Weekend in Paradise

We were able to get away to a fabulous resort for my birthday.  It's a wonderful place south of Recife near Porto de Galinhas.  They give a special rate to all diplomats - which is great and makes it possible for us to go there.






Our room was fabulous

as was the view from our balcony.

Lounging on the balcony

The beach

The reef created a wonderful pool to swim in.

There were various places to lounge

Including our favorite - a bed suspended on ropes!

The pool was amazing . . .

and seemed to go on forever.

We went kayaking.

And lounged around.

The paella was magnificent.

We even had a birthday cake delivered to our room!

We celebrated Brazil's Father's Day.

 

And just had a wonderful time!

Drinking whiskey in Brazil

The national drink of Brazil is the caipirinha.  It's made with cachaca (which is a sugar cane based alcohol similar to rum and tequila), limes and sugar.  It's quite delicious.








But the other drink that is very popular hear is whiskey with agua de coco.  It sounds odd, but it's really quite tasty.  The agua de coco mellows the whiskey and the electrolytes in the agua de coco are very refreshing.

You see people all over having this drink - but not as a served drink like a cocktail.  Instead, the restaurant or bar brings over a bottle of whiskey and leaves it at your table for you to help yourself.  It feels a bit like the old west where you'd have your own bottle.

I've been curious how they handled it.  They put a measuring paper on the bottle and confirm the level with you when the bottle arrives and confirm again when you're done for the evening.  Quite civilized!

The O+N Buffet

Imagine our surprise when K. and I returned from our Saturday morning walk to find this note on our front door.

We dutifully rang the bell (and answered when asked "Who is it?").  The door opened and we were greeted by the proprietors of our new favorite restaurant.

The welcomed us to their place and asked us to choose our table.  There was one nice table set up with a view of the Olympics on TV, and another set up by the window with a lovely view of the ocean.  We chose the table with the ocean view.

Once seated we were presented with a menu for this restaurant.

It all looked delicious.  I particularly like the way the fizzy water is phrased - more Brazilian style (agua com gas).  One of the proprietors came and took our order.

Our food quickly arrived - a basket of fresh muffins, chocolate milk shakes and water with gas.

I was told my muffin was prepared especially for me since it's my birthday month!




















We had such a nice time, we asked the other proprietor to take our picture as we enjoyed this wonderful breakfast.

K. then asked for the bill so we could settle our tab.






The proprietors of the best new restaurant in town -The O+N Buffet!