Cooking in Rio

Posted on November 13, 2012 by sphnh

Our last day in Rio de Janeiro the weather was pretty grim. Instead of slugging around outside in the rain we signed up to go to a Brazilian cooking class. The class is run by a lady named Simone out of her apartment. She has a beautiful kitchen out on her veranda and she runs classes for small groups.

We took the class with a couple from Tennessee in Rio for work. They were lovely and we got along very well with them. There were a lot of laughs and lot of talk about good food over 5 hours. Don't worry Michael, Strat made a deal with them to trade some bourbon for something Australian!!

Simone trained as a chef in Germany before coming back to Brazil. She knows a lot about local Brazilian food and is a wealth of information about anything to do with food. We picked up quite a few helpful tips, including the benefits of citrus fruits and spice in meals.

For appetisers we first had a cheese much like haloumi but not as salty that Simone fried on the stove. She covered it in a spicy peach marmalade and it was delicious. Next was a dish called cassava. It is a root much like a potato, but is full of fiber instead of starch and has a much fuller flavour. (Patricia you should see if they sell it in Sydney). First she boiled it and then fried it in oil on the stove. A great tip she taught us is to drop a match in the oil and when the oil has heated to 400 degrees the match will ignite and you know it is hot enough for cooking.

Then of course we had to make some drinks to go along with the appetisers. A classic Brazilian drink is the caprinhia. Squashed lime, sugar and cachaca. very similar to a margarita in taste but 10 times stronger because it is pure alcohol. Honestly you need one drink and you will be on the floor.

Next was the preparation of the main course. First we made fried bananas. We caramelised onion, threw in the bananas and covered it all in flour made from the cassava. That was set aside.

Next was the rice. Strat fried garlic and then added the rice and fried it. Simone poured in palm oil and then soaked the fish in the mixture for 10 minutes to cook with some green and red peppers.

The meal was absolutely amazing. Simone is going to email us the recipe so we can attempt to make it at home.

During the meal we had talked about all the things to do in Rio. We had heard about the Impressionist exhibition being here and really wanted to go if we had time. William and Elizabeth expressed interest as well, so after dinner we shared a taxi to the museum. Having this exhibit all the way from Musee D'Orsay in Paris is a huge deal for people in Rio. The government has made it free so anyone rich or poor can go. During the week day it is open 24 hours a day because it is so popular.

We were blown away by the exhibit. There were many more painting than we had expected with pieces by Monet and Van Gogh and Pissaro. Monet's famous 'waterlilies' was there. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

It was a fantastic way to wrap up our time in Rio. If only we could stay longer!

PS – photos should be up in a few days for this post and the one before. Internet on the island is too slow to upload them here so we will try in Sau Paulo.

Oh cheese how we love you

Fried cassava, yum!

Everyone took a turn cooking something

Our delicious dinner

Only picture at the art museum we could take

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The Whole Spectrum

Posted on November 10, 2012 by sphnh

Well, today was the probably the most interesting day Strat and I have had on this trip . We saw both sides of Brazilian life, from the streets of a favela to the catwalk of high fashion.

We didn't plan it, things just happen when you open your mind and make friends with everyone you meet.

First was the tour of the favela. There are many favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the result of oppression of groups of people decades ago and the continued large gap between poor and rich. The rich live near the beaches, the poor in the heat of the hills. We had thought of going to the city centre to see more of the museums, but a suggestion from one of the girls at reception changed our minds. The tour that she recommended is from a guy that was born in a favela and still lives there, working 3 jobs, never completed high school, and doesn't own much. He wants to go to the US next year, but he cannot apply for a visa because he does not have an address. He said he would have to pretend that he lives with his girlfriend in the city in order to get approval from the government.

We chose to do this tour because it would be coming from the eyes of a person born and raised there. It was a surreal experience. We did not know what to expect. You can see many favelas from the heights of Sugar Loaf mountain, the multi coloured shacks at the bottom of the hills to the more grey, dilapidated shacks at the top, jammed together so tightly you cannot see any green (our guide told us the mayor ordered those bottom houses to be painted so it would look like they were making an improvement in the area).

We went in a small group with 3 other people, an Australian couple from our hostel and a guy from another hostel. The van dropped us off at the top of the favela and we make our way down through the tiny alley ways in about 3 hours. The first thing he told us is that women were extremely safe there (Strat relaxed a bit) because they had zero tolerance towards violence to women. Any man that tried to rape, beat, hurt a girl, they would be killed in a slow, painful way by the locals (his words).

An area is termed a favela when it has no proper sewage system. The government provides free water which the locals refer to as miracle water and free electricity to most businesses, although mainly people illegally tap their own electricity. We walked right beside the open sewage pit, running down a concrete slope on the footsteps of peoples houses. It was disgusting. And children and dogs were running around there like it was nothing.

