Cashews. I’m kinda a fan. Hate almonds, love cashews. (Also love macadamia nuts.) I will forever remember Sao Paulo because it was here that I learned where exactly my favorite nut comes from. A fruit! (Yup. I had no idea.) And look…you only get one nut per fruit. That’s a lot of work for one cashew.
Shoes at Liberdade, the Japanese part of town. You might know that Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside Japan. 1.4 million and counting. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants in Liberdade. We didn’t try any, but we did laugh at our tour guide when she tried to explain tempura and yakisoba to us. Poor girl.
The famed Mortadella sandwich at Hocca’s at Mercado Municipale. It’s like eating fried bologna, if you’re into that. I liked the sauce though.
There are a lot of crazy fruits in Brazil. Things you’ve never seen. From the Amazon. It’s pretty wild. Brazilians LOVE fruit and juices and all sorts of Vitamin-C bearing things. They also like to give you the “thumbs up” sign a lot. I mean, A LOT. (Non sequitor, sorry!)
Caipirinhas at our local in Itaim Bibi, Boteca San Bento. We learned the hard way that Brazilians don’t drink caipirinhas much because of the cachaca. It’s too strong for them. So they drink caipiroskas — that’s a caipirinha with vodka. You try having two caipirinhas on a Tuesday. Ouch.
Up the street from my apartment in Itaim, there’s a bar called Salve Jorge. There are always people there, at any time of day. The waiters wear ties. And there are crystal chandeliers. I like it here.
All around Itaim Bibi, there are orchids attached to trees. It’s really super lovely. Someday, in the dark of night, I will attach orchids to the trees of Wicker Park, Chicago. I will become the Orchid Bandit.
The Ferinha do Bixiga, an antiques market on Sundays. It’s nice. If you like old things like sunglasses and tea cups.
The Museo do Ipiranga, a small but lovely tribute to Brazil’s history. If I had time, I would have brought my gym clothes and jogged around like the many others I saw. It’s a bit of an oasis in a terribly huge city.
Beco do Batman in Villa Magdalena, an alley covered in graffiti, which apparently changes quite frequently. Suffice it to say, I wasn’t the only one wandering the alley with an SLR over my shoulder.
I took this picture out the car window as we were driving out of Beco do Batman. I wasn’t even paying attention. And it came out perfectly. How’s that?
3 comments
No matter how much I get to travel & see things, I can always count on seeing something that makes me pine to do it even more on YOUR blog 🙂 Brazil looks fun!
It’s so interesting to read an outsider’s take on my own country. I feel like we are living opposite lives. Me, a Brazilian living in Chicago, and you, an American (I’m assuming) in Sao Paulo. Yeah, cashews come from cashews (the fruit) although I’ve never tried it (just the juice which is just okay). I’m on team passion fruit. Uhmmm mortadela…made my mouth water. Potbelly’s Italian sandwich comes with mortadela and that’s how I satisfy my cravings. Poor tour guide, she’s probably never got out of Brazil to know other parts of the world also eat Japanese. I hope you’re stopping by Rio before you leave, or perhaps Bahia. If you don’t go either one, you’re not experiencing what Brazil is really about. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip 🙂
Great post like always 🙂
I didn’t know that the cashews was from a fruit, where there is only one nut in. That’s maybe why they cost more than almonds 🙂
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