March | 2012 | 4 feet 2 mouths

Archive for the month “March, 2012”

06 Mar 2012

Eating too much and staying up late in Rio (by Carmen)

4 feet in the sand

So we didn’t spend all day at the beach! Although it was tempting. We mixed it up with some good sights, food and nightlife too. Our entire time in Rio was spent with my parents. Four mouths to feed usually means that we got to try even more dishes when eating out. But on our first night in Rio, all four wanted the same thing: feijoada.

Feijoada

Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil. It consists of black beans stewed with meat, served over rice and other side fixings. We chose a place that specializes in feijoada and were pretty excited to fill up on some homey comfort food. All four of us ordered the feijoada but the waiter kept shaking his head and saying that was too much food. He kept suggesting that we mix it up with something, such as la truta (trout). It didn’t seem like he was getting money out of us – it was more of a cultural misunderstanding. Nonetheless, we insisted on getting feijoada and 4 huge bowls of it landed on our table. We could’t even make a dent as it was a feast for ten people. But it was good. And now, whenever a misunderstanding occurs (which is often) Nathan and I shrug our shoulders and say ¨la truta!¨(you have to say it very emphatically with a long drawn out “ah” : )

Bossa nova nightlife

After the feijoada we were in food coma mode. But we charged on to the bossa nova club. It was awesome! The singer performed a mix of old standards and a few less familiar songs too. My dad would play bossa nova while I was growing up and I’ve loved the genre ever since. This was a special treat.

Shrimp wrapped with fried noodles at Manekineko

Brazil has a lot of Japanese immigrants so we were excited to find Manekineko, a japanese brazilian fusion place. Fusion in this case means mostly japanese food with the chefs adding cheese and frying things when they found the opportunity. Nothing amazing but it was fun.

Fresh juices and smoothies at Market

I think the best thing about the Rio food scene (and Brazil for that matter) is the wonderful array of juices. Everything from pineapple to kiwi to avocado to pears. Mixed the way you want. I want a juicer now!

Palm hearts and sashimi at Market

One of our best lunches was in the palm shaded patio at Market. The organic certification reminded me of California. As did the quinoa salads and salmon sandwiches. But after so many heavy dishes, I liked being reminded of home.

Samba club in Lapa

Our meals fueled us up for a big night out in the Lapa district, which is a hub of Rio nightlife. We went to the club with the biggest crowd and loudest samba band. I loved how people of all ages were dancing between the tables. It was great to put my year of samba lessons to use! This inspired me to come back for Carnivale…maybe next year…

Posted in Brazil, Latin America and tagged Big Cities, Food, Rio de Janeiro

05 Mar 2012

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Copa and Ipanema, the Beaches of Heaven… (by Nathan)

Sidewalk along Ipanema

Rio is by far one of the most beautiful and exciting cities. Imagine walking along a beach with incredibly soft sand. The waves are crashing in front of you. Behind you there are majestically steep mountains surrounding a city of highrises that come right to the water. These are the beaches of Rio. And they are blissful. The beaches and laid back atmosphere sometimes reminded us of California. But the setting was much more urban. Los Angeles can learn a lesson from Rio on how to build a proper beach side city. LA, you planned it all wrong!

Delirio Salads

Even the food has a California type feel with an abundance of fresh local salads. At one of our first restaurants we were hit with the flavors of Brazil and the realization that finally we were in a country that loved their veggies. The variety of salads is something to awe at. Vegetables cooked and raw and delecately infused with new and known spices. And Brazil cares about variety so we lucked out. 2 blocks from our beashside umbrella on Ipanema was Delirio Salads which was had some 20 options that were all fenomenal.

Girl from Ipanema (i.e. Carmen)

First let´s describe the sand. The magic I think must be in the sand. The beaches are not exactly white sand, but the texture is soft, real soft. Slipping your feet into this sand is like having your feet wrapped in warm velvet. The sand is like like brown sugar and just as sweet for your toes.

Copacabana Beach

Rio’s beaches are enormous. The two popular ones, Ipanema and Copacabana make up about 5 miles of bliss. The waves were big and there was a hefty riptide. There is also a beautiful sidewalk along the full length of the beach, tiled with Poruguese black and white patterns.

Sunset on Ipanema over ¨Two Brothers¨

The beaches can be enjoyed at almost all times of the day. The sunsets there are breathtaking and the sunrises are passionate with color. The beauty is omnipresent.

Ipanema sunrise

These beaches are destination worthy sights on their own. Thrown in the amazing food, the history, the samba nightlife, the mountain-top vistas and crazy high-speed bus rides and Rio has become one of my favorite cities.

Posted in Brazil, Latin America and tagged Big Cities, Rio de Janeiro

03 Mar 2012

¿Why Uruguay? (by Nathan)

Uru-what? Everyone keeps asking us why we are going to Uruguay. And all that we can say is why not?

I was fascinated by Uruguay. It is so rarely mentioned as a country, but with a little research I found out that it is considered one of the most stable, advanced countries in South America. On top of that they were also the first country to provide laptop computers to every grade-school student. It sounded like more than just a satellite of Buenos Aires, but a modern city. And I was tired of tripping on the many holes found throughout BsAs sidewalks.

