.
It was nice to spend some time again in Miami and to spend time getting the new apartment as we want it.
At the end of January, it was time to return to Brazil. Victor and Cesca had returned a couple of weeks earlier with about eight suitcases full of new baby stuff and we had to bring the rest. I think we had one suitcase each, plus four more with baby stuff, plus my new pool robot! I had not opened the box as I thought it would be easier to transport it in the original box, so I wrapped it well in bubble‑wrap and made a nice handle on the top to make it easy to manoeuvre.
We were running a bit late and had to get two large Uber SUVs to get it all to the airport. At MIA, American Airlines has a curb‑side check‑in, thankfully, and we were helped by a lovely lady called Shanell. Free of all the bags, we headed for the priority line, and I was putting my things on the security scanner belt when I heard my name being called. I could not imagine it was for me, so I ignored it initially, but it did not go away. Eventually I saw that the guy calling me was with Shanell and what looked like the box with my pool robot in it! Carol and I had to go back out of the security area to see what the problem was. The problem was the robot battery. Through the bubble‑wrap was visible a label warning about the battery. Shanell explained that the battery would need to be removed or it could not go on the plane. Carol was not happy, as we were already late for the flight. Shanell and her friend insisted that we could remove the battery and all would be well. We were saying “forget it, please have the robot!” but they insisted and we started ripping open the box. By the time we got to the robot, steam was coming out of Carol’s ears! We then insisted that we abandon the thing. Dear Shanell would not give up. She then insisted that I take her number and she would look after the robot until we next returned to Miami. So sweet of her. I pressed $50 into her hand, thanked her profusely and headed back to the security line. By now we were very late and Carol was very unhappy! But the gods smiled on us, as when we checked the screens to find our gate, we saw that the flight was delayed by an hour. Phew! Panic over.
After a couple of days back in São Paulo, we decided to go and lose some weight at our favourite Spa Recanto, set in the countryside a couple of hours’ drive from our apartment. We arrived on 1 February and it was mid‑summer in Brazil, which in the countryside means three things: hot, wet and mosquitos!
It rained heavily every day and it was not fun to be there. So after five days we gave up and returned to the city.
Then it was my turn for a birthday. Carol took me to a fabulous restaurant in the city. Just now, I could not remember the name, but I captured it in my app RestiView, which I just opened to find the review. We went to Chou! which I can fully recommend. I had pork koftas! The restaurant ranks 70/100 in my app — pretty high.
Carol gave me my birthday gifts, a watch and sunglasses, which I modelled that very evening:
On 12 March my lovely daughter Sarah arrived for her second visit to Brazil. She spent a couple of days with us in São Paulo, then the three of us flew up to Rio for Carnival!
We were joined there by Sarah’s friend Nat and my nephew Tom. We rented a nice Airbnb apartment for the kids — as we still call them! Tom is forty‑something! And we checked into the Hotel Emiliano at the far end of Copacabana beach.
The kids hit the beach and the caipirinhas and we relaxed at the rooftop pool, which had a pretty good view.
The next day we took the kids for lunch and to the Copacabana Palace. The hotel is the topic of Barry Manilow’s hit “At the Copa…”. It’s an amazing hotel and it is fun to walk around and see the pictures of all the famous people who have stayed there — not just Frank Sinatra, even Albert Einstein!
Then we had to prepare our outfits for Carnival.
Sunday was the big day. At 10 p.m. we got the coach to the parade stadium for an 11 p.m. start. We arrived to see the school which was celebrating the current (very left‑wing and corrupt) President Lula. There was much controversy about this as the Carnival is not meant to involve politics. It turned out that this school got the lowest marks and was effectively relegated to division 2! Here's Tom and Sarah, the kids!
Carnival is amazing and not really possible to describe — you really have to experience it for yourself.
<< Rio Carnival Video Gallery >>
I think we got home about 5 a.m. zzzzz; the kids even later. There are block parties that start at 8 a.m., so people coming from the Carnival can continue to dance! That’s Brazil.
We left the kids there and returned to São Paulo to sleep. They had a great time and returned for a few more days with us before they headed back to London.
We had a quiet time back in São Paulo, doing my exercises for my shoulder.
I finally decided to address my phone problem, which is that I have three phones: a UK, Brazilian and US phone. I decided to merge the UK and BR phones onto one device with two eSIMs. Carol had just upgraded to an iPhone 17, so I got her old iPhone 16. I had to reinstall all my apps on the 16 and all was well until I tried to merge the WhatsApp accounts. I nearly lost all my UK WhatsApp messages. In the end I got my UK WhatsApp account on the UK iPhone and the BR WhatsApp onto a WhatsApp Business account. But I did lose about two weeks of messages and pictures ☹. Sarah and Yvonne were happy as they inherited my old iPhone 14s.
In March I returned to London for a meeting with my surgeon as I was worried about my shoulder. Before I left Brazil I got an MRI scan done and to me it did not look good. I managed to get an appointment with Toby on the same day I arrived, so I dropped my suitcase in Newmarket and got the train down to London Kings Cross Station:
The news was much better than I had feared. The tendon was still intact and Toby recommended an ultrasound scan and a guided steroid injection between the ball and socket of my shoulder. Now I thought that sounded pretty painful. But my sister‑in‑law, Terrie, informed me that she had had three and they were not painful at all. I did not really believe her and sure enough it was a few minutes of total agony! Thanks, Terrie!
