Travelfood

The temptation to put “Brazil” as the headline for this article was big, but since I visited only Rio in this one of the world’s largest countries, I cannot cover the whole country with a headline like that. Nevertheless, Rio’s importance should not be underestimated, since the city truly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Atlantic glistens bluer than anywhere north of the Caribbean, the tropical air shivers over the city and the beautiful surrounding mountains with Sugarloaf Mountains in front give the city an image of ultimate visual joy. Ultimate carnival joy!

When I arrived at Rio airport and travelled by bus to the city center and my hotel, it felt hard to get a grip of the city. We scampered from one city part to another with the ocean on one side and a lake on the other and with the city full of bays and gulfs, you easily get confused. Therefore it felt natural to accept an organized day tour, where you are driven from one sight to another without transportation problems. The distances are long, but with the tour I was able to experience the Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana and the Christ statue of Corcovado Mountain in one day. From the bus window I was able to see the so called houses of the favelas covering the hillside but the tour did not include a visit to the slums.

In Brazil I wanted of course to taste the caipirinha drink with sugar cane and lime. The drink was quite an experience, since it tasted salty and strange. With my inadequate Portuguese I tried to explain the waiter that there was something wrong with my drink, and he had to taste it in order to understand what I meant. Tasting it he understood immediately what had happened and he brought two similar-looking jars and pointed out that one contained sugar and the other salt. By accident they had poured the content of the wrong jar into my drink!

Brazilian food is related to high-class meat and I truly tasted giant grilled pieces of beef, churrasco. If my belly was not filled with meat, there were potatoes and salad for side orders. One day I tasted fejoada, oven-cooked meat with black beans, and it was not as good as I had expected. But churrasco – seldom meat is as juicy, tasty and tender as that!

Brazil, exotism, food, Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, travel, travel experiences