Gastronomic adventures in Brazil

Brazil is so green, warm, and tropical! I´ve been enjoying the beaches especially after (mostly) cool and wet weather in Argentina and Peru. We stayed on scenic Ilha Santa Catarina for a few days in Rio Grande Sul, which probably is one of the more touristy, overpriced, modernized parts of Brazil but certainly worth a visit!

Because its the off season here, we got a good rate on a cute pousada up on a hill overlooking Barro da Lagoa. We cooked meals with our friends Tom (an Englishman we met in Uruguay) and Aaron (from home) to save some money. Unfortunately, the food on the island was unimaginative and unhealthy. Every restaurant offered pretty much fried food. I ordered a "grilled" fish one night and it came to the table fried! However, with a little persistence I was able to find a few places that served good lunch buffets by the kilo, homemade empañadas, and sweet, satisfying coconut shakes with canela (cinnamon) on Praia Mole. Word of mouth was that the further North you go (particularly Bahia), the better and more authentic the food is. Thus, we packed up and moved on in search of better and cheaper food (and of course, less touristy places)!

We met a German traveler who invited us along to Blumenhaus, a German settlement inland, to sample the homemade beer and check out the architecture. Next, our group split up, with Aaron and Tom moving on to Sao Paulo and Sergio and I heading to the Iguazu Falls, with a pit stop in Curitiba.

It was here in Curitiba that we visited the buffet of all buffets. Batel Grill & Churrascuria. I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Salad buffet, sushi buffet, Brazilian food buffet, hors d’oeuvres buffet! In addition to those food stations, waiters bring skewered meat and pasta dishes to your table until your belly is popping out of your shirt. After 2 hours of stuffing our faces and several bathroom runs, we topped it all off with five cups of espresso topped with chantilly cream and watched a Cirque du Soleil show on the Plasma. Yes, this place was fancy but the quality was superb and the experience fully entertaining. We felt we earned that after nearly 3 months of traveling and eating cheaply.

And now, I am back on the Argentina side to visit the Iguazu Falls tomorrow (which borders three countries: Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina). This region is mostly tropical rainforest and I am waiting out an angry thunderstorm. It is actually quite exhilarating as I`ve seen nothing like it before. The rain has been pouring so hard in the last two hours that the roof of one of the dorms caved inwards and flooded the room a foot deep in water!

Booked our tickets from Rio de Janeiro to Istanbul, Turkey on April 22nd! That was the cheapest way to get home via a continent other than South America (I've been itching to go somewhere where Spanish, and rice and beans aren´t prevalent). From Istanbul, we'll travel overland to Greece and Croatia, the final leg of our journey!

Barra de Lago, Florianopolis: the view from our balcony!
Praia Mole, one of my favorite beaches in southern Brazil. (and no, that is not me!)
Local friends share a sarong.

Christo Redentor, the massive statue that embraces all of Rio de Janiero.