On the ultrasound scan I was able to see the screws and the sutures holding the tendon in place. But the tendon itself looks very thin and weak ☹. Toby was still very positive on the follow‑up call and said to keep going with the exercises; he said it could take six to nine months and we were only in month four.
To forget about the troubles, I then headed to Cheltenham for the annual racing festival. Yet another event that cannot be described — one must experience it!
My friend Minna met me there as well as a few old university friends.
And it was ladies day!
We won some money, we lost some money, we drank Guinness, and look - here is the future! A Self Serve Bar! All you need is a credit card!!
There were 60,000 other race‑goers there at it was great fun. I loved it.
After that Tara and I had a lovely pub lunch at The Bridge, on the river in Cambridge with our cousins Chris and Sue:
Good to see Chris active again after being knocked down by a cyclist and breaking his hip — poor chap!
Back to Brazil and some warmer weather! Then I finally managed to get Carol to join me on something we had been saying we would do for years — a CPR course. It only takes 15–20 minutes and it’s really good and really important.
There is an app from the British Heart Foundation called RevivR which you can download by pasting this link into your browser:
Having done the course, I now feel confident about giving CPR if the need arose and using a defibrillator. I urge you to take 20 minutes and do the same.
The next event was Clara’s wedding. Cesca is married to Victor and his parents are Bela and Ana. Victor’s brother Diego got married last year in Ibiza and now Ana’s daughter Clare is marrying Carlos in Paraty.
The wedding date, 28 March, was just four days before Cesca’s due date, so for a long time we assumed that I would go to the wedding and Carol would stay in São Paulo. Mainly because Paraty is a good six‑plus hours’ drive northeast — it’s about halfway to Rio de Janeiro. But they really wanted Cesca to be there, so the day before she went to see her doctor, who said that he did not think the baby would come early and friends Ana‑Maria and Felepe, offered a ride in their helicopter. Why not!?
On the morning of the wedding, we got up at 7:30 and took a taxi to the heliport at 8:45. At 9:30 we watched a very nice blue helicopter land and Ana‑Maria and Felepe emerged to greet us. It was a very nice helicopter:
Off we went. Paraty is a very historical town and Bela and Ana have a fabulous house there, which we have visited many times. Paraty is set in a very large bay with many beautiful islands. On the way we took a small detour as Ana‑Maria and Felepe wanted to show us the island they had just bought from our friend Leo Slezinger. I’m hoping for an invite!
Videos and pictures from the helicopter ride, Bela's house, the wedding ceremony, the boat crossing to the island and the helcopter ride home, in the dark, can be seen here -->
<< Wedding Video and Picture Gallery >>
We landed at the small private airport in Paraty around 11:00. Rafa was there to meet us and drive us to the house. We had a late breakfast, then Carol wanted to have a nap before we prepared for the wedding. The ceremony was at this lovely big church, just a short walk from the house:
In Brazil all the bridesmaids and partners come in one by one, then finally the bride and the proud father. The proud father was Ana’s previous husband and as Clara had pretty much grown up with Ana and Bela, halfway down the aisle Bela was summoned to share the bride’s remaining trip to the altar. It was a great gesture and there was not a dry eye in the church!
Here is the happy couple on the way out:
It was a hot day, easily 30°C+ and we were quick to jump into a minibus for the short trip to the port, where we walked down to a small fleet of schooners waiting to take us to the wedding party on a private island.
The party was up to the standard of the three previous weddings hosted by Ana and Bela — amazing! After dinner had been served, the sun went down and the music and dancing began. The happy couple opened the dancing with some amazing moves; I discovered later from Clara that they had been practising a lot!
At 8:30 p.m. we jumped on a boat back to the mainland and the waiting helicopter for a night flight back to São Paulo.
It was a very clear night and the ride was fast and happily uneventful.
We said goodbye to Ana‑Maria and Felepe and thanked them for the ride. They jumped into their white helicopter, which was waiting to take them to their country home for the rest of the weekend. I found out that they actually have three helicopters, their preferred mode of transport. Ana‑Maria owns Pão de Açúcar Supermercados in Brazil — like owning Sainsbury’s in England.
We were back home and in bed before midnight! Now that’s the way to do a wedding!
Cesca made it through and she would be the focus of the next event. On Tuesday 31 March, Carol and Cesca headed to the Einstein Hospital in the centre of São Paulo for her appointment to give birth at 7:30 p.m. by caesarean section. All went as planned and soon after Frederico was born — Carol’s first grandson, and my first step‑grandson. I was invited to join the group at 9 p.m. and was surprised to find most of the family already there at the hospital. Cesca and Victor were in the delivery room with the doctors and nurses and we were all in a corridor next to it; there is a window, so we could view the whole thing! I’ve never heard of such a thing!
I was able to see the proud new parents and just a fraction of the baby’s head wrapped up tightly in a blue blanket. Soon after the window went white and the show was over.
Einstein is a wonderful hospital and it was so nice to be there on a happy occasion after Cesca’s near brain surgery scare just a few months ago.
We all headed for the Lebanese restaurant, as most people had not eaten. The younger members could now openly watch their beloved Brazil play Croatia at football on their phones. Bela ordered a bottle of wine and we drank a toast to the new arrival and Brazil’s 2–1 victory! 😊
We then went up to their post‑birth suite where we could finally kiss the new parents and get a good look at Frederico for the first time.
Looks a bit grumpy, but very cute, and he was very calm, sleeping happily as we all cooed over him.
And that brings us to the end of the quarter.
Take care and stay healthy!
Love from Peter