We were told a lot about the abundant drug trade. How last year you would walk down the main street and guys would be lined up with bags of coke and guns in their hands waiting to sell to you. Last year the police cracked down and they are now hiding in the hills apparently. Our guide would huddle up to us and say “ok that person doesn't speak English so he/she can't understand me but they used to be a drug dealer but they are retired now.” And one guy he referred to had the nickname “the slicer” because he could dismember a body in 5 minutes. We then walked past him and waved and said hi.

Our guide showed us his home as well where he lived with his mother and sister. A very simple home, but as he said, it was one of the nicer places built by the government. His mother had the water pump on to get fresh water for drinking and cooking. He said it was the happiest part of her day, being able to step outside her door and turn the water pump on.

After a couple of hours of walking we stopped at a cafe in the favela and had some Acai (berry sorbet) and a burger like thing. The meal was both clean and fresh. You may be thinking a cafe in a favela? Favelas are still towns they have schools, dentists, hair dressers and food retailers. I (Stratton) was expecting the favela to be like a drugs and guns ridden city from Sierra Leonne or Nigeria.

I have a feeling at times favelas can be incredibly dangerous, it's hard to tell whether this specific one was a safe one, a safe day or he'd payed everyone off to make it look safe. We will most likely never know. However when I (S) was there walking down the tight streets I did feel safe. Safer than I had felt in all of Rio if you can believe it.

It was a very surreal experience and one we will never forget.

The other half of our day was on the complete opposite spectrum, of Brazilian life. We were invited by our roommates to go to Rio fashion week, the second biggest fashion event in Brazil. They were here from Sao Paulo, running the event. They did not speak any English but we used google translator(always very handy) to have a simple conversation. When they said they had tickets to a fashion show we jumped at the chance to go. We had no idea what to expect but after the favela tour we jumped in a taxi to go over there. We invited the other couple, Tom and Sophia to come along in case there were extra tickets and we put on our best clothes (that would be a beach dress for me.

It turns out this was an ultra exclusive event with the countrys top designers and we were unbelievably lucky to have been invited. Daniela and Leticia had 2 extra tickets that they happily gave to Tom and Sophia and escorted us to the front row (!!!) of the fashion show. As we were waiting for it to start,photographers came up to us to take our pictures and jot our names down. Imagine our surprise when we were told they were for Vogue and fashion websites.

Quote of the day by far was when Stratton asks a photographer “wheres this photo going”, “ow this ones for Vogue”

Later in the evening a camera crew came around to film us sitting there waiting for the show for Fashion TV (FTV). It was crazy. I felt very underdressed.

We ended up watching 4 shows, all from the front row that we were ushered to by our new friends past scores of people lining to get in. one of them was Coca Cola ( yes they make high fashion?) and it was so much fun. Sophia and I were drooling over the clothes and especially the shoes. We cannot thank Daniela and Leticia enough! It was such a fun night.

When the show wrapped up around 11, we headed to a street party in Lapa. Every night the streets get closed so people can party in the middle of the road. There are people selling everything on the street. We grabbed a few cocktails for 2.50Aud and just hung in the middle of the road talking. They were so good we got another round before settling into some Brazilian late night food. Hot chips with bacon bits covered in cheese.

We will leave you with that image.

Stratton and Nikita

Famous tiled steps

Old aqueduct turned into a tramlines

Electricity in the favela

Open sewage running by people's homes

Enjoying some snacks at a local cafe

That's where the drug dealers live

Enjoying some champagne at the fashion show

Not perfect but you get the idea

Strat with Leticia and Daniella

Shot of the day

We had to strike a pose on the catwalk!

Our awesome feather hat friend

Street festival in Lapa

Best caprinhias yet

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Rio de Janeiros

Posted on November 8, 2012 by sphnh

After catching up in sun and sleep in Buzios it was time to go to Rio de Janeiros to experience one of the big cities of Brazil. Our first view upon arriving into the harbour was Chris the Redeemer greeting us from the top of Corcovado. It is the most spectacular thing to see when entering the city for the first time. There were low lying clouds and he kept disappearing and reappearing as we crossed the bridge. And Sugar Loaf mountain to the left rose up like a smooth thumb from the water. Believe me we had a lot of time to take in the view as it took the bus over an hour to cross the bridge. The traffic was horrendous and it was not even rush hour.

We had been told by many people, including Brazilians to stay in Ipanema or Copacabana as they are right near the beach and are beautiful areas. After hours looking at hostels though we could not find a decent hostel that was available for us during our 4 night stay. We opted instead to stay in the more central district of Botafogo. The hostel we chose was close to the metro that we could easily hop on and go to the beaches and the city centre.

