April 15, 2015
Mostaro Restaurant and Craft Brewery
Dinner with a new friend Dalmo. The vegetarian pizza was delicious. Eggplant, zucchini, spinach. Dalmo is the one with the collection of Brazillian songbirds and bulldogs.
Women's Day Out.
Pão de Açucar ( Sugar Loaf ) Hike: Sugar Loaf is a landmark and top attraction in Rio. On Saturday, Cilene, Luiza and I hiked up the first mountain of Sugar Loaf -- Morro da Urca. The second hill is accessible by cable car, or with professional rock climbers. The trail was steep and took us 40 minutes to climb. At the top we relaxed on the shady lawns, ate banana, biscuits and chocolate, and browsed the stores. The 360 degree views were fantastic.
Santa Teresa Arty Neighborhood: In the afternoon we visited Santa Teresa, a neighborhood located on top of the Santa Teresa hill, by the centre of Rio; it is famous for its winding, narrow streets which are a favourite spot for artists and tourists. We had dinner at a restaurant that served cuisine of the Amazon. I can't even begin to describe or name the dishes we had as the names are strange to my tongue.
Anyway, I had this drink made from a fruit called graviola (in English soursop). The fruit is promoted as a cancer cure. The drink is prepared with a hint of garlic -- hardly noticeable until pointed out to me.
Graviola fruit ... milky white color juice.
Taperaba fruit...mango yellowish color juice.
Samba House: The highlight of the evening was visiting a real samba house. Before heading out to the Lapa district in Rio, we had banana upside-down cake that Luiza had bought from a street vendor while in Santa Teresa. We got to Carioca da Gema around 10:30 pm. A lively band of seven male members kept the crowd of dancing nonstop. Carioca da Gema is a genuine samba house - most of the people were locals - everyone sings along with the band and dances samba. The place is known among locals for having high-quality musicians. The entrance fee (no drinks included) was R$30 per person. The place was small and packed. I'm going to guess there were around 70-80 people in there. It was altogether a fun night. We left the house at 2 a.m. The streets were full of revelers and it felt like carnival. Music and people spilling out of restaurants and sidewalk cafes.
Anyway, I had this drink made from a fruit called graviola (in English soursop). The fruit is promoted as a cancer cure. The drink is prepared with a hint of garlic -- hardly noticeable until pointed out to me.
Graviola fruit ... milky white color juice.
Samba House: The highlight of the evening was visiting a real samba house. Before heading out to the Lapa district in Rio, we had banana upside-down cake that Luiza had bought from a street vendor while in Santa Teresa. We got to Carioca da Gema around 10:30 pm. A lively band of seven male members kept the crowd of dancing nonstop. Carioca da Gema is a genuine samba house - most of the people were locals - everyone sings along with the band and dances samba. The place is known among locals for having high-quality musicians. The entrance fee (no drinks included) was R$30 per person. The place was small and packed. I'm going to guess there were around 70-80 people in there. It was altogether a fun night. We left the house at 2 a.m. The streets were full of revelers and it felt like carnival. Music and people spilling out of restaurants and sidewalk cafes.
April 13, 2015
Mambucaba
The beach at Mambucaba seemed to be waiting just for us. It was long and wide, with soft white sand, I walked to the far rocky end with not a soul in sight. We stopped there at mid-day and ate our sandwiches under a young coconut palm. You will love the pictures.
Praia Grande
On the drive back from Paraty, we stopped at a number of places by the water. This little beach shack had the freshest pineapple juice and a cozy hammock. We had the beach to ourselves.
Paraty, Brazil - part 2
Our hotel a few km out of town. We checked in after dark around 7 pm. The pictures were taken this morning. Highlight of breakfast were the papayas.
Paraty, Brazil - part 1
On the road to Paraty, a touristy seaside town south of Rio de Janeiro. We borrowed Andrew's car and drove 300 odd miles yesterday. The highlight of the trip was driving a long and winding road through mountains of dense tropical rain forest.
April 10, 2015
Fruits
Brazil is the Garden of Eden when it comes to fruit. I've been indulging myself with custard apples. The other day we found some beautiful fresh figs. My other favorites are papayas and pineapple.
Those red things are not tomatoes but persimmons. I cleaned the pineapple, by the way!
Copacabana Palace Hotel
An item on Raphael's must-see list was the Copacabana Palace Hotel. He first visited the hotel in 1968. We nursed our drinks for an hour on the restaurant's patio over looking the swimming pool, enjoying the luxurious ambience. The ladies' bathroom was exquisitely decorated in marble and orchids.
Hand-crafted Jeweled Birds of Brazil
In Rio yesterday we had the opportunity of viewing a gallery "Amsterdam Sauer" of the most beautiful birds carved from precious and semi precious stones. The sculptures measured about two feet tall which included the crystals on which they were mounted. Here are a few pictures.
Some of the stones used in the carvings included Quartz, obsidian, jade, jasper, stolomite, tourmaline, onyx, serpentinite, etc.
My favorite is the toucan bird...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)