The way things are right now
Chilaquiles
Well it’s Friday, and in days gone past that would have meant a guaranteed post here at Eat Rio. Then along came the World Cup and a deluge of food tours and my whole writing/posting routine got messed up.
So now that the World Cup is over, things should be getting back to normal, right?
Well, not quite yet. Mrs Eat Rio and I have been working 7 days/week for the last 3 months, so we are both completely exhausted. A few weeks ago we decided to book ourselves a holiday to Mexico so we can get away from everything and fully unwind.
I visited Mexico back in 2010 and absolutely loved it. For Mrs Eat Rio it will be her first time in the land of tequila, mole and chilaquiles (we plan to indulge in all 3 of those items, plus much, much more).
Of course I’ll be indulging in some serious relaxation, but I will also be taking my camera with a view to record my experiences and perhaps draw some parallels and contrasts between Mexico and Brazil. And when I get back, things will get back to normal (promise!).
Thanks for bearing with me over the last few months – it’s actually been a really successful World Cup here at Eat Rio, but the kind of hard work required during the tournament didn’t leave much time for anything else.
I know I’ve been posting a lot of hummingbird photos on the Eat Rio Facebook page recently, but I wanted to leave you with one more. This is my favourite shot of the lot as I finally managed to get one of these zippy fellows in focus and lit up in the sunlight. I’ll be back in early August!
Brilliant photo. I love hummingbirds but just don’t have the skills to catch one on camera. Have you told the readers that hummingbird in Portuguese translates literally as “kiss the flower”? I love that :)
Good point Simon – I was utterly charmed the first time I heard that hummingbirds are called beija-flores in Portuguese.
I think it is the besourinho-de-bico-vermelho – have you discovered WikiAves? See:
http://www.wikiaves.com.br/midias.php?t=s&s=10633
Georgia
Ah, good one Georgia. Someone showed me that website before, but I had forgotten all about it. Knowing about my bird nerdery (did post-grad bird ecology degree) my mum bought me a really nice bird book called “A field guide to the Birds of Brazil” by Ber van Perlo. It has very nice illustrations and also the names in English and Portuguese (and Latin binomials of course). I like the English name of this bird too, which is “Glittering-bellied Emerald” :)
I have to admit to some bird nerdery myself. The good thing about WikiAves is you can contribute your own pics, particularly if you think a particular bird hasn’t been registered in that locale before. I have the van Perlo book and use it in combination with the Collins guide to non-passerines, which is wonderful! Sadly I think they were so exhausted making such a lovely guide that they’ve not got round to the passerines….
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-South-America-Non-Passerines-Collins/dp/0007150849
Yes, the hummingbirds have some lovely jewelled names in English. I followed a nest of these hummingbirds in my garden – sequence is back to front:
http://www.wikiaves.com.br/midias.php?t=u&u=10486&p=3
Georgia
Woah! Amazing photos Georgia! I will keep an eye out for the Collins guide – looks excellent.
Thanks!
I can already picture many a Mexican vendor thinking “Wow, now I know more about jumping bean morphology than I ever thought possible – and still after one full hour I don’t know if this guy wants to buy a sombrero. Note to self: before going home buy 2 extra bottles of tequila”. :-) Boa viagem Tom.
Ha ha! I’m sure they’ll find our conversations (or ‘lectures’ as I like to think of them) incredibly informative and stimulating… ;)
Where are you headed to in México? Parts of México got really dangerous a few years ago when the government went to war with the drug traffickers. Quite an ironic situation, that was. All that terrible violence in México, because of drugs that mostly come from South and Central América, and only traverse thru México, on their way to the consumers of them in the USA and Canada. But I hear things are much calmer now. If you ever plan on going to Mazatlan, I know a place that has awesome villas, right on the beach. They have a bar/restaurant that you can call up and order drinks and food delivered right to your door, and when I was last there in 2010 prices (of the food and drinks) were dirt cheap. Giant margaritas for like USD 1.50, and man-sized servings of seafood/vegetable dishes for USD 4.50.
Hey Carlos – we have been a bit last minute about planning things, so don’t have a proper itinerary yet, but definitely planning on spending a good few days in Mexico City. Then probably heading down to Oaxaca for some beachy relaxation. I’ve only visited Mexico the one time and many of the negative things I’d heard, especially about the capital (overcrowded, polluted) didn’t seem to be the case at all (at least not where I went).
I would be very happy to discover that the prices are still low. I always feel sorry for tourists who arrive in Rio expecting low prices – the high prices often come as a big shock!
Ah, prices, yes. I’ve done quite a bit of running around within Brazil now, and I come to the conclusion that from the cost of living and prices perspectives, you might say there are two Brazils. São Paulo and Rio, where cost of living and prices tend to be sky high, and then there is the rest of Brazil. In my city, I easily live on 700-800 reals a month, and that covers everything including a lot of food and distilled beverages. But I buy and cook/prepare all my own food, only consume distilled beverages at home, and only walk or bike transportation wise. A very low cost life is possible in Brazil, but not for tourists.