When the new woman in your life asks you to meet her family, it’s usually a straightforward affair involving parents and perhaps an overprotective brother or two. But things can get pretty involved when you’re dealing with Brazilian Catholics who’ve lived in the same town for more than a century. Consequently, on the first of four trips in five years to Brazil, I got to “meet the family”—about 70 cousins, aunts, and uncles (mostly of Portuguese and Italian background), plus brothers—on the 80th birthday of my namorada Lili’s mother.

Petrópolis, the town in question—located a one-hour drive from Rio de Janeiro—has a peculiar history. It was founded in the craggy mountain range above Rio almost 200 years ago, after Emperor Pedro built his summer palace there. (The heavily forested Serra dos í“rgí£os are typically about 10 degrees cooler than the then-capital of Rio.) Ol’ Pete never lived in the palace, which is now a handsome regional museum with horse-drawn carriages waiting outside. Before the imperial phase ended, son Pedro II, for whom the town was eventually named, helped develop the urban centre. He was aided by German builders, farmers, and—most importantly—beermakers.

Among the roughly 320,000 residents of what’s still known as the Imperial City, there remains a predilection for bland food and Bavarian architecture. The Germanic influence is visible in neighbourhood names like Bingen and Mosela, and especially in the neo-Gothic Sí£o Pedro de Alcí¢ntara Cathedral, which looms over a lush, heavily treed landscape that’s crisscrossed with deep canals. A bit further up the ancient main drag is another tourist attraction, the white-gabled Casa de Petrópolis. Full of exotic woods, quirky murals, and 19th-century innovations, this museum was the first house in the area to have electricity; it also happens to be the ancestral home of Lili’s clan. The original stables have been turned into a restaurant called Bordeaux, which offers decent food and bad service, and enough garden space to accommodate all those relatives. The house hosts frequent concerts of classical and Brazilian chorinho music.

Cruising with such an established familia gave me ample chance to get to know the area. Other highlights include the English-style Crystal Palace, the massive Quitandinha Hotel (once the largest casino in Latin America), and the house of Alberto Santos-Dumont, the aviator who beat the Wright brothers in the invention of the self-propelled airplane but flew the superior aircraft a little later and thus lost the PR race. But the real fun is outside the main city.

Even with family cars available, I find the switchback road north from Rio best navigated by the air-conditioned buses that run between cities every 15 minutes. To the east of this easygoing place are Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo, the towns most affected by the January mudslides, which killed more than 900 people and displaced around 35,000 more. They also affected the hillside shanties above Correias and Itaipava, the gentle valley suburbs to the immediate north of Petrópolis.

The many nice restaurants and pousadas, or country hotels, in this less-developed, virtually crime-free region—comfortingly familiar to B.C.ers who normally vacation in the Okanagan—were largely unaffected by the sludge. They’ve been hurt by the perception of damage, however, with fewer travellers than usual making summer treks to the verdant mountains.Such events should normally result in good deals for new visitors, but the combination of a weakening Canadian dollar and a steadily strengthening Brazilian real has led to a surprising jump in prices across the (room and) board. This puts costs at about par with travelling in the U.S. or western Canada, although there’s no way to duplicate the unique quality of life along highway BR-040.

Among the most appealing places in Itaipava—known for the same-named cerveja—are numerous spots where giant hoodoos overlook sunny plateaus. At the Pousada das Araras, around $200 a night will get you a cabin, a swimming pool, and access to a restaurant overlooking lovely rolling terrain that invites long walks and horseback riding.

Another favourite foodie stop is at the Pousada da Alcobaí§a. This 100-year-old villa in Correias has been turned into a hotel and gourmet haven by charming owner Laura Góes, who oversees a huge, colonial-style kitchen specializing in fresh farm fare. You can’t stay at the Trutas do Rocio, which is just a rough-wood dining room, but apart from using your own fishing gear, it’s hard to imagine a nicer place to find trout than those pulled daily from the stream running right outside this rough-wood dining room.

Itaipava also boasts a modern mall and a huge farmer’s market with considerable organic content, plus good, by-the-kilo buffet restaurants. In short, it’s a welcoming region for Brazilophiles ready to get beyond the stereotypes of beach and samba, and well before the World Cup and Olympic onslaughts coming up. Of course, it helps when an in-law’s kitchen beckons.

ACCESS: Departing from Vancouver, it’s hard to hit Rio de Janeiro in less than three flights and 24 hours. Petrópolis is one hour from Rio, and your B.C. driver’s license is acceptable. Our spring and autumn—the seasons are opposite down there, remember—offer the most pleasant weather. Obtain a visa in advance through the recently opened Vancouver consulate. For basic tourist info, visit the Brazil Travel website and the Brazil Tourism website. Please don’t speak Spanish.