Upon arriving back to the Novo Rio bus station where we had taken the Buzios bus, we decided to take the cheaper option of catching the bus to our hostel. The girl at information spoke English and told us to catch the 129 bus. The area where the bus station is situated is in a very bad neighbourhood and as a tourist you should not be lingering around too long and keeping close tabs on your luggage. After nearly 40 minutes waiting for this bus it still had not shown up and we were attracting the attention of local vendors who kept coming up to us and shouting sales pitches in Portuguese. We ended up catching a taxi because we did not feel particularly safe standing out there any longer. When we got to the hostel we found out this bus line did not even exist. So much for good tourist information.

Our hostel is very basic but is full of English speaking backpackers (yay!!!! Finally) and even better, English speaking owners (double yay!!!!!). It has a great atmosphere and everyone is very friendly. We are in a 6 person share dorm, but after Buzios we needed a cheaper option for accommodation.

After learning about the list of things to see and do in this city we headed out to walk to to the bottom of Corcovado to catch the train up to Christ the Redeemer. Our hostel turned out to be very close and we walked there in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately by the time we got there the clouds had come so low down the mountain the statue was merely a white canvas. It was not worth $50 AUD to go up and see nothing. (surprisingly people were still flocking up there.)

Instead we headed to the city centre to wander around. We hopped on a bus right outside and then hopped off again 10 minutes later after the bus had moved only inches and walked to the train station. We didn't see a lot of the city but we went into the national library and the art gallery. They advertised Roman statues which looked amazing. However they are actually plaster replicas of all the famous Greek and roman statues that are falling apart. Not quite what we were expecting.

Exhausted after a few hours we headed back to the hostel and chatted to our hostel friends. We met a lovely British guy named Will who has been travelling for 13 months with his wife around South America and had infinite stories to tell us of their travels. And guess what? They are immigrating to Tasmania at the beginning of next year! We got along very well and ended up going out for dinner with him and planned to spend the next day looking around the city together as well.

Dinner was sushi. Amazing sushi in Brazil if you can believe it. And Will is fluent in Portuguese (as well as many other languages) and could help us translate the menu. It was really great to have some good company to enjoy the evening with.

View from the bridge

So many ships in the harbour!

National library

Out for sushi

Will stocking up on all you can eat sushi

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Travel travel travel (don’t miss the video at the bottom)

Posted on November 4, 2012 by sphnh

Well to put it short, we made it. The trip from Pucon to Buzios (I don't think it's been done before) was rather long and logistically tight. The trip door to door took 29 hours. We had origionally planned to break it up with a day in Santiago but decided Pucon was tOo nice not to stay an extra day.

So the plan was 8pm night bus from Pucon to Santiago arriving 6:30am. Then a short 30minute bus to the airport followed by a 3 hour wait for our flight to Rio de Janeiro arriving 5:30pm local time. The a dash through the airport to a shuttle to bus terminal followed by a 3 hour bus to Buzios. Remarkably everything went smoothly (except the last bus I'll come back to it) the two main crux points were making our flight and the bus to buzios. Missing either would have been fatal particularly the Buzios bus as we were racing for the last one of the day. Missing that would have left us in a rather dodgy part of Rio at night with no accom!

So highlights and low lights of the travel..

Highlights

Randomly seated in the exit row with no other passengers on a super full flight. Was so so good.

Bus to Santiago airport was both fast and cheap (we expected slow and expensive)

Lowlights

We booked second class seats on the bus from Pucon by mistake and attempted to sleep in a semi reclined coach seat ( it wasn't that bad)

The duty free at the airport sucked. No Bourbon 😦

My bread roll was a little soggy on the flight

I couldn't quite see out the window of one of the buses due to a sticker on the window.

Ow and we watched a bus explode and burn to its raw metal frame closing a 6 lane highway after a head on collision with a car. BOOM bet you didn't see that coming. Nor did we.

We had been driving about an hour in wet conditions when we rounded a corner to see a giant fire up ahead. The flames were well above tree height when we arrived. Looking at the traffic stopped in front of us we missed the accident by less than 5 minutes. This was a seriously big fire. As I approached on foot you could hear it exploding and cracking. I walked down through the parked traffic and could see debre everywhere. I stepped past the buses door about 200m from the bus. I got to within 100m of the bus and decided that was close enough. A crowd had already gathered and fire trucks were just arriving. I asked around and supposedly everyone on the bus got out. But the occupants of the car weren't so lucky. It was pretty intense to say the least. Especially considering it was the same bus company we were travelling with at that very point in time.

It took over two hours to reopen one lane which we made it though quickly as we were so near the front of the traffic. The rest of the trip was ok, we were a little rattled sitting in the front row of the bus. Suffice to say we put our seatbelts on for the rest of the journey.

We got in at around 12:30am in the rain. We stumbled around town and eventually arrived at the oasis that is our hotel. It's great. Huge room, great brekkie, afternoon tea, surf magazines to read and 1 second from the main street in town.

So yeah that's what when down for the last 29 hours.