Uruguay is a ferry ride away from Buenos Aires and turned out to be an amazing experience. Many people seek the historic town of Colonia, but we decided to go directly to the capital city of Montevideo. What we found was some of the best barbeque, beautiful beaches and a clean progressive city vibrant with life.

Montevideo Fountain

The city is filled with picturesque nooks and crannies. Peeking around a corner and we were often surprised to find beautiful colonial buildings, fountains and of course markets selling deliciously plump produce.

Montevideo produce market

One great benefit of having friends and family join you on a trip is that the cultural experience of a city seems to increase exponentially. Interpreting the culture, tasting the food and seeing the sights is a group activity shared with laughs and conversation. Carmen’s parents joined us for two weeks, making us 8 feet 4 mouths to explore and eat our way through more parts of South America.

Dinner at La Otra

Our first meal in Montevideo immediately put all the parilla barbeque places in Buenos Aires to shame. We went to La Otra, it was a sleek dimly lit restaurant with a woodsy theme. I felt right at home as they decorated all their wall using a wallpaper of stacked and chopped wood. Although I did not miss those hours of my childhood chopping and stacking wood. The food included an array of excellently grilled meats and vegetables.

Slanted grill at Estancia del Puerto

One of the main differences between Argentinian and Uruguayan barbeques is the use of a slanted grill. A simple advancement, but the Uruguayans have worked out a better way to not overcook their meat. There is this amazing market (Mercado del Puerto) with twenty or so barbeue restaurants all grilling theit best meat and seafood.

Pomplona de pollo

They also have their own variations of grilled concoctions. I ordered a pomplona de pollo which was a piece of chicken that had been flattened and rolled with ham, bacon, cheese and grilled vegetables, then grilled over an open fire. Mmmm.

Sunset on Montevideo Beach

By this time in our trip we had been wanting water. The heat in Buenos Aires was sometimes stifling. To our great relief, Uruguay had an amazingly beautiful beach and a rambla (coastal sidewalk) that stetched for miles.

Montevideo was an amazing experience, delicious food, beautiful buildings and landscapes and the question changed from ¨Why Uruguay?¨ to:

Why not more time in Uruguay?

Posted in Latin America, Uruguay and tagged Montevideo | Leave a comment

01 Mar 2012

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Moving to Buenos Aires? (By Carmen)

4 feet 5 forks - we found these embedded in the sidewalk. Seemed appropriate :)

The question Nathan and I ask ourselves about every city is, “Could we live here?” BsAs has its pros and cons. We´ve written about the highlights such as great markets, fanatic fútbol culture, tango, inexpensive transit and good food and wine (particularly pizza). There are a couple other items we didn´t have time to cover:

Nightlife – A good night out isn´t hard to find in BsAs. That is, as long as you can stay up late enough. Things don´t really get started until 2am or so.

Antares Bar on a Friday night

One of our first outings was at Antares, a local microbrewery. Because we were still jet lagged, the late night was easy! It wasn´t the best beer we´d ever had but the bar was hopping and had a great atmosphere.

The marble bar at Million

Another night we went to Millon, an upscale bar in a beautiful setting and prices to match the name. Friendly bar tenders, good cocktails, 2 for 1 happy hour.

La Bomba de Tiempo at the Konex Center

Every Monday there is an awesome drum show called La Bomba de Tiempo at the Konex Center. This is one of the rare early nights in BsAs since the show is from 8-10pm. It attracts a young crowd that jumps in rhythm to the 12 or so drums on stage. You can´t help but want to dance.

La Peña de Colorado

On our final night we checked out the Peña de Colorado. There we heard more traditional music with guitars, harmoicas and vocals.

Menu from the closed door restaurant

Blurry picture of me on the stage with my raffle winnings

Closed Door Restaurants – One of our favorite nights was at a closed door restaurant in the Almagro neighborhood. A classmate from the spanish school invited us to join in. She actually lived in the house where the restaurant took place every Friday. Her roomates were the chefs and the entertainment since their band also performed. The food was great, the crowd was lively, the tunes were awesome. I won the raffle too so I got a CD of their music! After this night, I really started to feel comfortable in BsAs.

View of Plaza Congreso in Buenos Aires

Calle Florida

Architecture – Another great characteristic of BsAs is its elegant architecture. This is probably what makes it feel most like Paris, the city it’s always compared to. Beautiful buildings can be found on almost any street.

El Congreso

One of the landmark ones is the Congreso, where their national government meetings are held. I highly recommend the tour of the inside.

Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Another beauty was the Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (Palace of Running Water). It was constructed to hold the city´s first water pumps. Today it still has the pumps as well as a museum about plumbing. Complete with old toilets. Awesome.

So the question is, could we live here? For me the answer is yes. The city has totally charmed me. There are definitely drawbacks. For example, you can´t hurry an Argentinian. You sit at restaurants for 20 minutes waiting for the bill you already asked for. But at the same time, this pace of life forces you to relax. And looking out the window of a cozy cafe in BsAs is a pretty great place to relax. I’ll miss you BsAs!

Finally, just for the fun of it, here are a few more pics we couldn’t fit in elsewhere: