Holiday in Rio - Part 1: Jardim Botanico

Over the Thanksgiving holiday this year we had a chance to go to Rio.  We were lucky to be able to stay at the apartment of some friends I met when I did my exchange there in September.  Their apartment is right in Ipanema - a great neighborhood.

I love how there are orchids tied to and growing on the trees that line the streets.  With the frequent yet brief rain showers, they get all the water they need and are just gorgeous.












On Thanksgiving we took the bus to the Jardim Botanico - or botanical gardens.  The bus ride there was interesting - taking us all over the city.  The buses in Brazil have a driver, and another person who takes the money.  On this particular bus, the money taker would often fall asleep between stops.











The Jardim Botanico is lovely.  There are so many interesting gardens - including a whole section of Mata Atlantica which is the rainforest that covered most of the Brazil coastline.

We saw large jackfruits.

Orchids.

Walking stick bugs.

There was a pond with turtles and giant fish.

And huge cartoon-esque lily pads!

Some of the leaf carrying ants.

We even some some Tarzan-like vines to swing from.

We ran in to some Brazilian public school kids on a field trip to the gardens.  They were fascinated to meet some American kids and we had fun teaching them some English words.

Good times.

It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving!

A new cooking pot!

One of the joys of learning about new cultures is seeing the different things people cook and they ways they cook them.  When we went to Gravata for the weekend, the woman who came to cook breakfast made a very interesting dish.  She called it couscous - but it's really more of a polenta / cornmeal dish that's steamed into a type of cake.  It is served with butter and milk for breakfast.

It requires a special pot - a couscousiere that of course I had to get. The best souvenirs and memorablia of a place are the things you'll use.

To make it, you mix 2 parts of the couscous / polenta with 1 part of water.  You let it rest for about 10 minutes and then put it in the steamer basket of the couscousiere. 

















The bottom of the pot is filled with water.  It gets steamed for about 10 minutes, then let it rest for about 3 minutes.

Since that weekend, I've made it and served with with stew in place of rice - very yummy!  Since it's a whole grain - it's super healthy and it doesn't need any added fat.  It's great with roasted vegetable and anything saucy.

Sunrise in Recife

Getting up at 4:45 to exercise before starting work at 7 AM has some advantages.  One of them is being able to see so many beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic.

Even the rainy days are glorious!

Exchange in Rio

I've had occasion this week to go to Rio for a work exchange back in September.  It's a great way to see how another post operates and to learn about their best practices and see what can be brought back to Recife.  It's also great to meet other officers that are stationed in Brazil.

And of course - it's also wonderful to get to be in Rio.

What a beautiful, wonderful city!

Since the exchange is just for one week, I want to see as much as I can, as well as get ideas of what to do when we come back as a family.

I got to stay in Ipanema which is a wonderful neighborhood between the beach of the same name, and the beautiful lake.  It's got some wonderful restaurants and sidewalk cafes.

The grocery store is just amazing - it even has a piano player for ambience!

The buildings are nice and charming - I even got to walk by the house that Tom Jobim once lived in!

The first afternoon, I checked out the Jardim Botanico - it was just beautiful!

And then I took the bus over to the Copacabana Beach.  I got an acai to enjoy on the beach.  The fruit is turned into a sort of sorbet and then has guarana syrup poured over it and comes with granola and bananas.  Pretty tasty.

I strolled the Copacabana beach  - it's just wonderful.    The undulating black and white tile is very Rio!

There are many kiosks along the beach that serve food and drinks.

And some have interesting names!

I checked out the famous arches of Lapa and the nearby Escadaria Selarón.  

The artist has been tiling these stairs since 1990 and they are just beautiful.  I love this type of public art - in many ways it reminds me of the Watts Towers.







And - speaking of art - got to visit a very cool and interesting jewelry - art store.  Not only do I love their jewelry, but they also have many other interesting pieces for the home.

I'm saving for this for my guest bath!